Could it shake your faith in the resurrection?
Time magazine and other media outlets are reporting on a tablet of stone inscribed with ink that might contain a pre-Christian resurrection story. Or it might not, depending upon what scholar you listen to. The tablet, called Gabriel's Revelation by archaeologists, may contain lines that hint that a certain Jew would be killed, but raised on the third day. Sound familiar? Anitquities scholars think so, and think that this may be the pre-Christian basis for the resurrection story.
Of course, Christian scholars contend that if the hope of a murdered-yet-resurrected messiah existed in 1st century BC Israel, it only shows that God was preparing the way for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Either way, if the stone is authentic, it could shed new light on the pre-Christian religious environment in Israel.
If the tablet is proven to be authentic, and if it does speak of a person who will be killed and raised on the third day, would this undermine or strengthen faith in the resurrection of Jesus? Why do you think so? This is no Davinci Code, but a real piece of history. Now if scholars can just agree on what it means.
