The Historical Jesus

[Mister Agenda]

The authors didn't just make truth claims, they also made these claims during a time when there were living witnesses to the events in question who would've called them out for telling lies. Many of them died for those claims as well.

They also made them during a time when a living witness the next village over might never hear the claim until it's in wide circulation and then are you going to believe what a leader says that everyone knows or that one guy who says he was there and the widespread story is wrong? It was a time of no fact-checkers, no journalistic standards, and barely historical standards.

       When did I say new religions can't be started?
What I was saying is that if your new religion is based on something verifiably false then it will be much more difficult for it to spread. 

I'm not so sure about that. There seem to be several extant religions that have spread pretty well in their mere decades or century or two of existence despite being verifiably false. I think Mormonism and Scientology are verifiably false, do you disagree?

Is all eyewitness testimony of the supernatural wrong by default? 

It's not wrong by default, but it is by default not historical.

     Oh and yes the crusifixion of Jesus was unique, even from a totally secular perspective; this is because Jesus was well known for his ability to talk his way out of a tight situation. And yet, when faced with certain torture, humiliation and death, he didn't bother to open his mouth in his own defense. 

I admit I haven't heard the viewpoint that Jesus should have been able to fast-talk his way out of getting crucified.

Also, the crucifixion is one of the biggest events in all of human history. So yes it is a very big and unique event, not just because a person died on a cross but because one of the most famous people died on a cross. Indeed, there was something peculiar about this one Roman crusifixion which stands out against all others.

You THINK it was one of the biggest events in human history because you're a Christian. To the rest of the world it either didn't actually happen or it was just another poor schlub horribly executed by Roman authorities. Jesus's fame seems largely posthumous, given contemporary historians didn't make note of him.