RE: The Case for Atheism
August 6, 2014 at 10:57 am
(This post was last modified: August 6, 2014 at 10:58 am by JesusHChrist.)
(August 6, 2014 at 8:14 am)frasierc Wrote: Maybe you missed my previous comment, I was saying Paul was referring to 500 witnesses – I wasn’t including Paul in that list. If you claimed 500 witnesses had seen an event and that most of them were still alive and that I could contact them – I think that’s a strong claim.
If you don’t think that’s strong evidence – that’s entirely your choice its up to us as individuals to assess the evidence and come to our own conclusions.
Paul makes a claim about Jesus resurrection based on a large number of eye witnesses – most of whom were still alive who people could check with. Why would he make such a claim if he was lying? It would be very easy to refute – particularly as many who made claims for Jesus resurrection were killed - yet I don’t see any evidence that his claim was refuted. Do you consider all other eyewitness testimony of historical events beyond a 100 or so years ago invalid?
The facts:
1. Paul claims 500 witnesses saw the alleged event.
2. Paul has an agenda and bias to promote this claim.
3. None of these witnesses are identified.
4. None of these witnesses wrote anything down; at least nothing that survived. Nor did anybody they might have told, think to write anything. Not a word.
5. AFAIK, nobody other than Paul makes this claim. 500 is a lot of witnesses and yet they didn't tell anyone else, who could have written it down? Nothing?
6. Eye witness testimony is always suspect. When it involves supernatural doin's; even more so. Do you believe Vespasian cured the blind with his spit? Eye witnesses were there man!
The 500 witness claim is not strong. It is incredibly weak. Without corroborating support, the claim is nothing but words on paper.