8/2/2019 2012.04 Operation Geronimo and the Resurrection

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Section A18 APRIL 2012

Operation Geronimo andthe Resurrection

During Operation Geroni-mo, U.S. Navy Seals killedterrorist Osama bin Laden inAbbottabad, Pakistan on May 1,2011. Contradictory reports rominsiders abounded. Did theseconficting reports cast doubt onthe act o Osamas death?

President Obama and hisadvisors were eyewitnesses, watchingthe raid live via the Seals helmet cam-eras. The White House monitored the40-minute operation, but observerscouldnt agree on what happened.

ConfliCtingRepoRts

1- We heard Osama red in responseto surrender demands; later we heardhe was unarmed.

2- We heard Osama hid behindhis wie. Then we heard he did not,but she charged thetroops.

3- Deputy NationalSecurity Advisor JohnBrennan said the wom-an died when Osamaused her as a shield.Later we heard she wasmerely shot in the leg.

4- Osamas sonHamza was reportedkilled. Instead it washis son Khalid.

5- White Housespokesman Jay Carneysaid the Seals were engaged in a re-ght throughout the operation. CIAdirector Leon Panetta said, Fire-ghts were going on as these guys

were making their way up the stair-case. Contrary to these reports, onlyOsamas courier was armed. Ater theSeals killed him at the beginning othe raid, nobody red on them.

6- The wrecked helicopter was

rst described as having malunc-tioned. Later ocials said it had notmalunctioned, but it got caught in anair vortex, lost lit power while hov-ering, and made a hard landing, clip-ping a wall with its tail.

7- Panetta said waterboardingGuantanamo detainees provided cru-cial ino or the raid. Others deniedenhanced interrogation techniqueshelped.

8- Dierent codenames were citedor the operation: Geronimoand Neptunes Spear. Osamascodename was reported asGeronimo and Jackpot. Which

codenames were correct?9- Brennan reported Osa-

ma lived in a million-dollar-plus compound. Local as-sessors judged the property at$250,000 max.

10- Reports diered onhow Osamas body was identi-ed. Some said rom photos.Others said by his wie. Stillothers said with DNA tests.

Do these conficting re-ports make you doubt whetherthe Navy Seals actually killedOsama?

Then why be disturbedwhen skeptics cite alleged con-tradictions in the Resurrectionaccounts as evidence the Res-urrection never happened?

Even i actual contradic-

tions existed in Resurrec-tion accounts, that wouldnot be evidence the eventdid not occur just ascontradictions in Opera-tion Geronimo accountsrom eyewitness insidersare not evidence Opera-tion Geronimo did not oc-cur.

When witnesses dis-agree about a trac acci-

dent, is that evidence the accident didnot happen?

Conicting reports do not meanan event did not happen. Variationsindicate independent witnesses. Mul-tiple independent reports actually in-

crease the certainty an event occurred.

HandlingdisCRepanCies

Resurrection accounts are historicalrecords. None claim, however, to beexhaustive records o everything thathappened. Each writer chooses de-

tails to include or omit.Accounts complementeach other to give auller picture than anyone report alone. Com-plementary does notmean contradictory.

Regarding #10above, all identication

methods listed wereprobably used. Like-

wise, the Resurrectionaccounts encompassdierent valid details.

Dierences in Resurrection narra-tives by Matthew, Mark, Luke, Johnand Paul conclusively rule out abri-cation and collusion. I they contrivedto invent Resurrection accounts,

would they have included such ob-vious dierences? I there were novariations, critics would charge theycopied each other. Dierences showaccounts come rom independentsources.

Alleged contradictions can be sat-isactorily explained through careulanalysis. Critics claiming contradic-tions bear the burden o proo. It maynot be possible to positively veriy ex-planations o seeming discrepancies,but once reasonable explanations aregiven, contradiction claims collapse.

