EASTER ISSUES 2025: Critic Velkyn1 Takes HillFaith Video to Task, Tapscott Responds

As usual, Mark fails with his claims. He says this “But there were guards, almost certainly a dozen members of the Roman Legion present at the tomb, and they formed a unit, a Kustodia, that was an ancient equivalent of today’s Special Forces Operators like the Navy Seals.”
Unsurprisingly, there is nothing that says that guards were “special forces” at all. Mark simply makes this up.
And the bible doesn’t agree with him either: In the gospel of john, Joseph takes the body to his own tomb. No mention of pilate requiring guards at all. Mary, being there alone, saw no guards and that the stone had be moved.
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.”
In the gospel of luke, joseph gets the body and the women saw the tomb and how the body was put in. No guards required by pilate. The women see the stone moved and no guards.
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body.[a] 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women[b] were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men[c] said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.[d] 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.[e]”
In the gospel of mark, joseph asks for the body, and pilate has to check with a centurion to see if jesus is dead. Joseph has to remove the body from the cross himself and no guards are required by pilate. The women saw the tomb and the body. They see the stone already removed and no guards.
In gospel of matthew is when everything is added, and contradicts the rest. Joseph gets the body, no questions asked by pilate. The women are sitting near the tomb and leave at some point since they need to return. The day after the burial, the priests request a guard from pilate.
That’s where Mark gets some of his nonsense, from strong’s concordance: “Word: koustwdiaPronounce: koos-to-dee’-ahStrongs Number: G2892Orig: of Latin origin; “custody”, i.e. a Roman sentry:–watch.Use: Noun Feminine Heb Strong: 1) guard: used of Roman soldiers guarding the sepulchre of Christ A Roman guard was made up of four to sixteen solders. In combat, they would form a square, and were able to hold off a much larger force.”
It’s rather unlikely it was “almost certainly a dozen members of the Roman Legion present at the tomb, and they formed a unit, a Kustodia, that was an ancient equivalent of today’s Special Forces Operators like the Navy Seals.”
Pilate tells the priests to use their own assigned guards for the temple from the jerusalem garrison. No reason why “SEALS” would be part of a garrison. There is also the point that Pilate never had a legion in Jerusalem, and the first time a full legion was recorded there was for the destruction in late 60-70s CE. He had a handful of cohorts of auxilliaries and it seems more were stationed at Caesaria than Jerusalem. so these verse don’t match what Mark tries to claim.
The women return, the stone isn’t moved, and the guards are mentioned. “62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[t] of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.”[u] 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.”
28 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.” and then: “11 While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 After the priests[c] had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 telling them, “You must say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 If this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day.”
Romans guards would never report to the jewish priests. This conspiracy makes no sense. Nothing more than the usual contradictions.
Thank you, Velkyn1, for taking the time to compose such a detailed, 1,200+ word critique of my comments about the Roman guard placed at the tomb of Jesus Christ. I offer two points in response:
First, you point out, accurately, that I say this in the video that prompted your comments: “But there were guards, almost certainly a dozen members of the Roman Legion present at the tomb, and they formed a unit, a Kustodia, that was an ancient equivalent of today’s Special Forces Operators like the Navy Seals.”
You then argue that “unsurprisingly, there is nothing that says that guards were ‘special forces’ at all. Mark simply makes this up.” But here’s how you misrepresent my words, Velkyn1.
I did not say, as you claim, “that the guards were ‘special forces.” What I said was the guard unit was a Kustodia, which is the Greek word used by Matthew at verse 27:65 for a “guard” or a “watch.” I then observed that this unit was “an ancient equivalent of today’s Special Forces Operators … like the Navy Seals.”
In other words, I used an analogy to a present-day term familiar to most readers to communicate the unique nature of a Roman guard unit. I did not argue, as you contend, that the ancient Roman unit was exactly the same as the contemporary unit of the U.S. military.
Did my analogy misrepresent the Roman guard unit? In the classic “More Than a Carpenter,” Josh and Sean McDowell observe, while quoting “The Military Discipline of the Romans” by George Currie, that:
“A Roman guard of strictly disciplined men was stationed to watch the tomb. Fear of punishment among these men ‘produced flawless attention to duty, especially in the night watches.’”
So, what you have done here, Velkyn1, is create a straw man — misleading readers to conclude that I meant an exact comparison when in fact I clearly intended an analogy. You then attached to your straw man a further fallacy, namely the ad hominem accusation that I made the whole thing up out of cloth.
Bottom line on my first point here then is this: “Kustodia” is the proper Greek term to describe a Roman guard unit in the context in which Matthew used it and, given the well-known hyper-discipline of the Roman Legion in general, my analogy to the present day SFOs like the Navy Seals is illustrative of that fact.
It’s worth noting here as well that the noted Bible scholar A.T. Robertson, in his “Word Pictures of the New Testament” exegetes Pilate’s words as quoted in Matthew 27:65 as follows:
“Make it as sure as you can (aspalisasqe w oidate). ‘Make it secure for yourselves (ingressive aorist middle) as you know how.’ Have a guard (ecete koustwdian), present imperative, a guard of Roman soldiers, not mere temple police. The Latin term koustdia occurs in an Oxyrhynchus papyrus of A.D. 22. ‘The curt permission to the Jews whom he despised Is suitable In the mouth of the Roman official’ (McNeile).:”
Second, Velkyn1, you spend the vast majority of your 1,200+ word disquisition emphasizing the differences in details among the four Gospels in their description of the tomb prior to the Resurrection and in the immediate aftermath of it.
Most prominent of these differences, you emphasize at great length the fact Matthew mentions the Kustodia, while the other three Gospels do not. You then argue that “In [the] gospel of matthew is when everything is added, and contradicts the rest.”
Your assumptions here are typical of the Fallacy of Silence, that is, arguing that because every example in a group of examples doesn’t include the exact same details, at least one of the examples must therefore be inaccurate.
Steven Lewis of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary explains the Fallacy of Silence:
“Similar to the fallacy of an appeal to ignorance, the argument from silence is a fallacy of weak induction that treats the absence of evidence as evidence itself. This logical fallacy essentially takes an appeal to authority and flips it around.
“The appeal to authority says that because an authority A says x, then x must be true; the argument from silence says that because an authority A didn’t say x, then x must be false. In effect, the silence of the authority regarding some particular claim is taken as evidence against the claim itself.”

The Fallacy of Silence is frequently seen in discussions of historical issues. What you have done here, Velkyn1, is like arguing that, because Thomas Jefferson never wrote anything about Sally Hemings, he could not then have had a long-running sexual relationship with his slave of that name.

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2 Comments

  1. Fredrick Graf on April 12, 2025 at 8:48 am

    Looking at this issue from the Roman perspective, there were no numbered “legions” in Judea at the time of the crucifixion. All the Roman troops under Pilates command were considered auxiliaries, most of them likely recruited from from the largely Hellenic (non-Jewish) population along the coastline. They were certainly “Roman ” soldiers, organized and trained along Roman army lines and in the service of the Roman prefect of Judea, but to say they were elite troops is a bit of a stretch. They were better than Herod Antipas’ household guard, and they would be loyal to Pilate if the situation in Jerusalem went sideways, but they weren’t elite Roman legionnaires.

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