The Resurrection File (18 page)

“Second,” Will continued, “Reichstad has to show how this article damaged his
reputation
. That means actual damage to his professional reputation among his peers and friends. He is also claiming the right to huge punitive damages against you.

“Third, he has to prove that what you wrote was
false
. And fourth, they have to show that you wrote it in
‘actual malice.'
Reichstad has the burden of proving ‘malice' because he is a ‘public figure'—that means that he is someone who is well-known and has been in the public eye. When it comes to ‘public figures', the First Amendment protects what you write about them unless they can show that you did it with ‘malice.'”

“By ‘malice' do you mean something like hatred or animosity?” MacCameron asked.

“No, not really. What it really means is that you had a reckless disregard for whether what you wrote was true or false. That you exhibited a lack of care for the truth about Reichstad and his discovery, and his possible connection to the deaths of Azid and Hunter.”

“So what is our response?” MacCameron asked, thrusting an index finger in Will's direction.

“Our defense is twofold. First of all, we are arguing that you did not act in ‘actual malice.' That you did an adequate investigation of the facts before you wrote the article. You weren't reckless about the information you wrote.”

“I'm not a reckless man, Mr. Chambers. I am passionate about what I believe, but that doesn't make me reckless.”

“That's true. But what is important is what the judge and the jury hear and see in the evidence. They aren't going to care about your good intentions if the evidence shows that you were careless and disregarded the facts.”

“And what is the other defense?”

“The truth,” Chambers replied. “While they have the burden of proving the falsity of your article, that only requires Reichstad to testify that what you wrote about him was not true. That's it. Then the burden of proof shifts to us. We have to then persuade the jury and the judge that what you said in that article is the truth.”

“But it is the truth,” MacCameron said with his voice rising. “As I stand here in the sight of God, I tell you that what I wrote is the truth.”

Will lifted up the magazine article. “Okay. Then let's get into it. You make two statements that Reichstad and his lawyers say are false and defamatory. Here is the first. This is the one about Reichstad and the two deaths.” With that, Will began reading from the article from MacCameron's magazine:

Remember, my dear reader, that Harim Azid and Dr. Richard Hunter were both in possession of the 7QA fragment before they died. The facts show that Dr. Reichstad, who now possesses the 7QA fragment, must be connected to the suspicious death of Mr. Azid and the tragic murder of Dr. Hunter.

“We will go over that one separately tomorrow,” Will explained. “Today I want to focus on the second quote that they are suing you for. In the same article you also write this, which they are claiming is also false:

Dr. Reichstad has brazenly concluded that the 7QA fragment is written about Jesus of Nazareth, and that it shows us that he was
buried but did not rise again. By concluding that, Dr. Reichstad is either deliberately lying, or else he has committed scientific malpractice.

“Now,” Will said, “what proof do you have that what you wrote there is the truth?”

MacCameron flipped open the pages of his Bible, and a second later he said, “Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, Mr. Chambers, chapter fifteen, verse fourteen:

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.

“And also in verses seventeen through nineteen, the apostle Paul says this:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.”

Will Chambers shook his head in bewilderment. What he was looking for was not pious pronouncements from the Bible, but cold, hard, credible, and convincing facts. Will's disappointment was clear in his face.

“Is there something wrong?” MacCameron asked.

“Those are
not facts
.”

“But what I just read you is the truth.”

“Religious truth. Your own private, subjective, religious viewpoint. That is different than factual truth,” Will countered.

“The Bible is God's Word. That makes it true. Therefore the facts in the Bible are true. And therefore what I just read to you is a factually true statement,” MacCameron shot back, his voice passionate.

“Look, I don't want a theological argument. And I don't want a debate over semantics. Your deposition is being taken next week by a lawyer who could have taught the Spanish Inquisition some new tricks. He does not want to just question you. He wants to humiliate and destroy you. Do you realize that?” By now Will's voice was just below a shout.

“I know better than even you what is at stake here,” MacCameron replied loudly and firmly. “But you have to give me a chance to explain before you jump to conclusions.”

Will's face was slightly flushed, and his jaw was clenched. He looked over the table at this strange religious zealot who had pulled him into a libel and defamation case that was beginning to look impossible to win.

“Go ahead,” Will responded in an exercise of control. “Try to explain. But do it concisely. And make it clear—and factual.”

“What you have to realize is that this case is not just about the law,” MacCameron explained. “Or even about the 7QA fragment. This case is about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from a tomb in Jerusalem. What people end up believing about—that historical fact—changes the course of world history. And it changes the eternal future of every human being who confronts that question. That's why I began with the Bible, Mr. Chambers. I gave you the wide-angle lens. Now, I believe that what you want me to do is start with the small picture. The microscopic view. That's fine. So let's start with the 7QA fragment itself.

“Now,” MacCameron said with a somber look, “what I am about to tell to you is exactly what the 7QA fragment says.”

19

B
EFORE
A
NGUS
M
AC
C
AMERON COULD BEGIN
his detailed explanation about the 7QA fragment, Will wanted to clear something up. It was clear that he would have to get up to speed on the basics of biblical archaeology.

“One question,” Will interjected, feeling a bit more at ease now with MacCameron. “Explain the reference to ‘Q' and the identifying number and letter.”

“Well, the Q stands for the source of the fragment—here, Qumran. It's by the Dead Sea.”

“The Dead Sea scrolls?” Will added.

