From: HOLFELTZ@LSTC2VM.stortek.com
Subject: Re: What did Lazarus smell like?
Organization: StorageTek SW Engineering
Lines: 20

In article <Apr.10.05.31.34.1993.14365@athos.rutgers.edu>
rolfe@dsuvax.dsu.edu (Tim Rolfe) writes:
 
>
>My guess is that the "Lazarus, come out!" was also for the sake of the
>crowd.
 
I read somewhere, I think in Morton Smith's _Jesus the Magician_, that
old Lazarus wasn't dead, but going in the tomb was part of an initiation
rite for a magi-cult, of which Jesus was also a part.   It appears that
a 3-day stay was normal.   I wonder .... ?

[I haven't read that book, but another one by Smith in which similar
claims were made about Jesus.  While I'm sure Smith knows more about
early Chrisitanity than I do, I found his arguments similar to those
of books like "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" -- building conjectures on top
of other conjectures.  There was no direct evidence.  If you'd like
to summarize the argument for us, I'd be happy to see it.  But in
doing so, I'd like you to pay careful attention to the nature of
the evidence.  --clh]
