Debate with a Christian

[MindForgedManacle]

Look into what he says closely, something extraordinary is indeed present. He states that an immense multitude of Christians were convicted by Nero for starting the fire that burned a great deal of Rome in 64A.D.

Now, if Jesus, who we know was crucified, had died and indeed remained dead, then it becomes inexplicable as to how His immediate disciples (all of which were Jews), who were despondent, fearful of their lives and forced into hiding, could have somehow been the cause of there being an immense multitude of Christians in Rome which is roughly 2,000 miles a way in a mere thirty years!

If you think it's inexplicable, you have a shit imagination and little to know experience of how humans act.

Firstly, the fact that Nero convicted a bunch of Christians for setting Rome ablaze (assuming it is a fact) says nothing about what actually happened. After all, political leaders aren't exactly shy about blaming some minority for horrible shit. Just ask a Jew, eh?

Secondly, some religions spread, and quickly given the right cultural traditions, and here you demonstrate your ignorance of Christian history. "Christianity" didn't spread to Rome, "Christianities" spread to Rome. Yes, one triumphed over the others, but because it was the one that Roman culture was more suited to. Marcionite Christianity didn't appeal to them because it didn't have pedigree and tradition. The proto-orthodox Christianity had those things by being an extension of another ancient religion, so it could at least catch on.

The presence of so many Christians in Rome at this particular time roughly 2,000 miles away from where Christ was crucified and buried leaving behind a rag tag group of Galileans who were forced into hiding and despondent at the death of their Rabbi, cries out for an explanation.

1) Exaggeration of the number of Christians. Christians like to do this, and the Bible itself makes lies akin to this about Jesus, something historically not borne out.

2) Aggressive proselytization, which was actually done by folk like St. Paul.

3) You're acting like these guys just lost the will to live despite having apparently been with God made flesh. We humans manage to inspire people better than ypu make out Jesus' influence on his disciples to have been.

Both Suetonius, the Chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian and the Roman Historian Tacitus mention a "superstition" when speaking of Christians and many historians see this as an allusion to the claim of the disciples that Jesus had been resurrected.

Or they were talking about beliefs they thought were bullshit? 'Tis what most people mean when thet refer to something as superstitious.

Are we really to believe that these twelve Galileans would:

A. Be able to somehow steal Jesus' body guarded by Roman soldiers....

How do we know it was guarded by Roman soldiers? That's not something the Romans did to criminals they executed. Mass graves were the norm.

B. Hide the body in such a way as for it to never be found...

Mass grave? And how do you know they never found it? And we certainly wouldn't know if we'd found Jesus' body.