Re: Do you agree with the following statement?
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I'm not asking anyone to assume the Bible is true. I'm asking for theories, if it is false, as to why that may be and how christianity grew in spite of that. So far nobody has come forward with such a theory.
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Phil's post seems to provide a good example of how christianity could grow, even if the stories presented within it were false.
It doesnt seem controversial that politics and religion were very closely related "back then". Anyone trying to start a political movement would have good incentive to claim spiritual authority for their cause.
Ultimately, the problem atheists have is that when you say something like "500 of the early followers of jesus reported seeing him alive days after his death". They would counter that you are only entitled to claim that several decades after his death, 1 guy wrote down that 500 of the early followers of jesus reported seeing him alive days after his death.
The second formulation they will accept, but it's pretty obviously much weaker evidence with many alternative explanations.
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