ATHEISTS: Why do you think the Apostles started Christianity??

Question

The apostles traveled to far lands to spread the good news of Jesus' resurrection, which risked their lives and also possible rejection from their Jewish community. In the end, 11 of the 12 apostles were martyred along with St. Paul. Why do you think these men would carry on with such a hard task of spreading the gospel if they knew it was a lie?

keep in mind that they betrayed Jesus when he was arrested and crucified because they were scared, but it seems that the resurrection changed their lives forever.

Answer 1

And why do you think people are Wiccan? Why do you think people are Buddhist? What are the histories behind those religions? Are you going to tell me those are invalid and false and then tell me that Christianity is valid and true because someone struggled for it? Who has struggled for other religions? Were their struggles so different from that of the apostles?

Answer 2

The Gospels are largely a fabrication, mostly written AFTER the originators of the cult had died.

The Book of Acts reads like a comic book more than anything, and is preposterous.

It was a resistance movement against the authority of the Roman Empire, which was largely imposing it's beliefs and culture upon the Jews.

If you are going to claim that they went to their death because of what they believed, fine. So do Muslim suicide bombers. Does that make their beliefs legitimate? Does it mean that the originators of their brand of Islam truly believe everything they tell them? Of course not, but they will never say otherwise.

To suggest that these people were just sitting around living comfortable lives when it all went topsy turvey because they witnessed a miracle is pure nonsense. There was an ongoing cultural battle between the Jews and the Samaritans, the Jewish leaders and the Hellenized Cults within Judea and all of them against the Roman Empire. It was a battle ground in an occupied territory not a Sunday picnic.

Turn on your Television and look at what is going on in Baghdad for a clearer picture of what was really happening back then. Just eliminate the gunpowder and you will get it. Rome didn't destroy the Temple and slaughter most of the Jews because things were New Testament Gospel perfect in Judea.

Answer 3

Millions have martyred themselves in the name of every other religion. Why would they do that if it were false?

This is a variation on the argument by popularity, which says that Christianity must be right because 90-something percent of Americans believe it. You are saying that because 12 people are said to have believed very strongly in it that it must be true.

We all know 12 people can't be wrong.....


By the way, gorgeoustxwoman said that the Gospels were great until Paul got involved. Many of Paul's letters, which along with other letters make up more than half of the New Testament, predate the Gospels by as many as two decades. Luke, who is said to have written the book that bears his name and the Book of Acts, was a companion of Paul's and , like Paul, was not present at any of the supposed events of Jesus' life and never once met the man. The other Gospels were obviously based heavily on Paul's wrtings. So Paul did not ruin the story, he created it.

Answer 4

If we assume that the apostles knew Jesus was not resurrected in the literal sense, we may conclude that they perpetrated the myth of his resurrection in the face of opposition because they believed that the message they were sending was important enough to be worth the risk. I suspect there is also a factor at work in the form of people misinterpreting metaphorical language as being literal.

For the record, I am not an Atheist, but as an explanation for the motivations of these men, I think this is plausible.

Answer 5

I'm no atheist, but even I can see what a weak argument this is. It is not like Christianity is the only thing on earth that people have ever martyred themselves for. People have been martyred in the name of every other religion, and a number of other causes as well. Are all of them legitimate? Heck, millions were essentially martyred just this past century in the name of fascism and communism in Germany, Japan, and Russia. Would you claim that Nazis and Stalinists were justified just because millions gave their lives for it? I think not. This is what bugs me. People like you get on here and make these horrible, poorly thought out arguments and then wonder why atheists think all of us Christians are a bunch of kooks. You CAUSE the problem you are trying to solve. It is not helping. You might want to reconsider your approach.

p.s. To the person that claims there is no historical evidence that the apostles existed, you are actually wrong. There are letters remaining, legal references to many of them, and a lot of secondary evidence as well. Maybe you ought to consider taking some history classes before you start mouthing off about something you obviously don't know anything about. Few, if any, historians of the period deny that they existed. SOMEONE started the religion. What makes you think it wasn't them? Now, whether or not they knew what they were talking about is certainly up for debate! Denying their existence just makes you sound as ignorant as us Christians supposedly are.

Answer 6

First, if I noticed a ghost I do not know if I feel it used to be truly or I used to be imagining it. How do the apostles recognise what they noticed used to be truly? Did they see a wide variety of ghosts always so while Jesus's ghost/resurrection occurred they knew immediately that he used to be a truly ghost? And the Romans did not persecut all that many Christians which is among the factors why they survived the ones early years earlier than Constantine made them legit. Plus the Romans persucuted tons of distinct folks with distinct ideals so Christians have been whatever particular.

Answer 7

Judas is the one who betrayed Jesus, not the rest of the Apostles. The authors of the Gospels are actually unknown; the names were affixed by the early Church because they believed those were the ones who wrote them. No one actually knows who wrote them.

I also believe Paul is responsible for the Resurrection story. Merely because something appears in a book does not make it true. Whether or not the Apostles believed there was a Resurrection or not, and whether or not they died for that belief does not mean Christiantiy is automatically true. Plenty of people have spread lies for their own reasons. I can also add that Christians say, essentially, that Mohammad lied about speaking to God (if not, why are you a Christian and not a Muslim?); why would he give up his home and everything to spread a lie?

Answer 8

Why would they bother if it were true? Why would God's message need humans to tell it to each other? HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE ALL POWERFUL, why didn't he just program tortoise DNA to have the gospel written in Hebrew on the backs of their shells?
Because the gospels were a fabrication of MAN, many men have died for many causes, do you suppose all of them were "holy?" The 911 terrorists were also "martyred," by your logic their beliefs are true also? I mean, they like, died for them right? You might want to check into your history also, the apostles were so moved by the "disappearance" of Jesus' body, they waited about 40 years before they decided to write about the "Resurrection"...

Answer 9

Because the Apostles believed in Jesus Christ as their Savior and the only way for humanity to sit with The Father in heaven.
The apostles cared as selflessly as any human could for the people of the world (all the people)

Answer 10

All religions have their Martyrs. Buddhist and Muslims have died for their religion. People have sacrificed their lives for Communism and Fascism.
This only proves the fanaticism of the individuals involved not the worthiness of their cause.

Answer 11

"One of the reeds of straw holding up the shabby edifice of Christendom is the alleged suffering and cruel fate of his original apostles, the 12 disciples chosen by the Lord himself. By their heroic, cheek-turning sacrifice, these worthies earned their martyr's crown and joined their Lord in Heaven. In so-doing, they inspired generations of noble Christians, who ultimately taught the blood-thirsty Romans the Christian values of compassion and brotherly love. Well, that's the myth.

Though cruelty and human suffering have ever been integral to the history of the Church the fanatics of Christ have rarely been the victimized innocents. Rather it has been the Christians who have bathed their faith in the blood of others.

There is NO corroborating evidence for the existence of the 12 Apostles and absolutely NO evidence for the colourful variety of martyrs' deaths they supposedly experienced. The Bible itself actually mentions the death of only two apostles, a James who was put to death by Herod Agrippa (see James for a discussion of this tricky character) and the nasty Judas Iscariot (see below), who gets several deaths because he's the bad guy.

Legend and tradition alone, dreamed up by the early churches in their bid for legitimacy and authority, provided the uplifting fables of heroics and martyrdom. The plethora of conflicting claims and alternative deaths stand eloquent testimony to wholesale fabrication of the non-existent godman's non-existent companions."