Evidence for the Resurrection - Well I Know 500 People Who Saw It...

What is is about a Christian's inability to critically examine a claim? Is it an inability, or rather an unwillingness, just in case the claim turns out to be bogus?

Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the tenets of Christianity are without substance. A Christian believes (faithfully) that Jesus was the divine son of God, that he was sacrificed to save us from our sins, and that he rose from the dead in a miraculous event. Never mind for a moment that any of that does not make a jot of sense, even if it were true.

The paucity of evidence for this claim seems not to worry your average Christian. Outside of the Bible, there are no contemporary accounts of the resurrection of Jesus. Even the Gospels were written some 70 - 140 years after the supposed resurrection of Christ.

A claim often touted by Christian supporting the historicity of the resurrection is the number of witnesses to the sight of Christ after the crucifixion. Paul the Apostle appeals to his audience that there were over 500 people witness to Christ's resurrection, many of whom were alive at the time of Paul's appeal.

1 Corinthians 15:6 "After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."

Over 500 eye-witness accounts testifying that they saw the living body of Christ. Who can possibly doubt this claim?

Nothing has been found in the historical record substantiating ANY of these eye-witness accounts, other than Paul's appeal to his audience that these people existed. He's actually saying "If you don't believe me, go ask them for yourself."

Well for a start, can anyone name any of them or where they lived?

Secondly, why did not one of them run home and write about it? Or tell a contemporary about the event, who then might have put the story to paper?

This seems to settle the matter for your average Christian. Paul says there were eye-witnesses, and that's good enough "evidence" for me.

Sorry but it's not good enough. It's not even close.

Imagine you were testifying at a murder trial and under cross examination you told judge and jury that you knew of eye-witnesses who actually saw the murder take place.

"Fantastic, case proven beyond reasonable doubt" says the prosecutor.

The defense attorney might be tempted to ask "Can you name any of these eye-witnesses so we can call them to testify?"

"Well no I can't name any of them, but believe me they saw it happen." you reply.

You've heard the expression "laughed out of court" before I take it?

Were every single one of these alleged 500 eye-witnesses illiterate and/or mute? Why did not one of them write an account of this miraculous event?

Surely some would have run home and said "You'll never believe what I saw this morning honey..."

If 500 eye-witness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus actually happened, surely someone, somewhere would have managed to record this event for posterity?

Clearly not. But to a Christian the simple claim by Paul the Apostle in a letter he wrote is enough evidence to support their fantasies.

The trouble is, a Christian wants it to be true. If it's not, then they have some issues to deal with. You want the truth? A Christian can't handle the truth... which is strange since they are always telling us about God's Truth.