What made Jesus' followers believe that Jesus rose from the dead? (page 4)

leavingwt

As they say, "it's all good."

There is no doubt to me that if Christ touched my life like he has some of yours, I would believe, too. Until then, I must wait. It's the only honest thing to do.

PrimateDave

cloud of witnesses that died over what they testified they saw

Come, now, Burn. Can't you see the beginnings of a circular argument? You have very old stories, and you believe said stories because the stories themselves claim to be true? There are no living eye witnesses that can be cross examined, and any physical evidence is at best inconclusive, having been buried for nearly 2000 years. We don't even have the original documents from which later copies were made. Shall we also invoke the heresay rule? How about the bandwagon fallacy? Just because a lot of people believe something that someone said or wrote doesn't make it true.

Direct experience? That mostly depends on one's mental state. There are so many who have abused their own minds, and/or whose minds have been abused in some way, that their own perceptions of reality cannot be trusted. Add to that cultural and other factors that tend to cloud or limit perceptions, and it becomes clear that the reality created in the mind of an individual or group can differ significantly from physical, measurable fact.

Mad Sweeney

Eyewitness testimony is known to be untrustworthy. Memory and personal anecdotes are known to be untrustworthy.

Versions of translations of copies of copies of translations of copies of copies of copies of copies of transcripts of memories of eyewitness testimonies are supposedly trustworthy.

Sure. Ok.

XJW4EVR

Eyewitness testimony is known to be untrustworthy. Memory and personal anecdotes are known to be untrustworthy.

Then I guess we better through out every conviction made on eyewitness testimony.

Chalam

cofty Check out the claims made by the followers of Sathya Sai Baba at the amazing "Gallery of Miracles" website

http://www.saibabamiracles.com/

Thanks for posting :)

The amazing thing is JWs say they believe the bible but in fact they pick and choose.

For example, they believe this 2 Thessalonians 2:9 but not this Mark 16:17-18 and in effect give more credence to the power of Satan rather than God.

Anyhow, for some video of miraculous signs and wonders, see here

Jewels Falling From Heaven In The Church In Puerto Rico

Make sure you check out the bible about half way through the vid with oil running out of it :)

Blessings,

Stephen

JimmyPage

What Made Jesus' followers believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

The Magician's Code prevents him from answering this question.

PSacramento

This proves nothing beyond the simple power of belief. Even Jehovah's Witnesses have died for their belief in things of which they were convinced to be true. Those Witness martyrs never saw Jesus come out of a tomb and be resurrected. They were held in thrall to mind programming which ultimately lead to their deaths. Same thing happened back in Rome. Thank the goddess for the internet so we can immunize ourselves against this meme!

There is a difference though, the apostles KNEW Jesus, they were not "brainwashed" into believing, they saw with their own eyes the miracles he did and YET they did nothing and cowered at home and only AFTER the saw him ressurected ( they saw proof, Thomas being a prime example) did they go out and preach the word.

That is quite different than being indoctrinated into a cult.

View it this way, you know a guy named Bob, he was real, you ate and drank and laughed and cried with him, you though that he was the closed thing to God because you saw him heal people and even raise the dead, you saw this, felt it and when he got taken away, you ran and hid.

You "saw" him get nailed to a cross after bing brutally mutilated and tortured and you did nothing because you were so sacred it would happen to you.

He DIED and was buried, you or people you trustes SAW this, there was no gray area and you KNOW he was dead.

What would make you believe he was alive?

And not JUST alive, but ressurected with all the power and glory of GOD ALMIGHTY!

What would make YOU go out and risk the same horrible fate that you ran and hid from?

tec

There is no doubt to me that if Christ touched my life like he has some of yours, I would believe, too. Until then, I must wait. It's the only honest thing to do. - LeavingWT

I like this, and I hope one day you'll allow yourself to believe - that you'll recognize being touched by Christ. There is no doubt in my mind of your honesty or sincerity.

Tammy

PrimateDave

There is a difference though, the apostles KNEW Jesus

While I appreciate the sincerity of belief in these writings that you and other have, it is not enough for me to accept these stories at face value any more than I would believe fantastic stories of Muhammad, Moses, or Siddhartha Gautama. I don't question the historical fact of Jesus existence any more than that of those other "prophets." I do think that whatever Jesus said or did was embellished upon, and those embellishments were the key to the growth and acceptance of Christianity. Also, the fact that people of other religions experience "the divine" tells me that there is nothing unique about Christianity as a spiritual path. I furthermore disagree with the premise of Christian faith which is the need for salvation though a mediator to be accepted by a god. The emotional need to believe in a particular way speaks more of the believer's culture than the validity of the path itself.

leavingwt

Tammy -- Thank you for your kind words.

What made Jesus' followers believe that Jesus rose from the dead?

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