Joseph of Arimathea

Blake's view of Joseph

Light iron-age reading
The Bible

Gabbin' with God

* Old / New Testament
* Apocrypha
* Annotated Bible

Analysis

* Ten Commandments
* Firmament
* Arsenokoites

Woo

* Presidential Prayer Team
* Creation Week
* The Drama of the Lost Disciples

Figures

* Mary (mother of Jesus)
* King David
* Asherah

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Joseph of Arimathea  was supposedly a wealthy follower of Jesus at the time of the crucifixion, a member of the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin. He allegedly buried Jesus in a tomb which he had prepared for himself. He is a saint in several Christian denominations, notably Catholicism and Lutheranism.

You can read the Biblical account in Matthew 27:57-60, Mark 15:42-46, Luke 23:50-53, and John 19:38-40.

## Contents

* 1 Holy Grail
* 2 Glastonbury Thorn
* 3 Did he exist?
* 4 See also
* 5 External links
* 6 References

## Holy Grail[edit]

According to a medieval legend, he eventually brought the Holy Grail to England and buried it near Glastonbury close to the site where Glastonbury Abbey would later be built. Joseph is of course referenced in Monty Python's movie on the grail.

## Glastonbury Thorn[edit]

Joseph also, in common legend, stuck his hawthorn staff into the ground at Glastonbury where it promptly rooted and bloomed every subsequent Christmas.[1]

## Did he exist?[edit]

In contrast to many other places mentioned in the Bible, there is no evidence that the town called Arimathea existed (despite attempts to equate it to Ramallah, Ramah, etc). The name Arimathea means "best disciple town", so it's a bit suspicious as an invention.[2] The Bible never mentions Joseph himself after the burial account, and he does not appear in extra-Biblical sources. It's also unclear whether Joseph would have had the time to bury Jesus as described, with the necessity to negotiate with the Romans, buy cloth, get the body, and place it in the tomb by nightfall. And a prominent Jew would not have been able to handle a corpse before Passover without becoming unclean.[3][4][5] There is also the contradiction that the Sanhedrin is supposed to have unanimously condemned Jesus to death (according to Mark), and yet supposedly Joseph was on the council.[6]

Since the Bible elsewhere suggests Jesus was abandoned by all his disciples, Mark and the other evangelists need some way to have him buried, and may have invented this convenient fiction. Alternatively, since the Gospel of Mark allegedly shows limited knowledge of Biblical geography or of Jewish customs,[7] its author may have presented a garbled version of actual events.

## See also[edit]

Three other men called “Joseph” are relevant to Abrahamic religions:

* Joseph (Old Testament), who had family problems
* Joseph (husband of Mary), one of several possible fathers of Jesus
* Josephus a Romanised Jewish historian misquoted by Christians

For details, see the individual articles.

## External links[edit]

* See the Wikipedia article on Holy Grail.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Apparently he was Jesus's relative as well
2. ↑ Was Joseph of Arimathea a myth?, Christian Worldview Press.
3. ↑ Rebuttal to Tomb Burial by Joseph of Arimathea, Peter Kirby, infidels.org
4. ↑ Arimathea, JesusNeverExisted.com
5. ↑ "Joseph of Arimathea was Probably a Literary Fiction", Debunking Christianity, 2007.
6. ↑ The Resurrection: A Critical Inquiry, Michael J Alter, Google Books.
7. ↑ The Gospel of Mark, Vexen Crabtree, HolyBooks.info

