Revisiting the Empty Tomb: The Early History of Easter

Title Page, Copyright

Revisiting the Empty Tomb T h e E a r ly H i s t o r y o f E a s t e r Daniel A. Smith FORTRESS PRESS M I N N E A P O L I S REVISITING THE EMPTY TOMB The Early History of Easter Copyright © 2010 Fortress Press, an imprint of Augsburg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. For more information visit: www.augsburg fortress.org/copyrights or write to: Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209. Translations of biblical and other ancient texts are the author’s own unless otherwise noted. “Side with the Seeds,” written by Jeff Tweedy and Mikael Jorgenson © 2007 WORDS AMPERSAND MUSIC (BMI) AND JORGENSTORMUSIC (ASCAP)/Administered by BUG MUSIC. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Cover image: Ivory relief about 400 a.d. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum. Cover design: Laurie Ingram Book design: Michelle L. N. Cook Smith, Daniel Alan, 1963Revisiting the empty tomb : the early history of Easter / Daniel A. Smith. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes. ISBN 978-0-8006-9701-3 (alk. paper) 1. Jesus Christ—Resurrection—Biblical teaching. 2. Holy Sepulcher—Biblical teaching. 3. Bible. N.T—History of Biblical events. I. Title. BT482.S65 2010 2009044518 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984. Manufactured in the U.S.A. 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 For my teachers, especially John P. Egan, S.J.† John S. Kloppenborg Richard N. Longenecker Tires type black Where the blacktop cracks Weeds spark through Dark green enough to be blue When the mysteries we believe in Aren’t dreamed enough to be true Some side with the leaves Some side with the seeds —Wilco, “Side With The Seeds” (written by Jeff Tweedy and Mikael Jorgensen) What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. And that which you sow—you do not sow the body that is to come, but a naked seed, perhaps of wheat, or of something else. But God gives to that seed a body exactly as he wishes—and he gives to each of the seeds its own particular body. —1 Corinthians 15:36-38 ...