Someone stole the body!

[Jehanne]

Counter-argument: This is using folklore to prove mythology. The evidence for first century persecution is scant. There's Seutonius' account of Nero blaming the Christians for the burning of Rome, but this is a story of scape-goating. There is no reason to think, if the emperor did frame them for being dangerous arsonists, that they would have been let off with a recanting of their faith any more than the Jews could escape the concentration camps by renouncing Yahweh. Later, in Pliny's letter to Trajan, he documents his own persecution of the Christians, wondering who the f they even are (didn't they burn the capital a generation earlier?) and how the Christians WERE willing to curse Christ under the threat of death. But even IF this folklore were true, early Christians going to the deaths with head held high, it would prove nothing. There are plenty of cults even today that feature both leaders and followers wiling to die for the most silly beliefs. Fanaticism proves nothing. 

All of these arguments are "swords in a field"




It is NOT my job as a skeptic to fill in all the blanks for you, to explain away all the mysteries of the universe, to fully unravel for you all the abstract questions about morality, meaning and purpose and put it all together in bite-sized, easily digested air-tight explanations (see the "moral argument" and the "transcendental" arguments for their god's existence). 

If I fail to do so, it does NOT mean you get to fill in all the blanks with your preferred mythology. 

If is YOUR job as a believer to fully assume the burden of proof and provide extraordinary evidence for your extraordinary claim that a man rose from the dead and flew up into the sky to be with his father god in Heaven. I have no reason to even entertain the idea that there might be some truth to the legends and explain away how the supernatural DIDN'T occur. 

I've had many friends relate their experiences with the "supernatural" to me. Some had near-death-experiences. Some have seen ghosts. When I was a child, I had my own "experiences" that I can't explain. I always listen and nod with a "that's interesting". Sometimes they get annoyed with my lack of conviction. Do I think they're lying? No. I trust them with my life. Do I think they're crazy? No. Many of them seem more sane than me. What then? I don't know. They had an experience they can't explain. I had an experience I can't explain. There's no need to explain it. 

I simply don't know and that's a valid enough answer. 

Great analysis!