Jesus' resurrection was prophesized?

[The Grand Nudger]

The longer it gets left, the more people get to be part of the resurrection on the shiny new earth. Given that, I’m good with a delay of any length, frankly.

You being happy that a prediction failed because the new prediction includes you ( a brave assumption on your part, btw )....is all fine and well for your level of satisfaction - but it does not modify whether or not that prediction failed-in-fact.  

You're just telling us that you're glad it did fail...you see?  

This is a comment on your values and expectations. Personally, I put much less stock in the fantasy of a shiny new earth than in taking care of the one we have - which...to my mind, sounds a whole hell of alot more responsible and respectful of both the earth, and whoever allegedly made it. That's one of the things that leads me to my closing thoughts below. Just a mismatch in fundamental values that makes the question of whether or not the book is magic a fun academic aside - but not meaningful in any way.

You need to think BIG here. If it’s unstoppable belief you want to produce, why not go for ever changing writing in the sky, a whole posse of angels surrounding us, miracles on tap and a constant stream of pictures of Jesus in our food?

It’s almost as if God wanted there to be a role for faith.

Good for god, bad for a rational demonstration or argument.  I have an unstoppable belief in gravity. Any number of things, really. Presuming we live in a god breathed world, and especially if we take magic books many accounts of gods actions in that world, this idea of a shy god who leaves it up to faith doesn't hold much water. This would be the exception, and not the rule.

More than anything, though, this retreat into faith betrays your belief that magic book is a crystal ball. If god gifted us a magic book....then what exactly was god looking to leave to faith...?

“After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.”

You must have really big hands.

-there was an earthquake, the graves opened up, and zombies walked the earth.  What if I told you I had 500 nameless (and now dead) witnesses to breaking every track record ever set?  No miracles there, mind you, I'm just a really fast guy. Believe me? Probably not, eh? Okay, okay, better yet....some other guy tells you that he didn't see it but knows of 500 nameless (and now dead) witnesses to my doing so. Now you'll believe that for sure. No? Well shit. What if some third guy wrote down in a book about the second guy that he said he didn't see it but knew of 500 nameless (and now dead) witnesses to my doing so? Am I reaching christlike levels of certitude yet?

Ultimately, and I suspect this could be said about anything you would argue on the matter - you're going to need to figure out whether you have a blueprint for the future on your hands - reducing the truth of all of this to a mechanical exercise - or if you also see some issues that might lead other rational people to conclude that you're wrong...but you have faith in it nonetheless. There's absolutely no shortage of ways to disabuse yourself of the inarguable elements of the peculiar beliefs you present while remaining true to a faith in them. I say inarguable only in the sense that for whatever reason (the passage of time, unreliable narration, etc) it's not really possible to argue your way to the conclusion.

I don't want to oversell anything, you producing a more credible version of your faith would no more make me a christian than every jot and tittle of magic book being literally true would - it's just not my jam.