“• Sixth, why would the disciples die for a lie? We see in the Gospels that they were basically cowards. Why did these timid lambs suddenly change into the lions of the faith? Yes, people die for what they believe is true, but people do not die for what they know is NOT true. History says all of the disciples died for their faith except John.”
I think this point was missed by some above. Yes, crazy islamoterrorists die for what they believe to be true. But why would the Apostles die horrible deaths for something they knew to be untrue. They were there. If he didn’t rise again, why the zeal to die for a lie? It’s a fairly compelling argument.
BTW, I could care less becasue I believe with my faith and heart. If we had conclusive evidence all but the most dense of morons would be Christians. It was meant to be a matter of faith.
Right. Salvation is received by grace through FAITH, not by personal observation of Jesus' resurrection.
Even so, I believe that the fact that so many of Jesus' followers chose death rather than deny his resurrection is powerful evidence that they knew for a fact that he arose from death. Over 500 people besides his disciples saw him alive after his resurrection, and that had to have been a stunning thing to witness.