by Robin Schumacher, Christian Post
People who are uncomfortable with the idea of Jesus Christ rising from the dead have never lacked creativity. Over the centuries, they’ve produced a steady stream of alternative explanations for what supposedly happened that first Easter morning.
We’ve heard them all: the resurrection as a slowly evolving myth, the disciples stealing the body (Matthew 28), the swoon theory, the wrong tomb hypothesis, the “spiritual-only” resurrection, and a grab bag of other attempts to sidestep the obvious claim, which is that Jesus actually rose.
But my personal favorite? The “mistaken identity” theory. A handful of advocates, including Robert Greg Cavin, have argued that Jesus had an unknown twin brother who conveniently appeared after the crucifixion and impersonated Him. Cavin even devoted a 400-page doctoral dissertation (Miracles, Probability, and the Resurrection of Jesus) to the idea.
That’s not just a stretch in my opinion; it’s intellectual gymnastics with no net. But hold that thought.