(July 19, 2015 at 7:03 pm)Stimbo Wrote:(July 19, 2015 at 1:17 pm)Randy Carson Wrote: Did Lucas claim to be writing history? If we were to throw him in prison and threaten him with death, would he be willing to die rather than deny that Obi-Wan Kenobi rose again (v. being a fictional character in a story he made up from scratch). Lucas would think you were nuts for even asking the question.
Conversely, the gospel writers were not willing to recant their claims that Jesus rose from the dead because they did not believe - they KNEW - that he had risen, and no amount of torture or even death could persuade them to deny it.
None of that was in your five minimal 'facts', so I see no need to include it in mine.
Incorrect. Point #2 states that the disciples believed that they had seen the risen Jesus.
Either they saw him or they didn't.
If they did, then they knew that He was risen and they never wavered in that conviction.