From my reading of Scripture, it was PHYSICAL RESURRECTION that the apostles were talking about. Otherwise, they wouldn't have faced such aggressive disbelief - and hostility. Saying, "he's still with us in spirit," is very uncontroversial. But they said something that caused controversy - and anger. If you read the Book of Acts, it sure sounds as if they're saying they SAW a RESURRECTED Jesus. Most people scoffed, and that's natural since people don't rise from the dead. But that's what they say they saw. You can say they were wrong, but trying to water their message down into a "spiritual" resurrection isn't true to what they were saying.
I really don’t want to get into this with anyone since it is a matter of faith, both in the general sense of today’s Christianity and also faith in the later writings about the beliefs and related stories of long dead Apostles.
Absolutely right. If Jesus didn't rise from death, the bible is book of fables and Christianity is a cruel hoax.
There is no room for a middle ground position, either the gospel message as recorded in the bible is true in it's entirety or it's a mythical folk tale and there is no god and no hope for mankind.
That's where faith comes in, and without faith it is impossible to please God, see Hebrews 11:6. I choose to believe God as he speaks through his written Word.