Province of Gauteng v. Chad Hutchinson
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ORDER OF THE COURT

Romans 1:4 states that "Jesus Christ, through the Spirit of holiness, was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead." The Christian faith has long claimed that Jesus was proven to be God by his self-generated resurrection from the dead. Christians believe that the resurrection is the cornerstone of their faith, and that without the resurrection, their faith is vain, merely a belief in an ancient prophet now dead.

Christians also claim that if Jesus was and is God, all of His claims are true and thus binding upon mankind, the most important of which is his claim that he was the only way of salvation from the coming judgment at the end of the world - the only way to heaven and to God.

Defendant, Chad Hutchinson, has been brought before this court today by the prosecution on charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, racketeering, influence peddling, malicious threats, attempted extortion, religious bigotry and public address without a permit. These charges arise exclusively from events that took place in downtown Rosettenville on the 22nd of March, 2007.

On that date, Defendant was in the shopping district on Main Street, with Bible in hand, telling a small group of people that Jesus died to pay for their sins, and that because he was God, he resurrected from the grave and is now the only way for people to escape the judgment of God soon to come on the earth. Defendant's speech provoked a heated debate with several passing Muslim students that then drew the attention of the City Police. Defendant admits that he did not have a public address permit.

The charges of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, racketeering, influence peddling, malicious threats, attempted extortion and religious bigotry all stem from the substance of what Defendant was preaching and are therefore an indictment against Christianity itself. The prosecution alleges that in this modern and educated age, such superstitious and bigoted teachings as those of Christianity ought to be condemned since no educated person would ever believe that Jesus existed, let alone that he was God or that he rose from the dead. The prosecution alleges that Christianity is a hoax and a money-making scheme in which zealots prey upon the fears of the public by threatening them that they will face a fiery judgment after death unless they believe in Jesus.

Dr. Norman Anderson of the London Historical Society has stated that "the resurrection is either the supreme fact of history or it is the biggest hoax foisted upon humanity." It is thus incumbent upon this court today to pass upon the credibility of Jesus' resurrection first, and then move to the matter at hand.

FINDINGS OF THE COURT

1. The Court Notes That Jesus Was A Historical Figure

• He is mentioned by the 1st Century historian, Josephus
• There is no dispute recorded in the 1st Century that he did not live at that time. There was a dispute as to who he was but not whether he existed.
• The document known as the Bible, particularly the New Testament, focuses on Jesus and the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John chronicle events of Jesus' life.

2. The Court Notes That The Bible Is Valid And Reliable Documentary Evidence
The writings known as the Bible speak extensively of Jesus. The court must recognize the Scriptures as a reliable document, in the same manner as a court transcript.
1. There are over 24,000 manuscript copies of the Bible in the original languages dating back to 250 BC with little or no variation - far more numerous than any other ancient manuscript. More than Pliny - only 7 copies dating back to 750 AD, more than Tacitus - only 20 copies dating back to 900 AD, and more than Plato - 7 copies dating back to 950 AD.
2. In fact, from a documentary perspective, we have far more evidence to believe that Christ existed than that Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Shaka, or Jan van Riebeeck existed.
3. Further, the writings known as "The Gospels" are uniquely reliable.
" Matthew and John were companions of Jesus and eyewitnesses of events that took place in his life and at his death.

• John Mark and a Greek physician named Luke based their written accounts on a synthesis of eyewitness testimony at a time when other eyewitnesses could contradict or correct the writings.
• The court also notes a credibility factor. These writings do not mimic one another, but contain different stories and events, and the same events told from different perspectives - showing the absence of any kind of collusion.
• Further, these writings were circulated extensively such that anyone seeking to contradict them could do so.

3. The Court Notes That Jesus Truly Died
For a person to be raised from the dead, he must first have died. To deny Christ's death, therefore, is to remove all possibility of resurrection, so we must first examine his death.

