Proving The Resurrection By the Minimal Facts Approach

[RobbyPants]

I don't really care where you start...it only matters where you finish.

Well, if we start at "very doubtful", then you have quite a task to get us up to "somewhat certain".

If you have any historical evidence that would refute any of my five facts and that has been overlooked by the thousands of professional NT scholars teaching at major universities throughout the Western world who accept them, would you mind sharing it with us?

Are you talking about me being "somewhat certain that a man named Jesus historically existed around 2,000 years ago" or me being "somewhat certain that a man named Jesus did a whole bunch of magic 2,000 years ago"?

Because those aren't equivalent statements, and no one has brought up any evidence to make that second one budge much higher than "quite doubtful". If you're talking about the first one, then yeah, you can get that up to or even above "uncertain", but that's also not a really impressive or meaningful claim.

[abaris]

Indoor plumbing.

Public shithouses with social interaction.

[Cyberman]

So the Romans invented the internet?

[KevinM1]

So the Romans invented the internet?

I didn't know Al Gore was Roman.

[Minimalist]

You have evidence that a guy, let's call him Jesus, lived somewhat 2000 years ago, went against some part of the established religious leadership and got nailed.

No, he doesn't.  He has a claim - contained in a single absurd old book - which is not evidence of anything except the author being a shithead or a con man.

[pocaracas]

You have evidence that a guy, let's call him Jesus, lived somewhat 2000 years ago, went against some part of the established religious leadership and got nailed.

No, he doesn't.  He has a claim - contained in a single absurd old book - which is not evidence of anything except the author being a shithead or a con man.

There are more similar stories from this time period, such as the Teacher of Righteousness, hinting that maybe there's some truth to the underlying story...
Although, the story of the underdog that goes through a transformation and becomes the main man is common enough in fiction and resonates well enough with the common folk to have been through several reincarnations, in writing, in theater, in cinema, on tv... hinting at a fictitious origin to any such story.

[Minimalist]

There is Apollonius of Tyana, too.  Same shit as jesus.  Legends spread.  In a fish story the fish always gets bigger.

[pocaracas]

Bigger fish, you say?
http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0033.html

The originator of:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ma...BiggerFish

[Minimalist]

Yep.

[Spooky]