The Historical Jesus is real and He rose from the grave

[DeistPaladin]

I think the technical term is "die of Him".

Nice. And speaking of "why do they think this is convincing..."

Christians often use the alleged martyrdom of early Christians as proof that the myths must be true or they wouldn't have done it. I am more than a little skeptical of how much the folklore of early Christian suffering represents real history but let that go.

I usually bring of David Koresh, The Heaven's Gate (or Hale Bopp) cult and Jim Jones as modern examples of people dying for absurd religions, including the founders who should have known their stuff was bs. And this is in the modern age, a supposedly skeptical time when fact checking is just a Google search away. 2000 years ago, the world was awash in superstition and the citizens of that time were mostly illiterate.

Usually, I get blank looks in response. They don't seem to understand why there's any comparison. These other examples are just crazy cultists but the early Christians knew The Truth. The special pleading escapes them.

Even the more savvy apologists will try to draw some kind of artificial distinction. "These cultists didn't know they were dying for lies." But the martyrs of these cults included the leaders, who should have known. "But these cult leaders were crazy." And it's impossible that Paul or the other apostles were crazy?

Putting aside that this argument tries to use folklore to prove mythology, the special pleading is extra thick.