(October 14, 2012 at 8:26 pm)Darkstar Wrote:(October 14, 2012 at 8:17 pm)Reasonable_Jeff Wrote: Only the resurrection of Jesus would have so changed them and convinced them that Jesus was in fact Messiah. Only an appearance from Jesus who had conquered death could take these cowards and change them to so boldly and fearlessly proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah and had risen from the grave.
Maybe not. Maybe they didn't believe he was messiah, but wanted to carry on his ideals in the form of a new religion and made fake claims of a ressurrection (among other miracles) to fool people into following teachings they believed to be right. What is more, no source other than the bible mentions these 'miracles'. This miracle would be particularly hard to miss, especially considering the fact that it explicitly states that many people saw it. What, did they all get sudden amnesia?
How many great things in history were never recorded? How many of the great things in history that never was written down became word of mouth tales and are now considered fables.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.
