What's with this reasoning?

Question

I just read an answer about early Christianity and the existence/nonexistence of Jesus. One person (s/he will remain anonymous) answered:

"Can anyone explain that why would the Romans heavily persecute so called Christians at that time? History did record that persecutions of Christians

Those Christian would not die for something that's not true."

I've seen this line of thinking on several different occasions. A Christian does not believe in Muslim faith, yet they see Muslims die for their beliefs today. Christians see people die for something that isn't true in their eyes, yet it's impossible that a Christian wouldn't die for something that's not true. How does that make any sense at all?

That should read:

"It's impossible that a Christian WOULD die for something that's not true."

Sorry...

Answer 1

It's specious reasoning, sounds good but not thought through. It requires a followup question: "WHY would Christians not die for something that's not true?" Answer? It would be embarrassing, and no one deliberately intends to be humiliated.

People believe in a lot of things without proof. Often they trust the source too much to question it. Or what they hear is so good, they don't want to reject it just because it hasn't been verified. It is just possible the "apostles" rode a circuit through the countryside, preaching the story of a made-up demi-god and a gospel of hope and redemption to the gullible. (Paul has been accused of doing exactly that, preaching peace and non-violence to pacify potential rebels.) They could have composed their revolutionary philosophy and illustrated it with examples from the life of their fictional Jesus character, and no one would have been the wiser because "Jesus" was already gone.

Of course, it would have been a lot of work, as well as a violation of Occam's razor, but it is just possible, and potentially worth the deception if it could revolutionize the culture. Christians could conceivably die for a deception if there was no way they could know any better.

Besides, even if Jesus never existed, the idea of Jesus is too good to abandon. Someone might have had to invent him anyway.

Answer 2

And people die for their countries every day and have since the beginning of time.. more have died in the name of religion than any other cause! Look at Joan of Arc who died because of her belief in the freedom of her countrymen in France and was burned at the stake!!! Rent the movie Braveheart based on a true story of William Wallace who fought for the freedom of his beloved Scotland from the aristocratic snobs of England during that time who had thought if the English soldiers bred with the Natives of Scotland they would breed the Scottish blood out of them... pretty much the same thing about Hitler and the Jews... people thinking their better than other people and trying to hold those they think to be less in bondage... thus wars have been initiated, fought, lost and won... As for your something that isn't true... the truth of the matter is that there are people who will fight for their cause as well as die for their cause... it's all about human nature and the choices that we as humans make, either individually or as a group or as a nation and as long as time continues there will always be persecution of someone or someones!

Answer 3

The real irony regardless of your faith is that soon after the persecution of Christians, the Romans picked up on Christianity. After the formation of the Roman Catholic Church the inquisition began and a new form of persecution and torture began.

This time many Christians died for being heretics. Did they believe in what they were dying for during the inquisition?

Answer 4

Either way, these Christians that were persecuted by the Romans had never met Jesus, so that's not exactly proof he lived, just proof the religion was around at that time.

Answer 5

confident, there's a clarification for reason. The human strategies apparently works in yet in a diverse way than the different creature. we predict of in terms of "if this, and if that, then end." it fairly is named a syllogism, and we can't get away using them via fact our minds are challenging under pressure to apply them--256 of them, not extra, no much less. you won't be able to think of outdoors of that "container" via fact there's no "outdoors". regardless of in case you return up with a very new theory that no person else has ever concept-approximately, you probably did it using a chain of a few of those 256 syllogisms. This utilization is what we call "reason". yet "rationality" is frequently defined as "appropriate use" of reason, or as "sound reasoning". "Sound" means no longer in easy terms valid questioning, yet questioning which will properly be referred to as "genuine" in accordance to universal strategies, or till now universal data or truths, or of a few thing which seems to be "self-obvious". in easy terms 15 of those 256 syllogisms are "valid". no count number if the valid argument you employ is "sound" is yet another count number. i'm able to make a valid case for the existence of unicorns; besides the undeniable fact that it won't be able to be a "sound" argument via fact they do no longer exist.

Answer 6

The reasoning is incorrect. They would not die for something they didn't _believe_ to be true. They could have been wrong.

Answer 7

It doesnt, it is silly.

If they though are referring to Jesus then that is a totally different question with the opposite answer.

Answer 8

The age old double standard. We all need to study the origins of religions and rather than fight each other to the death because we don't agree ,study,research,pray admit we don't have all the answers to each other and stop killing each other when we don't agree.

Answer 9

its not that they die for what is true or not, basically it is not a question of truth or lie. try sorting this question out in the point of view of tradition and culture.

Answer 10

Perhaps the people writing that mean that they believe whoever would die for what they believe, would surely BELIEVE that it was true.