If Michael Turner is seeking enlightenment then he should John Chapter 20

MICHAEL Turner just doesn’t get it, does he? Why does he continue to make inane, unsubstantiated claims about the theft of Jesus Christ’s body from the tomb last week (Letters, April 12)?

In my response (Letters March 27), to his letter published in the Echo on February 15 theorising that the body of Jesus was secretly removed from his tomb in the night by members of the Jewish Council, I pointed out that all the historical textural evidence points to the resurrection of Christ, and suggested Mr Turner had much to gain by studying it. Obviously, he has decided to completely ignore this advice, pre- ferring instead to dream up unrealistic theories about the event.

Perhaps he, who I now suspect to be a zealous secularist, would be more convinced about what a former atheist has to say about the resurrection.

Dr. Holly Ordway, an American university professor of literature became a Christian in 2012, having all her life been convinced that God was little more than superstition, completely unsupported by evidence or reason.

In her book, Not God’s Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms (Ignatius Press, 2014), she describes what changed her mind about God. “At thirty-one years old, I was an atheist college professor –and I delighted in thinking of myself that way. I got a kick out of being an unbeliever; it was fun to consider myself superior to the unenlightened, superstitious masses, and to make snide comments about Christians.”

In an interview by journalist Brandon Vogt, following publication of her memoir in 2014, she explains: “There were many pieces of evidence that all fit together to make a convincing case for the Resurrection; I’ll mention just a couple here. One of them is the behaviour of the disciples before and after the Resurrection.

Then, after the Resurrection, there’s a complete turn-around in their behaviour, and they become bold proclaimers of the Risen Lord.

“There were plenty of words that people in ancient times could have used to describe visions or sightings of ghosts, and indeed, such language would have gotten them in much less trouble! But they spoke of a Jesus who was alive, bodily resurrected, and in short order were willing to die for that claim.

“It’s important to say that there was no single, knock-out piece of evidence that convinced me; I was convinced by the cumulative claim, the way it all fit together.

“So, that’s what happened with my assessment of the Resurrection, except with even more convincing reasons to support the Christian claim.

The evidence was best explained by concluding that the Resurrection really happened.”

If Michael Tuner is sincerely seeking enlightenment, then I suggest he read John Chapter 20 in the New Testament and also Lee Strobel’s bestselling book “The case for the real Jesus”.

Peter Lindahl, Lynden Avenue, Long Eaton,