A Public Execution Assured His Death
Jesus was tried before Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, on charges brought by religious leaders accusing Jesus of claiming to be the king of the Jews. The crowd demanded His death. Jesus was beaten and whipped, but the crowd still demanded his execution. Despite having no Roman charges warranting a death sentence, Pilate sentenced Jesus to a public execution to keep the peace and satiate a crowd wanting blood. On a hill outside of Jerusalem, He was crucified between two criminals who had received the death sentence under Roman law. The crowd and religious leaders supremely wanted Jesus' death and no doubt stayed until they were certain he was dead. After Jesus died, the Jewish priests asked for a special guard at the tomb, so they admitted his death.

Roman Soldiers Assured His Death
Roman soldiers under the leadership of a centurion conducted the execution. Crucifixion was the most common form of Roman execution - they were good at it. Crucifixion, like hanging, is seldom an instant death; some would live on a cross for days until, unable to hold themselves up any more, they suffocated. The soldiers stayed there until the criminals were dead.

On this particular occasion, the Jewish Passover feast was coming, so the criminals had to be dead, taken down and buried by 6 pm. To quicken death, they broke the legs of the two criminals. But when they came to Jesus they did not break His legs, because from experience they could tell that He was already dead (John 19:33). As a final precaution, however, they thrust a spear into His side (v. 34). It would take more than resuscitation for Him to ever trouble them again. Medical experts say that if He were not already dead, this in itself would have killed Him. Other doctors have concluded that the pouring out of a mix of water and blood from His side was proof that Jesus was no longer alive.

Another significant point is that soldiers, and particularly centurions, were skilled at killing and at knowing death when they saw it. When Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Christ so he and Nicodemus could bury Him, Pontius Pilate ordered a centurion to verify that Jesus was dead (Mark 15:43-45). The Roman governor would not release the body to Joseph until the centurion was certain that all signs of life were gone. You can be sure that an officer in the Roman army would not make a mistake about an important matter like this in his report to such a high official as Pilate. Mistakes for soldiers often meant death for them.

Jesus' Friends Acknowledged He Was Dead
Joseph and Nicodemus prepared the body for burial according to Jewish custom. This included wrapping it "in a clean linen cloth" (Matthew 27:59), anointing the body with "a mixture of myrrh and aloes" (John 19:39), and placing it "in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock" (Mark 15:46). It seems obvious that these bereaved friends would have detected any sign of life, including a pulse. Surely they would not have buried a breathing friend.

The Jewish Leaders Acknowledged He Was Dead
The Pharisees and chief priests met with Pilate to discuss what had occurred. They made such remarks as "while He was still alive" (Matthew 27:63). Soldiers were ordered to secure the grave with a seal. In addition, guards were placed on duty to prevent the disciples from coming to "steal the body away" (v.64). The Jewish leaders and the Roman authorities knew beyond doubt that Jesus was dead.

Other Notes
If Jesus had only swooned, as some allege, how did he get off his grave clothes since he was wrapped around and around? Even Lazarus, when he came from the tomb a few weeks earlier, had to have assistance getting off his grave clothes. How did Jesus roll the stone away that weighed perhaps 300 kilograms? How did he evade or overwhelm the Roman guards who were posted at the site? How did Jesus walk all the way to Emmaus only three days later?

4. The Court Notes That A High Official Secured The Gravesite
The next day, religious leaders again met with Pilate. They said Jesus had predicted He would rise in three days. To assure that the disciples could not conspire in a resurrection hoax, Pilate ordered the official seal of Rome to be attached to the tomb to put grave robbers on notice. To enforce the order, soldiers stood guard. Any disciple who wanted to tamper with the body would have had to get by them, which wouldn't have been easy. The Roman guards had good reason for staying alert-the penalty for falling asleep while on watch was death.

