Yes, it's an extraordinary claim. But - leaving aside for the moment the classic "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - there isn't even ordinary evidence to support it. All there is, is repetition of the claim by people with a vested interest in pushing it as a true storyIt says..."He has risen".
That's already an extraordinary claim no matter how you word it!
So the story goes. But concrete evidence is there none.The tomb was empty. The physical body was missing. The well-funded Roman and Jewish authorities in power werent able to adequately debunk the claim.
As has been pointed out, the early growth of Xianity is matched by that of Mormonism. And dwarved by the 20th-21st century growth of atheism. The Explosion of Early Christianity, ExplainedChristianity flourished with exponential growth.
Fixed it for you.And the person who wrote that Gospel is stating what was alreadyknownbelieved by many.
Or variations thereof, as evidenced by the many discrepancies in the gospels, and the many early Xian sects, each with its own version of events.So the 'oldest' remnant text - written down quite some time after the event - was written at a time when there were already plenty of early Christians who had already heard the same story.
"Interesting fact: Rodney Stark is now a Christian, teaching at Baylor.
http://www.rodneystark.com/
How can one read Mathew and not be stunned by the resurrection of all the saints and their entering the holy city? You would think the historians of the day would have made note of that....Mathew 27:52
How can one read Mathew and not be stunned by the resurrection of all the saints and their entering the holy city? You would think the historians of the day would have made note of that....Mathew 27:52
Not sure what to make of it at the moment will have to read a little more. I noticed some posters of the site beneath the article in your link on the explanation - the growth of Christianity according to a maths example by Rodney Stark .
A poster on the site replies:
"Interesting fact: Rodney Stark is now a Christian, teaching at Baylor.
http://www.rodneystark.com/
Interesting perspective nevertheless.
Not sure what to make of it at the moment will have to read a little more. I noticed some posters of the site beneath the article in your link on the explanation - the growth of Christianity according to a maths example by Rodney Stark .
A poster on the site replies:
"Interesting fact: Rodney Stark is now a Christian, teaching at Baylor.
http://www.rodneystark.com/
Interesting perspective nevertheless.
How can one read Mathew and not be stunned by the resurrection of all the saints and their entering the holy city? You would think the historians of the day would have made note of that....Mathew 27:52
Chrestian and christian are historically distinct. But I'm not holding my breath thinking you might be curious enough to have a look.Joedad may have a point there Lion. There are other individuals too who call themselves kwistians and chripthians.
It is confusing.