'Why Not Question' : Three Days and Three Nights - Where Did They Go?

The Bible tells us Jesus was in the grave for three days and three nights. Yet most churches teach Christ was crucified on Friday and rose on Sunday morning. Does anyone else see the error in this? If tradition is correct - than Christ was only in the tomb for two nights and one day. What happened to the other two full days and one night? And why do people blindly believe what is being taught rather than what God's word says?

We are instructed in Timothy to study God's word, workman who do not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth. However, it seems today's Christians are too 'busy' to bother and only listen to what their priest, preacher, pastor, tell them. Thus, an erroneous teaching about the when Christ was crucified and rose, has stayed around for far longer than it should have.

It is far more likely Jesus died on Wednesday and rose on Saturday. The Jewish day runs from Sunset to Sunset - not Midnight to Midnight as it does today. Thus the sabbath would have started on Friday when the sun went down to Saturday at the same time. One would also speculate that Christ rose at the moment the sun set. The next morning the women went to the tomb - since it was customary to wait three days. Seems they wanted to make sure the person was actually dead. This little piece of information gives new meaning to the raising of Lazarus,the reaction of his sisters and why Jesus waited longer before going to see Mary and Martha.

Most Westerners are unfamiliar with Eastern culture and so this very important point escapes the reader. So Christ being in the grave three days and three nights emphasizes the point he was dead. It is also interesting to note NO ONE had come back from the grave - not in those days. So Jesus rising was quite spectacular.

Adding these little known details begins to bring the accuracy of the Bible to the fore front, defusing what tradition teaches and enriching God's word for the modern day believer.

'Why Not Question' : Religion and Star Trek

'Bread and Circuses', an episode from Classic Star Trek, dropped the heroes Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy, into a Roman based world. The only thing striking them odd about the whole thing was a spreading belief about sun worship. It did not jive with what they knew about Rome back on Earth.

At the end, when they were finally safe back on the bridge of the Enterprise, it was Uhura who informed them it wasn't about worshiping the sun, rather, the son of God. It clicked in Kirk's mind that Rome also had Christ and wow, the word was just getting around.

Unfortunately, in Star Trek Next Generation, any type of belief in God had been done away with and the galaxy, a hundred years later, was filled with atheists. Although the crew did, from time to time, run into beings with religious beliefs, any type of belief in God was completely ignored.

Which begs the question, what happened in those hundred years to destroy God in the eyes of humanity? A question not answered by the writers and giving the new show a different flavor from the original.

'Why Not Question' : Religion and Firefly

Another show representing religious beliefs was Joss Whedon's 'Firefly'. In the first episode 'Serenity', the main character, Malcolm Reynolds, wore a religious medallion but lost his faith after his side lost the rebellion. Years later, Book, a type of missionary, joins the crew first as a passenger and then decides to stay, since he has no real destination.

One fun interaction is between Book, and River, who is, shall we say, slightly crazy because the government played with her brain. The episode is 'Jaynestown'.

Book: What are we up to, sweetheart?
River: Fixing your Bible.
Book: I-uh-what?
River: Bible's broken. Contradictions, faulty logistics - it doesn't make sense.
Book: No,no you can't...
River: So we'll integrate non-progressional evolution theory with God's creation of
Eden - eleven inherent parallels already there. Eleven, important number, prime number, one goes into the house of eleven eleven times but always comes out one -
Book: River, just take it easy. You shouldn't -
River: Noah's ark is a problem -
Book: Really.
River: We'll have to call it early quantum state phenomenon - only way to fit five-thousand species of mammal on the same boat.
Book:Gimme that! River! You don't fix the Bible!
River: It's broken. It doesn't make sense.
Book: It's not about making sense. It's about believing in something and letting that belief be real enough to change your life. It's about "faith". You don't fix faith, River. It fixes you.