5. The Court Notes That The Tomb Was Empty
There is one central fact not disputed by anyone of Jesus' era - the tomb in which Jesus was laid was empty. On the Sunday morning following the crucifixion, some of Jesus' followers went to the grave to anoint His body. But when they arrived, they were surprised at what they found. The guards were gone. The huge stone that had been rolled into place over the entrance to the tomb had been moved, and Jesus' body was gone. As word got out, two disciples rushed to the burial site. The tomb was empty except for Jesus' burial wrappings, which were lying neatly in place. There was no denying that the tomb was empty.

• Months and years later when Peter and Stephen and Paul would preach in Jerusalem that Jesus had risen from the dead, even when thousands were committing to become Christians, no one would argue with them. All the Romans or religious leaders had to do was produce the body and Christians would have been silenced. But they couldn't produce the body - the tomb was empty.
• The Jewish leaders' statement that the body had been stolen was an admission that the body was gone. The Roman guards who were told to spread the rumor that thieves took it would have been put to death for letting thieves pass to get the body, so their story was not believable.
• Joseph of Arimathea is specifically mentioned as providing the tomb. Joseph was a member of the Jewish leadership council known as the Sanhedrin, so the events of the burial and empty tomb were readily discoverable to any of the Jewish leaders who asked.

So the question arose, "What happened to the body?" While no one saw the resurrection of Jesus, there were several witnesses that Jesus was gone. The credibility of these witnesses is strong.

6. The Court Notes The Culturally Non-Credible Witnesses
In the law, we judges examine the credibility of witnesses to determine if they are telling the truth. Things like tense body language, eyes that shift back and forth, overly perfect stories, or testimony that sounds identical to other witnesses cause us concern. Testimony is more believable when it is imperfect, when it varies somewhat from other witnesses, when it includes needless details, and when there is an admission against interest.

The gospel writers said that women were first to the tomb. Now, naming women as being the first to the tomb was highly embarrassing in the Jewish culture. Women and children were not considered credible and could not even testify in court. To fabricate a story, the disciples would have said that men, whose testimonies were permissible in court, were the first at the tomb. Telling about the women was an "admission against interest" and raises a strong presumption of truth. The first interview of the risen Saviour was by Mary Magdalene, a previously demonized woman! Why not Peter or John?

7. The Court Notes The Candor of Differing Viewpoints
The four gospels somewhat differ in their accounts (although they are not conflicting). If there were a fabrication, certainly those at the center of the plot would have agreed to present an identical story. Further, they have the flow and detail of eyewitness accounts, i.e., who ran faster, who got to the tomb first, who ran in, how the grave clothes were found. This also raises a great presumption of credibility.

8. The Court Notes The Absence of Myth-Making
The narrative in the gospels is devoid of theological reflection and mythological embellishment such as is found in the apocryphal books of the Bible, in the Koran, in Hindu writings, and in other ancient literature.

• By their own admission, the disciples (writers of the narratives) were not even ready or looking for Jesus. They had denied Jesus, fled from Gethsemane, forgotten everything Jesus had said about rising again and were discouraged, afraid, and hiding out for fear of the authorities. Even when they heard what the women said about the tomb, they didn't believe, except for John. And when they heard from the men who were on the way to Emmaus, they did not believe them either (Mark 16:11-13). These are terrible admissions against interest that the gospel writers recorded about themselves.
• If the resurrection story was fabricated, or they stole the body to say that Jesus had risen, the disciples would have been out on the street corner the third day announcing the resurrection and steadily thereafter trumpeting the story. In fact, they stayed very quiet for seven weeks until Pentecost.
• No one claimed to have seen Jesus actually rise out of the tomb. This would have been typical of ancient mythmaking - to see lightning, smoke, and swirling angels, etc., and Jesus acknowledging the writer.
• Christ did not appear gloriously, but as a human - Mary thought he was the gardener, not very flattering for the resurrected God-man. The event is not even mentioned as a miracle or as a deed of God. It is very matter-of-fact.
• The desire to embellish must have been incredible, yet the writers resisted it because of their commitment to write only the truth.

