Theists: What makes your claims right and the claims of other theists wrong?

[Vicki Q]

You implied that certain things were inconsistent with what the disciples claimed. If we have no writings of the disciples, we can't very well know what is or isn't consistent with what they claimed, can we? I'd think that pretty obvious.

I do wonder if you might want to take up my suggestion and read up about use of secondary sources within historical research. I'll try to summarise, but I would strongly recommend doing your own reading, as the thread/post format doesn't allow the subject to be explored in depth.

Broadly speaking, 'getting it from the horses mouth' is called using primary sources. Finding out indirectly is called using secondary sources. Thus I can find out about Churchill's life by reading his memoirs, or by watching a documentary about him.

Using secondary sources is a perfectly good way of doing history. I don't believe William the Conqueror left any writings, but we know a lot about him from secondary sources, and much of this information is regarded as fixed points of human knowledge.

Now we can be very sure from secondary sources that the disciples believed in a physical return from the dead, rather than a non-physical one. For a start, all the vocabulary used in Greek can only refer to the former, not to the latter. The theological context of the C1 understanding of resurrection requires physicality. Paul, who knew the disciples well, uses writing that only makes sense if the shared understanding is of a physical set of events. Crucially, all the accounts (the Gospels) detail a series of events that are physical.

I must stress that this idea of a single physical return from the dead was as unacceptable to a C1 Jew as it is now. Non-corporeal visions- not a problem. The only sensible explanation is that what the disciples saw had a body. That's why they said it did.

This is only a brief summary. Those who would like detail at an academic level I would refer to N.T.Wright's landmark book “Resurrection Of The Son of God.”

I hope this is helpful.