Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morison

Reviewed by Tim Chaffey

 

     Originally published in 1930, the author claimed that it was the book that refused to be written.  Frank Morison was an investigative journalist and a skeptic of Christianity.  He set out to disprove the Christian faith by showing the resurrection of Christ to be a farce.  Upon deeper study, Morison learned the truth of the matter: Jesus did actually rise from the dead.  As a result, Morison became a Christian and wrote this book.

     In this book, Morison attempts to read between the lines of the gospel accounts to discover the truth about those three famous days beginning with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  He provides some great, and possibly new insight into the story that we have heard so many times. 

     A major focus of Morison’s book was the initial visit of Mary Magdalene and the other women to the tomb early on Sunday morning.  He convincingly shows that the attitudes and behaviors of the people in this story could only be the result of one thing: a genuine resurrection of our Lord and Savior.

     Chapters 10 - 12 are devoted to three different Biblical characters that serve as great evidence for the resurrection.  The first man was Peter.  What caused this man who fled from Jerusalem after thrice denying Christ to boldly proclaim the resurrection only several weeks later? 

     The second man was James, the half-brother of Jesus.  James was not even a believer in Christ until after the crucifixion.  What happened to this man that changed him from a doubter to the leader of the Jerusalem church only a few years later?

     The third person was a man known as Saul of Tarsus.  This was a man who was a bitter persecutor of the early Christians.  Later he became the greatest Christian to ever live as well as the author of 13 books of the New Testament.  What happened on the road to Damascus so many years ago that changed this man’s life so dramatically?

     The only logical answer to each of these questions is that each of these men had an encounter with the risen Lord.  This was no mere hallucination.  It was an actual, bodily resurrection from the dead.

     I did find a few problems with the book.  As a textual critic, Morison seemed to give greater weight to the Gospel of Mark since it is the oldest.  He often diminished the accounts of the other writers in an attempt to bolster a few strange ideas that he held.  We know that the entire Bible is inspired by God so one should not place one book above another to suit one’s own opinions.  He also held to the non-traditional view that the person in the tomb that morning was Mark himself, and not an angel as the gospels tell us.

     Overall, I really enjoyed the insight provided in this book.  The reader needs to be careful to check everything against Scripture to ensure its accuracy.

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Rating:

(7.5 out of 10)

About the Author

(from back cover)