Proof of Christianity

[Vicki Q]

this would be the question of why the Early Church got started with the beliefs that it did.

Then read Bart Ehrman's "Lost Christianities" and find out.

I've read other material by Bart Ehrman, and he is one of the best anti-Xian writers; however I haven't read this one, and I wonder what different material this book would bring. Given that I'm unlikely to have read it by any time soon, could you do a summary?

(Debate by summary. The academic equivalent of cheap pizza.)

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@Vicki, the fact that you believe despite not having seen it with your own eyes is proof that people would believe if they're told something happened. And there goes your argument.

I'm at all sure I've understood your argument. However, my reply to what I think it is would be that the disciples made clear claims that they witnessed the events, and observation, rather than any invention, is much the best explanation for the emergent beliefs in the form that they are. Or to put it another way, if they were going to create stuff about Jesus, it would be very unlikely to look like material that is coherent with C1 Judaism, yet is shockingly different.

For example, if you believed in resurrection at all in C1 Israel, you thought it would happen to everyone at the instigation of the Kingdom of God. The idea that one person should be resurrected in advance of that universal resurrection would be thought...bizarre in the extreme. It's all much more likely to have come from something they saw.