Blacknad wrote:
"St Paul wrote his first letter about 25 years after Christ's death"
Can you point to any reputable link that this letter actually exists and has been dated? I've heard the story but I take it to be mythology.
Blacknad wrote:
"The Acts of the Apostles was written by Luke ... just over 60 years after Christ's death"
Your "just over 60" is highly questionable. It is easy to find reference to dates closer to 90AD and once again no actual document that can be dated exists.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/luke.html Given that the lifespan back then was 1/2 of todays we are talking about a gap equal to more than two generations. The same as between you and the invention of the airplane.
Blacknad wrote:
"You still think that Muhammad?s writings are an authoritative source of information about Christ?s life?"
I think that they are all strongly supportive of Christianity given the very kind treatment of both Jesus and his mother and bear none of the more than adequate evidence of intentional tinkering that we all know exist in all Christian texts. In that sense, yes, I think they are far more likely to be accurate.
Blacknad wrote:
"Rome?s very apparent persecution of Christians cannot be ignored and counts for political evidence of a sort."
In the 1960s I was persecuted (not prosecuted) by the government of the United States. Trouble makers are always the subject of persecution. But other than that it has no meaning.
Blacknad wrote:
"For me, Christ?s existence and crucifixion is a reasonable conclusion when faced with the evidence."
I agree. I see no reason to doubt his existence. Whether he was crucified however is quite another matter as the Quran clearly states otherwise and the legends of the Knights Templar indicate he likely escaped to what is now Southern France.
Unfortunately for Christians evidence of being born and crucified is irrelevant as the entire religion is predicated on a virgin birth which is unprovable and I'd be more inclined to view it as rape and resurrection, equally unprovable, and more I'd be more inclined to view it as cheap stage magic. In short ... there is no evidence of any of the acts upon which the religion was founded. And a huge amount of evidence, the evidence of absence, to support the fact that it never happened.
