Resurrection (Alward rebuts Carter)

Farrell Till jftill@midwest.net
Sun, 31 Jan 1999 12:24:28 -0800 (00917835868, 2.2.32.19990131202428.008806e0@midwest.net) 

At 01:20 AM 1/31/99 -0500, Jason Carter wrote:

>>Ed

>>

>>I don't think that there's any question that the early Christian martyrs

>>believed in what they died for, just as there's no question that the many

>>Muslim martyrs have believed in what they died for.  Obviously,

>>Christianity and Islam cannot both be true, so it is clear that one's

>>willingness to die for a belief is not a testimony of the truth of that

>belief.

>

>CARTER

>There is a difference. Muslims died (and die) for they believe in the

>truthfulness of Mohammed's -teachings-.  

>

>The early Christian, especially the apostles and early witnesses, died

>defending the death and resurrection of a crucifed peasant. The difference

>is this: The early Christians (again, especially the apostles) were in a

>position to -know with certaininty- whether or not the resurrection

>happened. Yet they testifed to the upmost of its occurance.


TILL
I've already issued this challenge, Carter, but I will post it again.  I
challenge you to prove the assertions that you made above.  Post on this
list reasonable evidence that "the apostles and early witnesses died
defending the death and resurrection of a crucified peasant."  When are you
going to do this?  

CARTER

> In fact, Paul the importance of the truth of the resurrection especially

clear >throughout his epistles. "And if Christ has not been raised, then
your faith is in

>vain, and you are still in your sins", and "We have not followed cleverly

>devised myths..". What evidence was there to convince a man who was

>involved in the systematic murder of Christians to become a preacher of

>Christ? What event caused the men who had seen their leader die disgraced

>upon a cross to dedicate the rest of their lives to spread a story like the

>resurrection?

>How also was such a belief not immediately shot down by the Jewish leaders

>of this time? Do you see the difference? 

>


TILL
All through this statement you beg the question of NT accuracy.  Now it's
time for you to present reasonable evidence from unbiased, disinterested
contemporary sources that these claims that NT writers made were
historically accurate.

When are you going to do this, Carter?

Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net