Supporting Evidence #2: Women were There First
In the
first century in Jerusalem, women had very little legal standing. J.P. Moreland
writes, “In first century Judaism, a woman’s testimony was virtually worthless.
A woman was not allowed to give testimony in a court of law except on rare
occasions. No one would have invented a story and made women the first
witnesses to the empty tomb. The presence of women was an embarrassment; this
probably explains why the women are not mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15 and the
speeches in Acts, since these speeches were evangelistic. There was no reason
to include in evangelistic messages an incidental detail which would cause the
audience to stumble and not deal with the main point. The fact is included in
the Gospels because the Gospels are attempting to describe what actually
happened. No other explanation can adequately account for the inclusion of this
fact.” (J.P. Moreland, Scaling the Secular City, page 168, Grand Rapids:
Baker) Mark 16:1-3: When the Sabbath was over, Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that
they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the
week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they
asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of
the tomb?" (NIV) |