I'd say the writer nailed part of it correctly. Faith does fix us. What is left out is the element of Christ, but the inclusion of Book in a futuristic, transplanted group of descendants from Earth, shows that in spite of the wish to destroy God, belief in Him will follow humanity to the stars.


Dialogue taken from 'Firefly, The Official Companion, Volume 2'.

'Why Not Question' : Religion and Babylon 5

One TV show in particular showed a great deal of respect for the various religions on Earth. It was Babylon 5. During the first season there was one episode where the various ambassadors on the station shared their major beliefs with each other. When asked about Earth's, Commander Sinclair took the Minbari, Centuari, and everyone else to meet with not just one religious leader, but several. A very realistic approach to show that even in the future, mankind will not have 'one' major religion.

It is also interesting to note the second in command, Susan Ivanova, was a Russian Jew. Her beliefs were obvious, including sitting shiva, a type of wake where those who attend share stories about the dead loved one, apologizing to God when something was said that shouldn't have been, and a continued steadfast faith.

Commander Sinclair also had strong faith. In the end, he transformed into the Minbari leader, Valen, who founded their ruling Gray Council and taught them a religious system whose origins came from Earth. Granted, the Minbari believed in a type of reincarnation with the souls being reborn into the next generation and thought that Minbari souls were being born into humans. A belief playing an important component all throughout the series.

Included as well was a group of priests who set up shop on the station. In a wonderful episode about forgiveness they helped John Sheridan, who was in command for three seasons, come to terms with the fate of a serial killer. Such people suffered death of personality and were reprogrammed. They spent the rest of their lives serving humanity. It was hard for Sheridan, but it was the choice of leader of the priests who personally chose the killer to be part of his order and sent the man back to Earth to be trained.

In 'The Lost Tales', a DVD released after the series ended, one of the mini episodes shared was about a demon who hitched a ride to the station.The person was captured and then returned to Earth in the custody of a priest. The interesting premise introduced was a concept that the demons would always be Earth bound and only humanity's children would inherit the stars.

Although not strictly Christian, the screen writer showed all belief systems with respect and serves as an excellent example for writers of the Science Fiction genre to follow.

'Why Not Question' : The parallel of the vampire legend to Christ

With Halloween only a couple of days ago, it seems appropriate to talk about the parallel of vampire lore to Christianity. While an odd topic, it certainly fits within the realm of this blog.

Let's start with vampires raising from the dead, just as Christ did. There is also a legend floating around that Judas was the first of the undead. Fitting, so it seems for the betrayer of Jesus.

Next, comes the blood. By Christ's blood we are redeemed, our sins washed away, making us acceptable to God. When we accept Jesus as our savior and Lord we become a new person or creature. A vampire takes its victims blood, drains them, sometimes enslaving them and becoming a person's master, and can, by sharing its own blood, turn the victim into a vampire as well. Thus the person becomes a creature of the night.

Then, there is the eternal life aspect. After death Christians move on to heaven to be with God and Jesus in a new body and live forever. If a victim becomes a vampire then they 'live' forever in the undead state, draining blood themselves.

And let's not forget the importance of a cross. Jesus died on it to redeem humanity. A vampire is terrified of it.

The biggest difference is that vampires can be killed by being beheaded, a stake driven through their heart, and in later years, silver bullets or anything made from it. Not to mention the creatures sleep in their coffins, never actually escaping their grave as Christ did.

And a vampire chooses its victim, while we chose to come to Christ, even though he already knows we will.

Not to mention the seductive mystique of the vampire. At least in modern day. It has not always been so throughout history.

Christ on the other hand is warm and loving, inviting all to come to him. Although in some countries, becoming a Christian is a potential death sentence and becoming a martyr.

A vampire often kills its victims or those it has enslaved. And, often they are cruel.

Yet, there has been a rise of different sympathetic vampires like Barnabas Collins of Dark Shadows, Nicolas Knight in Forever Knight and let us not forget the current popular sparkling vamps.

The real difference is that Christ is life, and vampires are shrouded in death.