Could Jesus have used occult powers to 'fake' his death & resurrection?

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I came across a list of occultic powers called Siddhis that are usually achieved through yoga and meditation. Regarding the death and resurrection of Jesus, could he have used these to deceive people (intentionally or unintentionally):

Being declared dead and coming back to life again.
Swacchand Mrityu: This is the ability to simulate death in a deep trance through cessation of breathing and heartbeat. It also gives the ability to die at the time of one’s own choosing. It also gives the ability to do “astral traveling”, “lucid dreaming”, going about in the subtle realm consciously, and then return to the entranced or sleeping body when one chooses.

The empty tomb.
Siddhi III.21. Disappearance of the body from view

Here is the link with all the siddhis. Alot of them are similar to the miracles of Jesus. I wouldn’t read them if one is weak in faith though.
https://www.absolutoracle.com/Rudrachakrin/Articles/The24Siddhis.htm

 
There’s no evidence of withcraft or occultism even working so I wouldn’t be concerned about that.
 
Christ had his side pierced by a lance which was the way the Romans used to make sure that the person was dead.
 
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Once something like that happens it’s a done deal. There is no coming back from that unless God has a hand in it. No occult magic can save someone from that.
 
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Occultism is superstition. Associating our Lord with this superstition is sacrilege.
 
If this were the case, all the rest of the Gospels and basically all of Church history would just make no sense. Why the parables, why the claims to divinity? Why the foot washing and telling Peter the plan to found a church? That’s the problem with isolating Jesus and trying to fit Him into a preconceived idea, it does so at the expense of the historical context and narrative we see within the New Testament.
 
curious_cath said:
Associating our Lord with this superstition is sacrilege.
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Yes, I understand and I’m not accusing our Lord of doing that. I’m just asking if there is a possibility that foul play was involved.
Brittany said:
How can a house divided against itself stand?
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Yes, I understand. But isn’t that what is claimed when the pagans perform a miracle? “It was a work of a demon” One of those siddhis is the ability to turn water into wine. What makes Jesus different from them?
RKS89 said:
If this were the case, all the rest of the Gospels and basically all of Church history would just make no sense. Why the parables, why the claims to divinity? Why the foot washing and telling Peter the plan to found a church?
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I imagine if there was a deceptive plot to get people to believe in him as being God and the resurrection, wouldn’t he say and do stuff like this?
 
There’s a lot of detail for it to be a deception. Why would we see a transformation in the Apostles at Pentecost, and why would they document their own cowardice and lack of understanding only to be tortured and murdered after the fact? There’s also just enough variation between Gospel accounts to make deception unlikely. In the end these kinds of ideas simply fail to follow the implications they birth to their logical conclusions.

It would be an exceptionally elaborate hoax with almost no reward for anyone involved.
 
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By definition the ‘occult’ is some supernatural influence that is not from God. Jesus is God. The occult should be rejected.
 
Why are you reading works concerning the occult? At the very least this is a near-occasion of sin. Avoid it.
 
CatholicHere_Hi said:
I’m just asking if there is a possibility that foul play was involved.
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Foul play…?! You must be mad. You say you don’t accuse Jesus, but you do in the next sentence. Don’t you have any sense of shame?

By the way, whom do you ask here…? Your question does not seem to be genuine inquiry at all.
 
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curious_cath said:
You say you don’t accuse Jesus, but you do in the next sentence. Don’t you have any sense of shame
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I never accused Jesus of doing anything wrong. I simply asked if there was a possibility he did. This is how apologetics work. I have a question about the faith.
curious_cath said:
By the way, whom do you ask here…?
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I ask the Catholic perspective on this.
 
Pretty silly for a man to go through excruciating flogging, crucifixion, etc… only to fake his death. He couldn’t even make it and carry his cross, and they had to get another man to do it for him. He was at the brink of death as it is!
 
curious_cath said:
I think you are fake. Lol.
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Not only is that untrue. It is also very rude and uncharitable for you to say that about me. I’ve been a member on here for 3 months and I have been a practicing Catholic since 2010. Just because I asked a question that offends you, doesn’t make me a “fake” Catholic, “mad”, or I don’t have “any sense of shame”.

I’m trying to get a better perspective on my faith and how to battle opposing arguments against it, like the example of non-Christian religions having Siddhi powers that resemble the miracles of Jesus and the possibility that Jesus used those to deceive. I posted the links to show I’m not just making this stuff up either about these siddhis. This is a concern of mine that I come on to a Catholic apologetic forum to get some clarity on, not insults.

I mis-used the word ‘foul play’ by the way. I looked up the definition and that wasn’t what I had in mind. I thought ‘foul play’ meant something unwholesome or immoral.
 
I want to thank everyone here who participated in serious theological discussion with me instead of resorting to insults and name calling.
 
Why would God, the creator of all things, the alpha and the omega, the uncaused cause of all things, need to use occult powers to accomplish anything???
 
joeybaggz said:
Why would God, the creator of all things, the alpha and the omega, the uncaused cause of all things, need to use occult powers to accomplish anything???
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He wouldn’t. But the reason we believe Jesus is God is because of the resurrection. If the resurrection was a hoax, then he wouldn’t be God and that argument wouldn’t apply.
 
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