Did the ransom sacrifice even work happen?
Given the conditions that existed in Judea in the first century as a Roman client kingdom, it is entirely unremarkable that an itinerant Jewish rabbi who started as a disciple of John the Baptist expressed ideas about Jewish independence and was subsequently executed by the Romans. Various Jewish sects existed at the time, and it is no stretch at all that someone from one such sect (e.g., Paul) became convinced by stories he heard about such a person (never actually meeting him himself) and associated them with reinterpretations of elements from the book of Daniel and other Jewish claims about a 'messiah'.
In particular, an eclipse in 30CE at or around
the time of Jesus' death (no, not 33CE) may have been a factor in making up stories
that he, and his death in particular, was significant. Beyond that, everything about Jesus in the 'gospels' beyond his baptism and death is based entirely on hearsay that wasn't written down until decades after his death and is replete with superstition.
It is especially notable that Paul, in his writings, seems to know basically nothing about Jesus' life other than his requisite 'sacrifice' and execution. All the biographical details came later as if stories were embellished as time went on rather than any well-established contemporaneous details from the outset. Even the inconsistent stories of Paul's 'conversion' in Acts came after Paul's own death, and they contradict his own separate account in Galatians (for example, according to Acts 9:8-23, Paul sees a 'vision' of Jesus, then immediately sees Ananias, stays with other Christians in Damascus, and then goes to Jerusalem, all of which blatantly contradicts Paul's own account at Galatians 1:15-16.)
A common fallacious argument offered by believers is that first century Christians wouldn't be willing to die for their beliefs if Jesus wasn't actually resurrected (along with the other supernatural tales about him). This is, of course, incorrect, easily demonstrated by the fact that there are now people willing to die for the same beliefs, with no actual evidence that the events actually happened (as are people of other equally unfounded religious superstitions).