Inclusion o embarrassing detailsand variations actually increases re-port credibility. For example, ater Je-

sus arrest the disciples are portrayedas scared and cowardly not as bold,courageous leaders. The risen Jesusrst showed Himsel to women, notmen unusual or that era. Some dis-played unbelie and lack o recogni-tion; skeptics could claim these peo-ple were mistaken and did not reallysee Jesus.

Fraudulent accounts would omitthese unfattering or controversialdetails. Why did the Gospels includethem? Because they occurred, and

Gospel writers aithully recordedwhat happened. These characteristicsmark the records as reliable and true.

examples

Ill explain some requently citedResurrection contradictions to showhow to resolve apparent discrepan-cies.

Women visit the tombWho andhow many? Matthew names MaryMagdalene and the other Mary as thosewho visited the tomb Sunday morn-ing. Mark listsMary Magdalene, Marythe mother of James, and Salome. Lukecites Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Marythe mother of James, and other women.

John mentionsMary Magdalene.Each author lists women who vis-

ited the tomb, but none claims to givean exhaustive list. Hence the reportsare complementary, not contradic-tory. Lukes account includes all thelists.

Even though John mentions onlyMary Magdalene, her use o we( John 20:2) indicates companions

John did not name.News o the empty tomb

certainly triggered multiplevisits. John relates two vis-

its by Mary Magdalene andmentions angels only on thesecond visit. Dierent num-bers o women and angelscould have been present orthe dierent visits describedby the Gospel writers.

Messengers at thetombAngels or men, andhow many? Matthew men-tions one angel. Mark de-scribes one man. Luke men-tions two men. John reportstwo angels.

The messengers wereundoubtedly angels, as Mat-

thew and John state. Markand Luke describe them asmen, because they behaved,talked and looked like men.Angels requently appeared

as men and were oten called men inthe Old Testament. For example, thethree men who visited Abraham andSarah were called both men and an-gels (Genesis 18-19).

Apparently there were at least twoangels. Reporting what one angelspokesman said does not rule out thepresence o a second angel. No ac-count says only one or exactly two.

emptytomb

Did you believe the presidents an-

nouncement that Osama was dead?The claim was alsifable. It couldhave been disproved (alsied) i Is-lamic terrorists had produced Osama.

They would have loved to make thepresident appear a ool and negateAmericas triumph. Yet they couldntalsiy the death claim.

Obama wouldnt have made suchan easily alsiable claim unless heknew it was true.

Likewise, the Resurrection was al-siable. Jesus grave was public knowl-edge and guarded by a cadre o Romansoldiers. All that was necessary to dis-prove Resurrection claims was to pro-duce the body. Nobody produced thebody, because they could not. Emptygrave clothes show the body was notstolen (John 20:5-7).

The disciples would not havedeclared and died or Resurrectionclaims that were alsiable, unlesstheyknewJesus rose.

aCCuRate aCCounts

The Resurrection accounts look veryaccurate compared with OperationGeronimo accounts. Resurrection ac-counts are dierent but not contra-dictory. They refect the diversity one

expects rom dierent people report-ing the same event.Scripture records over 500 people

seeing Jesus alive on at least 10 dier-ent occasions within weeks ater Hehad been buried in a sealed tomb orthree days and three nights. Matthew,Mark, John, Peter and Paul recordedtestimony to the Resurrection as eye-

witnesses. Investigative reporter Lukedocumented his research ndings.

I believe the disciples. The emptytomb and grave clothes thunder, Jesusrose rom the dead. Soli Deo Gloria.

Read the Bible-Science Guy blog athttp://BibleScienceGuy.wordpress.comand follow him at http://twitter.com/BibleScienceGuy.

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WilliaM T.PelleTier, Ph.d.

tHE bIbLE AND sCIENCE by WilliaM T. PelleTier, Ph.d. [woodside news COLUMNIST]

E-mail Dr. Pelletier at

BibleScienceGuy@woodsidenews.org.

2012 William T. Pelletier