Theistic Arguments: Claims and proof

[FallentoReason]

I recall one post that said something like, "provide any evidence outside the NT that Jesus even existed." That's not even reasonable. It's like saying, "provide evidence outside the Platonic dialogs that Socrates existed."

Both of those of those requests for evidence are perfectly reasonable. The difference between Socrates and Jesus is that everything we take away from the Socrates stories holds true whether he existed or not. If Jesus did not exist then the whole point of the bible that our sins have been absolved through his sacrifice is completely worthless and no attention need to be paid to the message. Sure, Jesus' moral teachings can stand on their own, but there are earlier and better sources for such things.

Here's a quote I stumbled upon...
"If Christ is risen, nothing else matters. And if Christ is not risen – nothing else matters." - Jaroslav Pelikan (2006),

That is well put. Personally I think the Christian-Atheist debates are all pointless and trivial except for the one debate that would practically settle everything and that is the existence of the Biblical Jesus.