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“Does he really mean the ‘twelve’? If so, that would include Judas Iscariot.”

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This is a good point by Bart Ehrman.

The Apostle Paul was a human being and he wrote as a human being. And apparently, he did NOT know that Judas betrayed Jesus.

• Judas Iscariot. As many of the disciples have two names, there is another disciple also with the name of Judas.
 
And this claim of “more than 500” witnesses is made nowhere else in the entire New Testament.
So? Again, Paul is not trying to prove the resurrection to his audience. They were already believers. Look, Paul only refers to the Lord’s Supper one time. Should we discredit taking communion because Paul does not mention it in all of his epistles? Of course not. It would not matter if Paul had named all 500 people by name in every letter he wrote; people will not believe if they don’t want to believe.
 
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Peter and John were arrested within weeks of Jesus’ resurrection and told to stop preaching that Jesus was alive.
Does the Book of Acts say this, and if so, where?
Yes: Acts 4:18-20 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

They were arrested again and beaten in Acts 5.
 
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Does he really mean the ‘twelve’? If so, that would include Judas Iscariot.”
No Judas was not included. After Judas’ death the eleven disciples voted Mathias in to take his place. So there were 12 disciples. This account is recorded in Acts 1:26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

As a professor of the Bible Bart Ehrman should have known this.
 
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No Judas was not included. After Judas’ death the eleven disciples voted Mathias in to take his place. So there were 12 disciples. This account is recorded in Acts 1:26 And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

As a professor of the Bible Bart Ehrman should have known this.
But didn’t the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven take place 40 days after his Resurrection [per traditional story]. And the events in Acts took place later, so a new disciple such as Matthias would not have had a chance to see the risen Jesus?

And yes, Prof. Bart Ehrman should have explained all this.
 
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It would not matter if Paul had named all 500 people by name in every letter he wrote; people will not believe if they don’t want to believe.
Some people are too skeptical, so be it. I think Paul could have included something. For example, look at these names from chapter 1 of First Corinthians —


12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”

13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.)

— NLT

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So, in addition to Paul’s own name and in addition to Christ of course, there are 5 additional names which are listed. But when we get to chapter fifteen and the claim that “more than 500” saw Christ post-Resurrection, not a single name is given. And even more seriously, not a place either.

I’m going to stick with my theory that Paul had heard this, and expected to hear more and have the claim firmed up as time went along. This didn’t happen, and he stopped including it. To his credit. Paul might have been in the state of not knowing one way or the other, regarding this particular claim.

1st Corinthian is the 3rd earliest letter of Paul. He had ample chance to hear more, but he didn’t.

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PS If I was still an evangelical Christian, I’m afraid I’d probably be in the category of “I follow only Christ.” Meaning, I’d be trying to go it alone.
 
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It would not matter if Paul had named all 500 people by name in every letter he wrote; people will not believe if they don’t want to believe.
Some people are too skeptical, so be it. I think Paul could have included something. For example, look at these names from chapter 1 of First Corinthians —


12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”

13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.)

— NLT

=============

So, in addition to Paul’s own name and in addition to Christ of course, there are 5 additional names which are listed. But when we get to chapter fifteen and the claim that “more than 500” saw Christ post-Resurrection, not a single name is given. And even more seriously, not a place either.

I’m going to stick with my theory that Paul had heard this, and expected to hear more and have the claim firmed up as time went along. This didn’t happen, and he stopped including it. To his credit. Paul might have been in the state of not knowing one way or the other, regarding this particular claim.

1st Corinthian is the 3rd earliest letter of Paul. He had ample chance to hear more, but he didn’t.

=======

PS If I was still an evangelical Christian, I’m afraid I’d probably be in the category of “I follow only Christ.” Meaning, I’d be trying to go it alone.
leave the camp leave the world

and “5” with “100” unwitnessed, right? No other Scripture witness iow. Im not as good as id like to be on that stuff, but im pretty sure “Paul” is…not meaning to be read so literally there, fwiw. 500 is code, surely. No witness forces one to give a diff weight to the writing, at the very least.

So either code or unwitnessed for some other reason, one of them not being “Paul just never got back to it,” surely
 
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But didn’t the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven take place 40 days after his Resurrection [per traditional story]. And the events in Acts took place later, so a new disciple such as Matthias would not have had a chance to see the risen Jesus?

And yes, Prof. Bart Ehrman should have explained all this.
One of the requirements to be an apostle was that the person must have been an eyewitness to the resurrected Jesus. Notice part of Peter's message about appointing someone to take Judas' place: Acts 1:21-26 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

This took place shortly after Jesus' ascension into Heaven.
 
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I’m going to stick with my theory that Paul had heard this, and expected to hear more and have the claim firmed up as time went along. This didn’t happen, and he stopped including it. To his credit. Paul might have been in the state of not knowing one way or the other, regarding this particular claim.
And you are perfectly free to believe this. Even if you have nothing to support it.
 
But didn’t the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven take place 40 days after his Resurrection [per traditional story]. And the events in Acts took place later, so a new disciple such as Matthias would not have had a chance to see the risen Jesus?

And yes, Prof. Bart Ehrman should have explained all this.
One of the requirements to be an apostle was that the person must have been an eyewitness to the resurrected Jesus. Notice part of Peter's message about appointing someone to take Judas' place: Acts 1:21-26 Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

This took place shortly after Jesus' ascension into Heaven.
and they saw Him come down the same way they saw Him go up, right?
Wouldnt standing there looking up into the sky be a logical act in the literal scenario?