Questions from a skeptic...

[diffidus]

OK, I've read the New Testament-why would the gospel writers invent a Messiah who talked to women (when giving instruction to women in those days was seen as pointless) and was resurrected when they didn't expect either? AFIK, the Jews at that time thought that the Messiah would come and deliver them from Roman occupation.

Diffidus:

The earliest Gospel is attributed to Mark who based it on a testimony given by St Peter, a disciple of Jesus. This Gospel was written ~ 65 AD, and since Christ died at ~ age 30 this was written about 35 years after the events. This is not so long a period. I can easily remember my friends at school in the 1970s and could give reasonable accounts of there lives and achievements at that time - and these were quite unremarkable people.

At the time they were written, the authors could not possibly have anticipated that Christianity would grow into the world religion that it eventually did and they must have known that belief in Christ was dangerous and would likely result in being thrown to the lions.

For these reasons, I do not think the Gospels can be dismisssed. They are important evidence for the existence of a remarkable person and although I would not advocate hanging on their every word, I would keep an open mind - who knows what evidence may be unearthed in the future.

Fact->Adult life expectancy was about 35 for men and 30 for women

You realise that even if those proposed numbers are accurate it 35 years was a whole lifetime back then. Also if those proposed remarkable events happened who would wait 30+ years to start writing them down.

Diffidus:

Although the life expectancy was quite low, this does not mean that there were not older people. The average life expectancy in this era tends to get skewed by the extremely high infant mortality rates. The average life expectancy of an adult at this time was ~ 45.

The Gospel by Mark was based upon testimony given by Peter who preached about the life of Jesus. Peter himself was a disciple of Jesus and so this is about as direct as you can get. The reason why these writings were not written down ealier is most likely due to the fact that Peter, being a fisherman, was most likely illiterate. He played a central role in preaching but relied upon interpreters and scribes such as Mark to write things down. This was not unusual at the time, since the oral tradition was still very strong.

I don't think the 35 year period is so long a time that basic facts are likely to have been forgotten in the oral tradition. It is likely that some of the facts were embellished and even exagerated - in the same way that people today describe their heroes of the past.

How much of the Gospel is accurate is open to speculation. However, I think it must be considered likely that it was written about a person who made a significant impact on the people's lives with whom he came into contact and that this was the most likely motivation for trying to record his sayings.