“Yes. I see you have been doing your homework. Qumran was a Jewish religious community in the desert area near the Dead Sea in Israel. Most scholars believe that as of
A.D
. 68 the community either fled, or was decimated by the advancing Tenth Legion of the Roman army. Now near the Qumran community there was a series of caves in the jagged, arid hills of the desert. In the late 1940s some members of a Bedouin tribe of sheep-herders—part of the Taamireh tribe—discovered a collection of ancient scrolls and other writings in those caves. Those are the ‘Dead Sea scrolls.' The significance was that they contained the oldest manuscript versions of the Old Testament ever found.”

“So, are the Dead Sea scrolls just parts of the Old Testament?”

“That's an interesting question. A few experts believe that some fragments from cave number 7 at Qumran may actually be versions of the New Testament Gospels, but the majority of scholars reject that view,” MacCameron explained, his voice beginning to race. “The widely accepted view is that the Dead Sea scrolls only contain Old Testament writings. Versions of the books of Isaiah and so forth.”

“So why is Reichstad's fragment called ‘7QA' if it isn't part of the Old Testament Dead Sea scrolls?” Will asked.

“When archaeologists, and papyrologists, and others refer to a fragment of the Dead Sea scrolls, they start with the number of the cave where the fragment was found. That is followed by the ‘Q' reference, and then it is followed by an indexing number that refers to how that particular fragment is indexed and inventoried with all other fragments from that cave. Now Reichstad chooses to call it 7Q because he claims that when he bought it from Azid he was told it was from cave 7 in the Qumran area, and that was according to what some unidentified Bedouin who found the fragment said when Azid purchased it from him originally.”

“What do you think?” Will asked.

“From my one conversation with Richard Hunter in that café in Jerusalem, I have no reason to doubt that.”

“And what about the ‘A' reference in 7QA?”

“Reichstad simply chose that to identify it as the first fragment of its kind from cave 7 that he obtained, and to distinguish it from the other fragments from that cave that were discovered back in the 1940s.”

“So,” Will probed, “what is there in Reichstad's interpretation of 7QA that supports what you say in that article?”

“Let's start with what we know about 7QA,” MacCameron said. “Let's review what Reichstad
claims
that the Greek letters say in that fragment.” He opened the magazine to a different page.

AND THE BODY OF JESUS OF NAZARETH WAS LAID IN

THE TOMB. THEY DESIRED TO ANOINT IT

BUT COULD NOT RETURN TO PREPARE THE BODY.

THE BODY REMAINS IN THAT TOMB TO THIS DAY.

“What is the significance of 7QA being written in Greek?” Will questioned.

“That makes it consistent with the rest of the New Testament,” MacCameron said matter-of-factly. “The whole New Testament was written in a version of the Greek language called Koine Greek. That was the common, street-language form of Greek. 7QA appears to be Koine Greek. So to that extent it is consistent with the Gospels in the New Testament.”

“But isn't that the argument that Reichstad is making? That this 7QA is actually the original and authentic ending to the Gospels?” Will asked. “That later on the Christian church doctored up the ending to say that Jesus actually rose from the grave?”

“Exactly,” MacCameron responded.

“But aren't you supporting Reichstad's own argument?”

“Look, Mr. Chambers, there are a lot of things I do not dispute about 7QA. I agree that the papyrus is likely from Jerusalem from the middle of the first century. I agree that it's written in the same New Testament Greek language as the Gospels. And frankly, I don't have too much dispute with how Reichstad and his people have interpreted the Greek text.”

“Well, then what is left for us to hang our hat on?” Will asked, his voice tinged with exasperation.

“Three major points.” MacCameron replied. “First, there is what you lawyers call the burden of proof. Just a few minutes ago you told me that Reichstad has the opening burden of proof on the four elements of his case.”

“Right,” Will replied, happy to see that his client had been paying attention.

“But he also has the burden of proof
historically
.” MacCameron explained. “There are four Gospels in the New Testament. All were either written by eyewitnesses or based on firsthand information from eyewitnesses. And they all contain resurrection stories. We have manuscript evidence that dates those New Testament writings back to a time period within the generation of the eyewitnesses of the actual events. We have better evidence of the authenticity of the Gospels as accurate historical accounts than we have for any other ancient documents from any other ancient period.

“The apostle Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians around
A.D
. 50, when the witnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ would still have been around. In that letter Paul cites the fact that Jesus Christ appeared in bodily form to more than 500 witnesses after his resurrection. Now for the last two thousand years, not one document claiming to be from an eyewitness source has ever surfaced to contradict any of that evidence. Until now. So 7QA is the first and only attempt to seriously question the resurrection based on claimed eyewitness testimony.

“When I read to you from Paul's letter about the importance of the resurrection, I did so because that single historical fact is the core of what Jesus Christ is about. Jesus predicted that he would be crucified, and would die, and would rise again three days later. The resurrection proves that he was not a liar, but in fact foreknew, and fore-willed, his own miraculous victory over death.”

Will was listening intently. For some reason his memory began to conjure up, seemingly out of nowhere, the recollection of a card table down at the ocean cabin of his Uncle “Bull” Chambers. His parents would take him
there to visit when he was a boy. The table was on the porch, overlooking the crashing waves off the Cape Hatteras coast. There was always a huge, complicated picture puzzle spread out on that table, in varying degrees of completeness every time he visited.