9. The Court Notes The Absence of Any Motivation For Fraud
There are three possible groups that could have stolen the body of Jesus: the Romans, the Jewish leaders, or Jesus' disciples.

• The Romans had no reason to take the body since the credibility of their guards, numbering from 10 to 30 and headed by a centurion, was at stake. The tomb was sealed which meant that the guards were to either die in fighting off thieves or die for letting them pass. Further, their job was to keep the peace, not cause an ongoing raucous in Jerusalem over the rabbi from Nazareth.
• The Jewish leaders didn't want his body gone since they knew Jesus talked about rising again from the dead (Matthew 27:63-64).
• The disciples had no real reason to steal the body, let alone the ability to overcome Roman guards. Further, if they were lying, they would not have later gladly died by beheading, burning, and crucifixion for a myth, and rejoiced at others dying as martyrs for the same myth.

10. The Court Notes That Many People Claimed To Have Seen Him Alive
In about AD 55, the apostle Paul wrote to a church in Corinth that the resurrected Jesus had been seen by Peter, James, the other apostles, and more than 500 people, many of whom were still alive at the time he wrote his letter, some 27 years after Jesus' death (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). By making such a public statement in a letter that was circulated all over the Roman Empire, Paul gave critics a chance to check out the claims of Christians. In addition, the New Testament begins its history of the followers of Christ in the Book of Acts by saying that Jesus "presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by [the apostles] during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).

Now, some critics allege that these were hallucinations of bereaved zealots, but the court has difficulty in understanding the concept of a group hallucination by 12 or by 500. Thomas wouldn't accept the resurrection until he could feel the evidence. Mary Magdalene thought Jesus was the gardener, the two on the road to Emmaus thought he was a stranger; the disciples even said that they thought he was a ghost, but then learned otherwise - they all had to be persuaded that he was real. Their testimony is both credible and uncontradicted.

7. Jesus' Disciples Were Dramatically Changed
The disciples had been frightened and dispirited. But over a period of seven weeks, successive appearances of Jesus and what Christians call "the coming of the Holy Spirit" during the Jewish Pentecost Feast dramatically changed the disciples into fiery advocates of the resurrection even willing to risk death to tell others.

Within a few weeks, they were standing face to face with the ones who had crucified their leader. Their spirit was like iron. They became unstoppable in their determination to sacrifice everything for the one they called Messiah, Savior and Lord. Even after they were imprisoned, threatened, and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus, the apostles said to the Jewish leaders, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29).

Eventually, every one of these men died for their faith in Jesus who was proven to be God by His resurrection from the dead. They believed, as philosopher John Locke stated in the 1600s, "the resurrection and deity of Christ are inseparably linked - that if you accept the one, you accept the other, and if you reject the one, you must reject the other."

CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The Court therefore finds as follows:
1. The evidence for the existence of the historical Jesus Christ of Galilee is substantial, uncontroverted and beyond reasonable doubt;
2. The documentary and written testimonial evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is also substantial and uncontroverted and under the law of inferential logic is found to be factual as well.
- Law 1 - The inference must be consistent with all the facts
- Law 2 - There must be only one inference supported by all of the facts.
3. Based on the above findings regarding Jesus Christ and the resurrection, the Court finds that Christianity is not a hoax, a fraud or a moneymaking scheme but is, in fact, not only a valid religious faith, but one grounded on substantial, credible and uncontroverted evidence.
4. Based on the above findings, the Court also finds that those who espouse the doctrines of Christianity, either individually or together in groups, are not involved in fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, racketeering, influence peddling, malicious threats, attempted extortion or religious bigotry, and in fact practice a core belief of their faith when they share the story of Jesus Christ with those who do not believe.

HOLDING OF THE COURT

1. The Court therefore finds Defendant, Chad Hutchinson, NOT GUILTY on the above-referenced charges.
2. Defendant does admit to giving public address without a permit and is therefore found GUILTY on this count and fined the sum of R150.00 payable within 30 days to Johannesburg City Police.

Court Adjourned.