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Featured in a "best of" anthology between around 2006 and 2015, not an old story.

The ending is a spoiler so:

For some major events which could have gone both ways it happens that the chronoscope shows both possible versions. The first night he sees the resurrection as portrayed in the bible and is jubilant. The second night he goes to view it again and is found by his boss drunk having seen the disciples deciding to make it all up.

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  • Yes, he's drunk because he's a Christian and he doesn't know which world he's living in, the one where Jesus did resurrect or the one where his body just rotted away
    – Valorum
    Commented Nov 1, 2022 at 16:16
  • 2
    Was the word “chronoscope” used in the story or did the device go by a different name?
    – fez
    Commented Nov 1, 2022 at 17:28
  • 2
    @fez - I don't recall it being called a chronoscope, personally. I've definitely read this, though. There was some talk about Christ's body being surrounding by sparkling lights, etc.
    – Valorum
    Commented Nov 1, 2022 at 18:33
  • I don't think it was explicitly called a chronoscope in the story, that I think is just the generic name for such devices? Pretty sure your answer is correct, thanks!
    – John
    Commented Nov 1, 2022 at 21:37
  • It's never called a "chronoscope". I just read it, and the physicist narrator refers to it as "the holotank". There is a first reference to a "phased sub-quark collision chamber", and mentions of event wave tracing and E-particle tracing. When the story gets moving, the two researchers just call it the holotank. Commented May 12 at 17:29

1 Answer 1

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This is "Crucifixion Variations" by Lawrence Person, originally published in Asimovs' May 1998 and reprinted in "The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction" in 2006. It's reviewed here

A brilliant physicist feels that Jesus Christ saved his life, rescuing him from his life of drunkenness and brutality. He finds a way to look at events in the past, although what is shown is a possible version of the past; if one views the same event more than once, it may be quite different. He decides to view the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. His supervisor, who narrates the story, is presented with a difficult decision.

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