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56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For Seekers & Skeptics, 28 July 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Who Moved the Stone? (Paperback)
I've read many books on the historical reliability (and unreliability) of the New Testament; I've seen many educated opinions varying in every way; I done studies many resurrections-centered topics; but I've never seen a book quite like this! Morrison takes nothing for granted. He trusts his instincts, and, though coming shy of any kind of Biblical-Christian opinion, he beautifully defends the resurrection in this short examination. As a doubter I find it difficult to swallow what many Christians take for granted in their own faith. This book is not like most. However, as a believer I was thrown by Morrison into the last week of Jesus' life (and the following weeks) as I never have by any lecture or writing. Morrison brings to light many historical details missed my so many people (including myself). He is easy to read and difficult to put down. To the skeptics: I was once a skeptic. It was not a brief reading of one or two apologetic works that convinced me; instead, it was months and months of hard research, with this book as one of the many highlights. I encourage all to read this. Morrison's book will forever remain one of my personal favorites. Luke Gilkerson
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting, 14 Mar 2011
This book was written in 1930, and although its message is eternal and universal, I would say that the make-up of its potential readership in Britain today is very different to the one which existed when it was written. Britain is a much more multicultural nation and people are generally much more skeptical about religion than they used to be.
Frank Morison was the pseudonym of an English journalist called Albert Henry Moss (born 1881 died 1950), who sought to analyse and pick holes in the Resurrection story focussing on the disappearance of Jesus' body from his tomb after his crucifixion. He treats the sources of information that he has in an almost forensic manner and I for one enjoyed revisiting these passages and building up a highly detailed picture from just a few verses of each gospel. Every word and clause is pored over and treated as an historical fact. He brings attention, not only on the key players (Jesus, Peter, Pilate etc) but also on the other minor players in the drama to show their contribution to the story. Morison also brings in other historical sources to justify the logic of the Christian story as presented in the gospels such as the unauthorised gospels and Josephus' history. I would have appreciated more footnotes to indicate the exact sources of what he was trying to convey.
I recall from my schooldays my head teacher talking to my class about ideas contained in this book. I commented that surely it was more important to reflect on what Jesus did and said rather than focus too much on the Resurrection. He said that the Resurrection story was absolutely key and if it were not true, then none of the other aspects of Christ's life and work would matter. This sounds to me like CS Lewis' trilemma that states that Jesus could only be "Lord, liar or lunatic". The Resurrection story is of course key because it is the fulfillment of the Word and so any analysis that gives weight to the historical veracity of the story is very helpful. Personally speaking, I have never had much problem believing it. Compared to Jesus' virgin birth and all the miracles He performed (including raising Lazarus from the dead), his own resurrection does not seem so unusually miraculous.
I have to say though that if you are of a skeptical frame of mind, don't have a basic religious faith or recognise the Bible as a historical document, then you probably will not be convinced by this book. Frank Morison's approach is based on close reading of the Bible and stating that the actions of all the players, major and minor, appear to be entirely rational and in keeping with the miracle of the Resurrection: and therefore, any of the alternative explanations that might disprove the Resurrection do not hold water. I do not think he really explains what he thinks actually happened but leaves the mystery as a mystery - which is ultimately a matter of faith.
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44 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Convincing, 20 May 2002
This book, as well as being a gripping read, is a very convinving account of what happened to Jesus in those last days of His life before His crucifixion. But this is really only there to set up the scene. It is Jesus' resurrection which the book sets out to convince us of and it does so very well. Granted, it relies heavily on the accounts written by Jesus' desciples. But then I've never quite understood why people object to this. Why are we more willing to listen to biased anti-Christian writers like Tacitus and Josephus who wrote long after the events, got there information very second hand and whose writtings we scarcely have any copies written less than 700 years after the originals! With the gospels you eye witness (or in some cases once removed) accounts that were written no more than 30 years after the events took place (and probably long before that), by people who dies for what they had written (so they had to be pretty convinced it was true) and copies of which we have within 100 years of the originals and many fragments much earlier than this. So I think he has every right to use such historical documents as he does. And as to them being inconsistent - they contain just the inconsistencies that you would expect between different eye witnesses. If they were identical then I would smell a rat. Oh, and in case you were wondering. What little Josephus and Tacitus say about Jesus, agrees with the gospels anyway. So well done Frank Morison. If you read this boook with an open mind you will surely be convinced of the truth of Christ's resurrection. And if that is true, well then that means we need to take His teaching about Himself pretty seriously too.
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