Piero della Francesca, ca. 1463-1465
(Wikimedia CC public domain; click to enlarge)
His disciples hadn’t always grasped the idea that Jesus would rise from the dead, but the prophecy was well enough known to concern the local authorities.
And, in fact, theft of the body will become one of the common skeptical explanations — already in antiquity — for the claim that Christ was resurrected.
And what a brilliant plot that would have been! “Hey!” say the apostles to one another. “Let’s steal the body, conceal it, claim that he was resurrected, and get ourselves put to death in the most gruesome possible ways!”
A very clever career plan.
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