(January 22, 2014 at 6:41 pm)Vicki Q Wrote: The historical evidence for Jesus dying on the cross is utterly overwhelming, by contrast. Criteria of embarrassment, multiple attestation, discontinuity with Judaism...given there's nothing remotely miraculous about a leader of a Jewish sect getting crucified, I can see no good historical argument against.
I don't think it's overwhelming, and there are people here, who have much more knowledge of the subject than I do, who would surely contest it. Whether or not Jesus was a real man and was really executed by provincial Roman authorities is rather beside the point, which is, are Jesus' claims true? His messianic claims are the keystone of your faith; if they are not true, then your faith is sorely misplaced. I see no good historical argument verifying those claims. What makes the Christian salvation story non-fictional, when its claims are as historically verified as the parable of Elisha?