Resolved: There is sufficent evidence to believe in Jesus' resurrection

He asks a good question by wanting to know my definitions of extraordinary evidence and extraordinary claims. Extraordinary claim: A claim that violates our every-day common sense. (Note: there are degrees of extraordinary claims that I will deal with later. )Extraordinary evidence: Falsifiable evidence that supports the extraordinary claim as fact. I will quote what Hume Maxim stated, "No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind that its falsehood would be more miraculous than the fact which it endeavors to establish"I will concede two points: Jesus existed Jesus was crucified I believe my opponent has given sufficient evidence for this. Furthermore, I pre-assumed this before the debate. Jesus' BurialMy opponent claims that Joseph of Arimathea provided the tomb for Jesus. Are you sure? Let's see what Paul says. "For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, recognizing nether Him nor the utterance of the prophets which are read every Sabbith, fulfilled these by condemning Him. And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they asked Pilate that He be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning Him, they took Him from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. " (Acts 13:27-29 )So, while the 4 gospel's agree, it is Paul that contradicts the gospel's by stating they [plural, referring to the Jews] buried him. Now, let's take a look at what John has to say. "Joseph of Arimathaea . .. took the body of Jesus. And there came also Nicodemus. .. . Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus. .. ." (John 19:38-42)So now we have an addition to the story. NONE of the synoptic gospels (similar gospels) have Nicodemus with Joseph of Arimathaea with Jesus' body. Another thing wrong with this assumption is the fact that there were many people who secretly followed Jesus. One of those were clearly Niodemus. [1] It is clear that Joseph of Arimathaea was a secret follower of Jesus as well. [2]| Conclusion |His arguments fail for these reasons: Paul contradicts the gospel's Joseph was a follower of Jesus. Also note that Paul's account is reasonably consistent with a dishonourable burial. The Empty Tomb I do not remember a single time when I discussed Jesus' resurrection without this argument being presented. I thank my opponent for bringing this up. I shall refute it. For this, I'm going to turn this over to infidels. org to explain better than I can. In the four gospels, there was indeed and empty tomb. However, the story that Joseph of Arimathea was found to be empty may have been pure fabrication and/or based on unsubstantiated rumours. Let's now suppose this story is true; so what? It is compatible not only with the resurrection hypothesis but with several others more likely to be true If Jesus was placed in the tomb, and was later found to be empty, we still just don't know how the tomb came to be empty! Unfortunately, we have 0 eye witness reports of anyone who watched the tomb, from inside or outside from bout 4 PM on Friday until about 6 AM on Sunday. IF there were guads posted at the tomb, which is unlikely since we have only one story that places the guards (Matthew), these guards were not posted until sometime on Saturday, thus making a 12 hour difference that anyone can access the tomb! The best explanation is Joseph of Arimathea removed Jesus from the tomb after he placed him in it. Why? Well, if jesus was dead then perhaps Joseph wanted to bury the religious leader elsewhere to avoid tampering or publicity, to comply with the wishes of friends/family, or to vacate the tomb for later ue by his own family. Ever thought of that? IF Jesus was alive, then maybe Joseph wanted to hide this fact from Jess' enemies and to secure medical aid for the injured man. Inaddition, there are also natural explanations. Jesus' body deteriorated (hypothesis I may hold). Jesus' body was unrecognizable. The tomb was found empty on Sunday by the women and the speculations became ramp at. different alleged sightings of Jesus are best explained by: Hallucinations Dreams Misidentifications Misunderstandings Pure fabrications. (BEST EXPLANATION) Note: this has been an adaptation to: . http://www.infidels.org... | Conclusion | In order for my opponent's arguments to work, he is begging the following questions and proofs: Are there any possible way for the tomb to be empty in any natural way? Where is the tomb today? Origin of Disciple’s Beliefs Post Resurrection Appearances and the early church This was probably the weakest argument that my opponent presented. My opponent asks what can possibly account for the disciple's beliefs. However, one just has to look at a few modern examples. Example 1: The watch tower The watch tower of Jehovah's witnesses have failed, on numerous occasions, to predict the end of the world. [3] Yet there are till more than 1,000,000 JW's world-wide [4] My opponent also used the Die for the Lie argument. This fails because Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, also died for his lie. If a person died for his/her crime yet claimed to be innocent and was given the opportunity to plea guilty and live, should we automatically claim that person is innocent because of his/her willingness to die for the lie? In addition, this argument also begs a question, "Did the disciples have an opportunity to recant their beliefs before they were killed? " If not, the argument fails. If so, the argument still fails because people die for lies all the time. | Conclusion | I have shown that my opponent's arguments do not work. They have failed because there are modern examples of religions that should prove itself to be false yet there are still many adherents to that religion. I think that it is clear that my opponent has not yet provided sufficant evidence; thus as of now, I urge a pro vote. Sources1. See John chapter 32. John 19:383. . http://www.towerwatch.com...; 4. . http://www.watchtower.org...