Evangelicals Now
<< April 2005 >>

Is the King alive?

Though his death hit the headlines on August 16 1977, there are many people who seem to seriously believe that the ‘king’ of rock and roll, Elvis Presley, is still alive.

They think that Elvis faked his own death to escape from the prison which celebrity, fame and publicity had constructed around his life. Having come to the end of his career, he wanted to be able to slip away and live normally.

The story goes something like this. Elvis Presley was accused of destroying his life through drug addiction. But it is conjectured he was a pharmaceutical expert. While he took a lot of drugs he knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew which drugs to take to feign death. Further, it is said, he had collaborated with the US government to expose a fraternity of organised crime linked with the mafia, and so needed protection. The Witness Relocation Programme had helped in the deception and he was spirited away.

Private versus public

That is the story. But with some people believing that Elvis is alive, it is hard not to draw comparisons with what Christians believe about Jesus. We believe that the death of Jesus was not faked. He actually died. While the death of Elvis took place in private (his body was reportedly found in the bathroom), the death of Jesus was very public, on view outside the city where anyone and everyone could see what was going on. So we believe that Jesus actually died and was raised bodily to eternal life. So Christians do believe and proclaim that ‘Jesus is alive today’.

But on what do these fans of Elvis base their belief? Suppose we try a comparison. Here is some of the evidence offered as proof from one website which supports the ‘Elvis is alive’ story, alongside details from the story of Jesus.

THE GRAVESITE

Elvis’s name is spelled incorrectly on his headstone. His second name was actually Aron not Aaron. Also, the body’s current resting place in the family plot in the cemetery is between his father and his grandmother, not next to his mother where it should have been. But nevertheless the grave is there.

The tomb of Jesus was open and empty. There was no body there, and anyone was able to go and check it out (Luke 24.2,3; Acts 2.24, 29).

THE COFFIN

It is said that for the burial, Elvis’s body was replaced by a wax replica. Needing an air-conditioning unit to keep this cool, the coffin was excessively heavy and required many pall bearers to shift it. There is, according to the website, a hairdresser who reported being brought in to glue a sideburn which had come loose back on the wax body. But the name of this person is not given.

Though Jesus did not have a coffin, his body was wrapped up in grave clothes. These were found in the tomb and the way they were configured indicated that Jesus had passed through them and had risen (John 20.8).

THE DATE

Evidently Elvis was fascinated with numerology, fed by his interest in Chiro’s Book of Numbers. The idea that Elvis is alive is said to be supported by the significance of the date of his ‘death’ 16/8/1977. By adding up 8, 16 and 1977 you get 2001 which is said to be the title of Elvis’s favourite movie in which the hero plans his immortality in the bathroom.

The date of Elvis’s death is seen as significant after the event. But Jesus spoke of the date of his resurrection before it took place. On many occasions he said he would rise ‘on the third day’ after he had been killed (Mark 8.31, 9.31, 10.34, etc.). This was so well known in advance, that the authorities placed guards at the tomb (Matthew 27.63, 64).

THE APPEARANCES

Many believe that Elvis, having faked his death, found it difficult to give up performing. Shortly after the ‘death’, a masked singer by the name of Orion is said to have emerged on the scene. A fan claims that she rushed into a tour bus at an Orion show only to see two Orions in the back of the bus. She said that one ducked quickly into the bathroom before she could get a good look at him, but he appeared to look like Elvis Presley. Previously, it is said, a fictional story written by Gail Brewer-Georgio called Orion had been published about a legendary performer who had several identities and wanted to fake his death.

Whereas the sightings of ‘Elvis’ were by one or two fans who didn’t get a good view of him before he ducked away, the resurrection appearances of Jesus were seen by hundreds of people (1 Corinthians 15.6) and involved the closest possible contact (Luke 24.37-43). It is also startling that one of the greatest sceptics to be convinced of the reality of the resurrection was Thomas, a twin (John 20.24), who presumably would be only too familiar with the illusions it is possible to create by using look-alikes.

Of course, we could add much more to the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus, including eye-witnesses prepared to put their lives at risk for their claim that Jesus is alive, and the conversion on the road to Damascus of Christianity’s greatest opponent, Saul of Tarsus, through meeting the risen Christ.

How come that, though the arguments for Jesus’s resurrection are immeasurably stronger than those for Elvis being still among us, so many people find it easier to believe in the king of rock and roll than in the Son of God? Isn’t it because it is not just a matter of evidence? If Elvis faked his own death, so what? It doesn’t change much. We can still conduct our lives as before. But if Jesus is alive it changes everything. It means he is Lord of all, and most people do not want to face up to the implications of that.

Matt Benton,
Guildford