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Articles about the Bible

Old Testament: |  Goliath • Tamar • Tower of Babel • Abel • Joseph (Old Testament) • Firmament • Baal • Noah • Isaac • Ishmael • Amalekites • Curse of Ham • Jacob • Sodom and Gomorrah • Ezekiel's wheel • Lot • Nephilim • G'Tach • Joseph was Imhotep • Moses • Global flood • Cain • Gibeah • Abraham • Old Testament • Incubus and succubus myths • King David • Serpent seed doctrine • Leviathan • Messiah • Mark of Cain • Asherah • Nimrod • Sirach • Jezebel • Adam and Eve • Moloch • Book of Joel • Garden of Eden • Satan • List of actions prohibited by the Bible •
| Torah: |  Torah • Book of Exodus • Book of Genesis • Book of Leviticus • Book of Numbers • Book of Zechariah • Book of Deuteronomy •
| Old Testament History: |  Book of Esther • Book of Ezra • Book of Judges • Book of Ruth • Books of Chronicles • Books of Kings • Books of Samuel • Book of Joshua •
| Old Testament Wisdom: |  Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Book of Job • Book of Proverbs • Book of Psalms •
| Major and Minor Prophets: |  Book of Daniel • Book of Ezekiel • Book of Isaiah • Book of Lamentations • Book of Jeremiah •
New Testament: |  Mary Magdalene • New Testament • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Paul of Tarsus • Good Samaritan • Authorship of the New Testament • Magi • John the Baptist • Principalities and powers • Joseph (husband of Mary) • Nag Hammadi library • Messiah • Jesus • Gospel of Barnabas • Peter the Apostle • Pontius Pilate • Judas Iscariot • Book of Revelation •
| Gospels and Acts: |  Acts of the Apostles • Gospels • Q gospel • Gospel of John • Gospel of Mark • Gospel of Luke • Gospel of Matthew •
| Pauline Epistles: |  Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Colossians • Epistle to the Philippians • Epistle to Philemon • Epistle to the Romans • Epistle to Titus • First Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to Timothy • First Epistle to Timothy •
| General Epistles: |  Epistle of Jude • Epistle of James • Epistle to the Hebrews • First Epistle of John • First Epistle of Peter • Second Epistle of John • Second Epistle of Peter • Third Epistle of John •
Bible analysis: |  Apocalyptic literature • Authorship of the New Testament • Bible interpolation • Biblical sexism • Bibliolatry • Documentary hypothesis • Evidence for the Exodus • Gospels • Horizontal reading • King James Only • Pesher • Q gospel • Septuagint • Skeptic's Annotated Bible • Ten Commandments • Torah • Bible translation • Word of God • Biblical literalism • Biblical contradictions • List of mistakes made by God • Abomination • Firmament • G'Tach • Arsenokoites • Genealogy of Jesus • Nag Hammadi library • Noah's Ark • Annotated Bible • Slavery in the Bible • Examples of God personally killing people • Herod • The Brick Testament • Evidence against a recent creation • EvilBible.com • List of actions prohibited by the Bible • Biblical scientific errors •
| Bible translations: |  Cockney Bible • Douay-Rheims • Jefferson Bible • King James Only • Septuagint • Vetus Latina • Bible translation • Annotated Bible •
| Apocrypha: |  Didache • Apocrypha • Nag Hammadi library • Book of Judith • 2 Maccabees • 3 Maccabees • 4 Maccabees • Books of Enoch • Books of the Maccabees • Gospel of Judas • Gospel of Mary • Gospel of Philip • Gospel of Thomas • Infancy Gospel of James • Infancy Gospel of Thomas • 1 Maccabees •
Biblical figures: |  Abel • Cain • Ishmael • Jacob • Joseph (Old Testament) • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Noah • Paul of Tarsus • Mary Magdalene • Lot • Goliath • Nephilim • Moses • YHWH • Amalekites • Baal • King David • Joseph (husband of Mary) • God • Jesus • Asherah • Nimrod • Habakkuk • Adam and Eve • Herod • Pontius Pilate • Jezebel • Tamar • Judas Iscariot • Satan •
Bible woo: |  Jesus diet • Name it and claim it • Snake handling • Speaking in tongues • Spiritual warfare • The Bible Code • Gematria • Stigmata • Biblical longevity • Hanzi of Genesis • Dr. Bronner's Soap • Presidential Prayer Team • Trinity Broadcasting Network • Zecharia Sitchin • James Ussher • Creation Week • Zion Oil and Gas • The Drama of the Lost Disciples • Roman Piso • Jose Luis de Jesús • Prayer • Black Hebrew Israelites • Jonathan Otto • Benny Hinn • Presents Of God Ministry • Solfeggio frequencies • Ken Ham • Harold Camping • Institute for Creation Research • Steve Quayle • Kabbalah Center • Acharya S • Christian Identity • Peter J. Peters • Ezekiel's wheel • Creation Research • Biblical scientific foreknowledge • British Israelism •
| Scientific foreknowledge: |  Gaps between Science and the Bible • Scientific Facts in the Bible: 100 Reasons to Believe the Bible is Supernatural in Origin • Science Confirms the Bible • Eternal Productions: 101 Scientific Facts and Foreknowledge • Modern Science in the Bible • Biblical scientific foreknowledge •