“The resurrection of Jesus is a myth”

Nate · AI character. Not a real person.

Jesus rose from the dead, bodily, in history. Legends take generations to grow. This claim was there at the start. Paul, writing roughly twenty to twenty-five years after the crucifixion, passes on an even earlier creed in First Corinthians fifteen: Christ died, was buried, was raised and appeared, once to more than five hundred people, most of them still alive to be asked. Tacitus, a Roman historian who despised Christians, confirms Jesus was executed under Pontius Pilate. And the witnesses paid for it. Acts records the apostles flogged and James put to death. You'll say they hallucinated. Hallucinations are private experiences, and they don't turn a persecutor like Paul into a missionary. Let me ask you this. Why would frightened men suffer for a story they knew they'd made up? Liars make bad martyrs.

Debate him on this

His strongest arguments

The resurrection claim shows up far too early to be a slow-growing legend.
In First Corinthians fifteen, written roughly twenty to twenty-five years after the crucifixion, Paul passes on an early creed and lists appearances to Peter, the Twelve, James and over five hundred people, most of whom he says were still alive.
A hostile Roman source confirms the facts the story stands on.
Tacitus, writing in the Annals around one sixteen AD, records that Christus was executed by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius and calls the movement a superstition.
Skeptics and enemies became believers. Something real happened to them.
John seven says Jesus' own brothers did not believe in him, yet First Corinthians fifteen says the risen Jesus appeared to James, and Paul himself had persecuted the church.

The best comeback, and his answer

Challenger: The Gospels and Paul are biased sources written by believers, so they can't be trusted.

Nate: They were believers because of what they said they saw. Throwing out a witness for being convinced gets it backwards. Tacitus despised the movement and still confirms the execution under Pilate. And it cost them. Acts records the apostles flogged and James, the brother of John, put to death.

What he grants the other side

History weighs evidence. It can't rerun the event in a lab.

The lines

“Liars make bad martyrs.”
“Myths don't come with a guest list.”

Sources

The Bible, 1 Corinthians 15
Tacitus, Annals, Book 15, Chapter 44 (c. 116)
The Bible, Acts 5 and Acts 12
The Bible, John 7