Speaking at Kennesaw State University, the infamous scholar and Bible critic, Bart Ehrman, cited Matthew 27:52-53, stating, “These are the zombies of Matthew — the walking dead.”
Unfortunately, many unbelieving critics cite this very passage and claim that zombies are in the Bible. Sadly, Bart, who is supposed to be an educated scholar, has also parroted this absurdly ignorant claim. Well then, let’s examine the passage and investigate this claim regarding zombies in the Bible.
Matthew 27:50-54 says, “50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now the centurion, and those who were with him keeping guard over Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were happening, became very frightened and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!””
So, Bart Ehrman refuses to accept the reliability of Scripture simply because it states that people had been resurrected. To Bart and many other Bible critics, their argument is as follows: (1) The Bible teaches that zombies are real; (2) but we know zombies aren’t real; (3) therefore, the Bible is unreliable.
So, does the Bible teach that zombies are real? No. Zombies are imagined creatures of horror that can be described as fully dead corpses which have been “reanimated”; meaning, their corpses begin to function again after having been dead, but they don’t have any use of their brain that would help them reason in any capacity, yet they somehow desire to keep eating… brains. Meanwhile, they remain in a state of decomposition. So, in other words, they’re alive but they’re not alive. Essentially, they’re without souls, apparently being manipulated by an evil force. Zombies are fictional and not at all what the Bible describes. Resurrection is totally different because the human soul-spirit (who is eternal) departed from his/her body (which is then declared dead), but then reenters again into his/her completely healed and restored physical body, and the person retains all functions and ability to reason, etc. (And no— resurrection is not reincarnation.) However, the origin of zombies did come from the devil and is in fact a demonic mockery of divine resurrection. The adversary always copies, counterfeits the ways of GOD, and then distorts or disfigures them as a mockery of His holiness.
Now, I find it interesting that almost every Bible critic I’ve ever come across points to Matthew 27:52-53 when arguing for the existence of zombies in the Bible, yet they completely neglect to mention other resurrections such as we see with the widow’s son in 1Kings 17:17-24, or the 12-year-old little girl in Mark 5:41-42, or even Lazarus in John 11:43-44. However, I have heard a critic compare Lazarus to a mummy when he came out of the tomb still wrapped up. (Again, the mummy is yet another distorted view of resurrection.) And with every single one of those aforementioned examples of resurrections in Scripture, the body was healed and restored, having the human soul-spirit returned to the body, and he/she continued to live the rest of his/her natural life until he/she eventually died permanently (in this life).
So, ultimately, what Bart Ehrman and other Bible critics are really arguing against is the supernatural. But that is, of course, because they are either materialists, naturalists, or both, and they presuppose that anything supernatural is automatically untrue. They outright reject miracles. Now, I already refuted materialism, naturalism, and all arguments against miracles in other published articles, so for this article, I’m going to place my focus on examining the top three Bible passages that supposedly describe or prophecy zombies.
Matthew 27:52-53:
Because this topic began with Matthew 27:52-53, I’ll start there. As it is clearly written, there was an earthquake when Jesus died and that’s when the tombs were opened. But whoever these saints were who rose from their tombs did not rise until after the resurrection of Jesus as 27:53 plainly states. And so when the Centurion became frightened, it was not due to “zombies” walking around; rather, it was due to the earthquake, the darkness of the sky, and what his conscience revealed to him, which was that Jesus truly was the Son of GOD and had been a righteous man. This has nothing to do with zombies and everything to do with resurrection. But the fact that these saints only resurrected after Jesus had risen parallels Paul’s point that Jesus is the “firstfruits” of the resurrection of all people (1Corinthians 15:20) and it partially fulfills Old Testament expectations that many people would be resurrected at the time of the day of the Lord (Daniel 12:2). It is for this reason Paul says in 1Corinthians 15:51-55, “Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?””
