Cardinal Kasper and the Friendly Ghost

and so he writes:

“[Mark 16] begins with a definite improbability. The wish to anoint a dead body, which has already been put in its shroud in the tomb, three days later, is not given any explanation, such as being a custom of the time, and is unintelligible in the climatic conditions of Palestine. The fact that the women do not realize until they are already on the way that they would need help to roll back the stone and enter the tomb betrays a degree of thoughtlessness which is not easy to explain. We must assume therefore that we are faced not with historical details but with stylistic devices intended to attract the attention and raise excitement in the minds of those listening….” (Jesus the Christ, p. 127)

This is so difficult?

  1. 1. The shroud was a hasty temporary solution because of the late time of death and the fact that the body needed to be buried before the Sabbath. The women were going back to finish the job. I learned this in Sunday School. Where was our learned cardinal?
  2.  The climatic conditions of Palestine? I heard that Palestine in March is pretty chilly, and that a cave is even chillier. Again, I learned this in Sunday School. Don’t they have Sunday School in Germany?
  3. The women forgot they needed help to roll the stone away? Who hasn’t made a mistake like that when stressed out? Rather than disprove the authenticity of the story it is these little inconsistencies that indicate that nobody has gone through and tidied up the tale. Besides, the stories don’t necessarily tell every detail. It’s very possible that a. they had arranged to meet the disciples there to help open the tomb or b.they were going to get the guard to help them open up c. There was a gardener, groundskeeper there who helped with such things. This little problem makes us say the whole story is unhistorical?

I’m sorry to be sarcastic, but the fact that this guy is not only a cardinal, but also a supposed “wonderful theologian and scholar” makes me scratch my head.

Sometimes I’m filled with wonder at the Catholic Church, but this is the wrong kind of wonder.