Arcadia Discussion Zone

That is, if the Gospel narrative can be taken at face value! The narrative claims that an earthquake ripped shit asunder at precisely the moment Jesus supposedly died.

In the synoptic narrative, while Jesus is hanging on the cross, the sky is "darkened for 3 hours," from the sixth to the ninth hour (noon to mid-afternoon). Both Roman orator Julius Africanus and Christian theologian Origen refer to Greek historian Phlegon as having written "with regard to the eclipse in the time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great earthquakes which then took place.

Julius Africanus further refers to the writings of historian Thallus when denying the possibility of a solar eclipse: "This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Saviour falls on the day before the passover; but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun."A solar eclipse concurrent with a full moon is a scientific impossibility. Christian apologist Tertullian wrote "In the same hour, too, the light of day was withdrawn, when the sun at the very time was in his meridian blaze. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives." The darkness was reported as far away as Heliopolis and apparently the unnatural occurrence was referred to by the Apostle Paul when converting Dionysius to Christianity.

Humphreys and Waddington of Oxford University reconstructed the scenarios for a lunar eclipse on that day.They concluded that:

"This eclipse was visible from Jerusalem at moonrise.... first visible from Jerusalem at about 6:20pm (the start of the Jewish Sabbath and also the start of Passover day in A.D. 33) with about 20% of its disc in the umbra of the earth's shadow .... The eclipse finished some thirty minutes later at 6:50pm."

The Gospel of Matthew states that there were earthquakes, splitting rocks, and the graves of dead saints were opened (and subsequently resurrected after the resurrection of Jesus). These resurrected saints went into the holy city and appeared to many people, but their subsequent fate is never elaborated upon.[Mt. 27:51–53]

In the synoptic accounts, the centurion in charge, witnessing these events, says: "Truly this was the Son of God!"[Mt. 27:54] or "Truly this man was the Son of God!"[Mk. 15:39] or "Certainly this man was innocent!"[Lk. 23:47]

Ysgyryd is a word describing the hill's shape, signifying that which has shivered or been shattered. There is a rich mythology attached to the mountain ,including a distinctive stone known as the Devil's Table. According to legend, part of the mountain is said to have been broken off at the moment of the crucifixion of Jesus. There was a local tradition that earth from the Skirrid was holy and especially fertile, and it was taken away to be scattered on fields elsewhere, on coffins, and in the foundations of churches. Pilgrimages were made, especially on Michaelmas Eve, to the summit.

It was formerly the custom of Welsh farmers and peasants to obtain earth from certain important places, for the purpose of sprinkling through their stables, pigsties, gardens and even their house, to avert evil. Portions of this earth were also strewn over the coffins and graves of their relatives and friends.

Earth from the fissure of the Skyrrid Fawr, in the parish of Llantheweg Skyrrid, Monmouthshire, was used [in this way]...

Richard you may be right...we would have to have a date on geological data when the arizona crater was formed...,which does not rule out the possibility that some geological event somewhere in the world may have occurred...such as a meteor or a volcano eruption..I simply fail to accept that every word written in the Bible is a deliberate hoax ...some may be but not all....the stories about earthquakes and cloudy skies in Jerusalem are supported outside the Bible....it's the exact dates that we can't pin down..

Meteor Crater is the breath-taking result of a collision between a piece of an asteroid traveling at 26,000 miles per hour and planet Earth approximately 50,000 years ago.
http://www.meteorcrater.com/
Regards
Nic