Brad Henderson wrote:when i see anything that remotely resembles support for keyes 'arguments' then i will concede that i am in a debate. but keyes has made himself clear, he has no interest in actually learning or improving. but he is mistaken if he thinks i will stop. I will not let misinformed ideas to stand without comment. and so far that seems to describe every utterance keyes has made.
perhaps he will tell us again how the audience knows we have lied unless we are incompetent, or demonstrates that audiences think any differently of a verbal lie v a non verbal one, or shows that audiences care at all in the first place.
he has admitted that magic to him is nothing more than creating illusions for an audience to figure out. he is a puzzler
not a magician.
those who follow his advice risk becoming nothing more than the same.
but he has inspired me to present my own version of the resurrection. i ask my audience if there is a dead body laying about. I, of course, don't allow them to take a pulse or check for respiration, i only allow them assume that the body they discover laying prostrate in the parlor is dead. If couese they will assume that because everyone has dead bodies in their parlors.
then after 15 minutes of unscripted rambling delivered in an unconvincing british accent, punctuated by meaningless and over wrought pauses, i will command the body to move.
the audience will consider this miraculous because they convinced themself the body was dead by virtue of my having asked them if they saw one laying around.
should work.
I suppose I would reiterate my answers to these questions that you claim I have not adequately addessed, but I rather like your "resurrection" idea, so I will give you my version.
I have put a lot of thought into ancient mysteries of this sort, and engaged in many debates about "miracles" and what not.
Now, the first thing is to distinguish between a theatrical act like the one you propose and "the real thing", I.e., the cheating of death by crucifixion, for instance.
Let us consider how a man like Jesus might have done it.
My theory is that he was prepared to die, having incurred the wrath of Caiaphas, but that his survival instincts coupled with his brilliant wits enabled him to perform the feat.
One way to manage it would be to get seriously drunk on wine after the "last supper". Indeed, to imbibe all he could into the wee hours so as to render himself as senseless as possible. Thus he could easily pass up the myrrh that was offered hin on the morrow, although it would make bearing the cross extremely difficult. Perhaps that's why he stumbled.
Anyway, the hardest part would be btacing himself for the initial horror of being nailed to the wooden frame and consequently lifted to an upright position, his entire body weight exacerbating the agony.
It is considered a fact of medical science that most victins of crucifixion died not of loss of blood, but from cardiac arrest or "heart attack". If a man could distract himself from the pain or meditate on something else, he might stay alive where others perished.
I should think the man wise enough to induce his own unconsciousness, to faint at this point. Many would presume hin dead of course.
Then if he had the good fortune of a rain storm, the crowd would disperse, leaving only a centuruan, Joseph of Arimathea and Mary Magdalene.
The water might soothe his burning flesh and gently awaken him, his wounds no doubt making him numb all over, sparing him further ecstasy.
He would still appear deceased, as he would be incapable of movement after Joseph negotiated for possession of the corpse and laid it in the cart.
Joseph might have taken Jesus' body to his lodge outside of the city, and set it before a blazing hearth to dry the sodden shroud that covered the body.
In the morning, Jesus might have recovered sufficiently to move his lips, to whisper.
He might have implored Joseph to bury him, for it would not be safe to harbour a criminal in his house. He might have told him of a tomb he knew of that was already cut in the wall of the city, a place where Jesus had sought refuge on occasion.
If he wished, Joseph might look in on him from time to time, to medicate him and bring him food snd drink.
Jesus' body might have been placed in a hole in the wall that led to the Tunnel Of Hezekiah, an ancient aquaduct that brought water from The Spring Of Gihon to The Pool Of Siloam.
Though this "tomb" were sealed at its mouth, the occupant might yet be able to escape through a channel flowing with water from its source near The Garden Of Gethsemane.
The cooling liquid might truly have had healing powers, to cleanse and purify his ravaged flesh, an early use of "aqua therapy".
And when Joseph rolled the stone away, he found Jesus gone, inadvertently creating the impression that the deceased had freed himself that way.
I think that would give the audience "an experience they valued more than the truth". Don't you agree?