A South African pastor has become a subject of social media ridicule after videos and photos of him resurrecting a supposed dead man caught fire online.

The mockery of his method and attempt to pull a wool over his credulous congregation is well deserving.

The widespread nonacceptance of his fraud and the scrutiny of his deception by almost everyone, including Christians is commendable—and makes me proud that, our generation seems to position ourselves as deep thinkers.

But what’s the difference between what this pastor tried to do, and what is claimed of Jesus of Nazareth? How are people able to confidently mock this pastor and accept that Jesus of Nazareth resurrected a man from the dead and also resurrected himself from the death?

There is no evidence (at least to an acceptable reasonable standard) that Jesus of Nazareth indeed resurrected a man from the dead or resurrected himself—except stories which were written down by people (his followers) who did not see any of these things, at the earliest 30 years after his claimed death.

If we adopt what I call contemporary scrutiny, like we have done to this pastor, to many of the issues that sit naked in front of us in the various quarters of religion—both ancient and modern, we would realise that, the scam started many centuries ago and the stories are at best mere fabrications.

How can anyone hold a straight face and mock this pastor or accept that his methods are grossly fraudulent and at the same time without question, wholeheartedly agree without any true facts that Jesus did the same simply because books which were written 30 to 70 years after his death claim so?

Religion is the biggest fraud out there and with the help of technology such as mobile phones, we are beginning to catch the players of the game pants down.

If this same pastor did this 100 years ago in Jerusalem where no one could have recorded it for worldwide examination, we would have relied on scanty hearsays from his followers—and we would have accepted that indeed he truly raised a man from the death.