And so, why is it significant that some resurrected after Christ had risen? Because it foreshadows the future resurrection of all believers, just as Paul described. When Paul said that death would be swallowed up in victory on that day, he had cited Isaiah 25:8, which says, “He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the Lord has spoken.” And this prophecy will be fulfilled in the future on the new earth under the new heavens through Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And when Paul mocked death’s lack of sting and victory, he had cited Hosea 13:14, which says, “Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.” And because that verse was about Israel’s punishment and death in her judgment at that time, the future resurrection becomes the great reversal, redemption and restoration of all GOD’s children! No one realized it at the time, but death’s thorns were placed upon the head of Jesus as the crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2)! And because Jesus resurrected, there is no sting of death and we will be ransomed from the grave just like Jesus said He would do in Mark 10:45! It is for this reason Paul said in 1Timothy 2:6 that Christ Jesus “gave Himself as a ransom for all”! And this is why Paul, the writer of Hebrews, and John all proclaimed that Jesus was the propitiation for not only our sins, but the sins of the whole world (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; 1John 2:2)!
In addition, the fact that the saints who rose from their tombs “appeared to many” indicates that Matthew’s intention in this report was historical, for the detail would be irrelevant if his intention was merely symbolic. Further, the fact that these saints did not rise until after Christ had risen reveals that the resurrection of people who died looking forward to the Messiah depended on Christ’s actual death and resurrection. Who knows how long those saints “appeared to many,” but we do know that Jesus appeared to many for 40 days prior to His ascension (Acts 1:1-11).
Jeremiah 19:9:
The second verse critics sometimes use to claim zombies in the Bible is Jeremiah 19:9, which says, “I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.”
Now, the act of eating flesh fits descriptions of zombies, but this is still not about zombies. Not even close. When this verse is understood in its proper context, this verse describes judgment against the “kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem” (19:3). But why such a harsh judgment? Well, 19:4-5 informs us that they had forsaken GOD, filled the place with the blood of the innocent, and even sacrificed their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal. In short, they became wicked and thus brought judgment upon themselves. Now, GOD does not condone cannibalism. The extreme scenario described here would be the result of a prolonged siege against Jerusalem from Babylonian enemies. Under such conditions, because they were trapped and unable to flee, the people would be forced to choose among options that are equally repugnant — in this case, cannibalism or slow death by starvation. (See also, 2Kings 6:28-30; Isaiah 9:20; Lamentations 4:9-10; Ezekiel 5:10.) And this was not a rare occurrence for ancient war tactics. Enemies would often surround a place and just wait them out until they had no more food or supplies — especially if the place was fortified. And so this wasn’t a direct threat by GOD of what He was going to force them to do; rather, it was prophecy or a promise out from GOD’s omniscience of what GOD knew they would do. The state into which Jerusalem would fall reflected the promised curses taking effect: the city would be an object of scorn (Deuteronomy 28:37) and its inhabitants reduced to eating their own young (Leviticus 26:29; Deuteronomy 28:53-55). And it happened, just as GOD said it would (Lamentations 2:20; 4:10). But it happened out from their free will to choose evil.
Zechariah 14:12:
And finally, the third verse critics often use to claim zombies in the Bible is Zechariah 14:12, which says, “Now this will be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth.”
Now, while the description of rotting flesh fits the description of zombies, it’s still not about zombies. In fact, this verse in its proper context is all about judgment; however, this time it’s judgment against the enemies of Israel. In fact, this section of Scripture talks about the Messiah’s coming as a conquering King and how the Lord fights for His people. And in doing so, it is exactly as it is written in this very verse that those who war against Jerusalem will have a plague sent upon them. And so this clearly describes people who are already living but then die, not those who were dead being reanimated to life. This is referring to some type of skin disease or perhaps even chemical warfare. Further, when the conquering King does come, Zechariah 12:10 says “they will look on Me whom they have pierced,” which describes Jesus, who had been pierced for their transgressions (Isaiah 53:5; John 19:34-37). And this is not the only prophecy Jesus every fulfilled – far from it! But this specific prophecy will be completely fulfilled in Christ’s second coming through Revelation 1:7; 19:11-16. It is at that time that what is written in Matthew 24:30-31 will be fulfilled: “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” And this is the very same event Paul spoke about in 1Corinthians 15:51-55 when the corruptible mortality will put on incorruptible immortality.
So, does the Bible describe or prophecy the existence of zombies? No. But the Word of GOD does describe and promise resurrection, which is the life to come on the new earth under the new heavens. Read about it yourself in Revelation 21-22.
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Quest For Truth 