Professor Smooth wrote:Sagitta wrote:Biblical Christianity and all its claims hinges on Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. 1 Corinthians 15 is a good place to look. Goes over all the wittinesses, 500 in all, who even testified seeing the risen Jesus. They were either telling the truth or they weren't.
I think you are making an oversight. There were not 500 witnesses who testified to seeing the risen Jesus. There was ONE person who WROTE that there were 500 witnesses.
Do you see the difference?
I take it you may be forgetting this was a portion of a letter which was written to a church in Corinth at the time. Several specific names were given...
as well as the reference to the 500 persons. Thus, the total would have been over 500 individuals. Were the the additional 500 listed by name? No. Could they have been? Yes. Else why was it noted some of them had already died by the time of the writing?
Also to note, what of the opposition which was prevalent -- mostly in the form of the Jewish religious leaders who knew where the original body of Jesus was buried and could have all too easily crushed the Christian faith at the very beginning. They knew where the body was. And it was under guard by Roman soldiers. To break the seal of the tomb would be the same as committing a crime against Caesar.
Professor Smooth wrote:Shadowman wrote:It's like saying Harry Potter can cast magic because it lists 1000 students who saw him do it.
It's more than that. It's like saying that Harry Potter is REAL and can cast magic because it lists 1,000 students who saw him do it.
Are you speaking of 1,000 students within his books, the same books which already acknowledge they are fictional? When the book already acknowledges it's fictional, it goes without saying so are the characters.
Difference between a book of fiction acknowledging it is a book of fiction and book which places itself as not.
As commented, one either believes the witnesses or they don't. One either believes the witnesses existed or they don't. One either believes the events the witnesses' claim to have seen or they don't. That in no way changes whether or not the events actually occurred. Only one's acceptance or denial of them.