Can I invite you to look again at my first sentence: “As others have pointed out extremely well (Esquilax especially), there is a difference between lying and saying something believed to be true, but ultimately false. The latter, rather than the former, is what people die for.”
I am not claiming that a willingness to suffer for a belief makes that belief true.
However people don't put themselves in for a load of suffering for a belief they know to be false. Therefore if a large group of people are prepared to undergo a load of pain, it is reasonable to assume they believe what they're saying to be true, even if it isn't in reality.
There is an important question to be answered about how the Early Church came to being with the beliefs it had. Certain types of answer can be effectively ruled out (such as the disciples never believed it in the first place), given the unlikelihood of people volunteering to get beaten up for no good reason.
Put it another way. If Peter had got the disciples together after Jesus crucifixion, and suggested continuing the movement by claiming they had seen Jesus resurrected, the first question from everyone would have been- Why on earth would we want to do that? Why would we want our lives to be much shorter and very painful...for something everyone knows is nonsense?
It has all the attractions of starting up a local church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Saudi Arabia.
I am not claiming that a willingness to suffer for a belief makes that belief true.
However people don't put themselves in for a load of suffering for a belief they know to be false. Therefore if a large group of people are prepared to undergo a load of pain, it is reasonable to assume they believe what they're saying to be true, even if it isn't in reality.
There is an important question to be answered about how the Early Church came to being with the beliefs it had. Certain types of answer can be effectively ruled out (such as the disciples never believed it in the first place), given the unlikelihood of people volunteering to get beaten up for no good reason.
Put it another way. If Peter had got the disciples together after Jesus crucifixion, and suggested continuing the movement by claiming they had seen Jesus resurrected, the first question from everyone would have been- Why on earth would we want to do that? Why would we want our lives to be much shorter and very painful...for something everyone knows is nonsense?
It has all the attractions of starting up a local church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster in Saudi Arabia.
