We first need to look into any objective evidence, like if we could see Jesus or his body today.
Some Catholics believe that we have.
Alright, I think grief hallucination(s) are a good explanation for
some of the 12 disciples believing that they have heard they have seen, heard, or felt the presence of Jesus. And if we run the numbers, 12 disciples and 25% experiencing a grief hallucination, that’s 3 disciples.
As far as the claim of more than
500 witnesses. On the face of it, it’s
absolutely preposterous than even 2 people could have the same hallucination at the same time, much less 500 persons ? ! ?
But the source which you give . . .
which talks about if something is suggested and people have something to look for. And
“
Our Lady of Fátima”
in Portugal in 1917, people were super primed for something to happen. A lot of the people were engaged in the
highly dangerous activity of
staring at the Sun. So, when it was later claimed that the Sun had
momentarily come closer or zig-zagged, sure, a lot of people
gave their agreement to that.
All the same,
At this time I’m more comfortable saying that the claim of more than 500 seeing Jesus is “urban legend” without diving too far into the details of what type of urban legend.
Urban legend is a
big Universe and often involves a surprisingly little amount of lying.
Although after Christianity started becoming popular, of course you’re going to get a certain number of grifters. That’s human nature.