RE: Four questions for Christians
July 8, 2013 at 11:38 pm
(This post was last modified: July 8, 2013 at 11:38 pm by Consilius.)
Paul was a member of the early Christian church just like everybody else. He taught at Antioch and participated in the Jerusalem Council. He actually described himself as inferior to the other apostles in a letter:
"9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed." 1 Corinthians 15:9-11
Both Jews and Christians believe there was an empty tomb. The best argument for the Resurrection not happening is that the disciples stole the body, although they themselves claimed to have lacked a motive for wanting to and the church wasn't founded until over a month after the Crucifixion.
Even preaching the Resurrection of Christ under these circumstances would entail that Christ had publicly claimed to be God, which he rarely did, and that Christ was also going to punish the Jews, as Jewish people would expect from a God, but the early Christians did not rise against the Jews under their newfound faith.
Lying about the Resurrection would have contradicted Christ's doctrines and warranted a Christian revolt. But the disciples lived and prematurely died with no political influence, and they accepted the authority of the government, contrary to popular Jewish belief at the time.
"9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed." 1 Corinthians 15:9-11
Both Jews and Christians believe there was an empty tomb. The best argument for the Resurrection not happening is that the disciples stole the body, although they themselves claimed to have lacked a motive for wanting to and the church wasn't founded until over a month after the Crucifixion.
Even preaching the Resurrection of Christ under these circumstances would entail that Christ had publicly claimed to be God, which he rarely did, and that Christ was also going to punish the Jews, as Jewish people would expect from a God, but the early Christians did not rise against the Jews under their newfound faith.
Lying about the Resurrection would have contradicted Christ's doctrines and warranted a Christian revolt. But the disciples lived and prematurely died with no political influence, and they accepted the authority of the government, contrary to popular Jewish belief at the time.
