Ancient Text Casts Doubt on Resurrection

A new interpretation of a tablet written in 1st century BC questions the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Times of London reports. One biblical scholar says the text conveys the story of an angel telling a dying Jew, killed by Romans 4 years before Christ's birth, that he will live in 3 days.

The text "could be the missing link between Judaism and Christianity," professor Israel Knohl said, "in so far as it roots the Christian belief in the resurrection of the Messiah in Jewish tradition." Scholars acknowledge that the idea that Christ's early followers adopted an existing myth—that Christ himself was not in the story's central role—could meet a chilly reception among Christians. (More Jesus Christ stories.)