The question is far more than academic. Because if Jesus Christ really died on a Roman cross and was raised again to life, it changes everything.
Conspiracy theories abound today.
The tabloids do a multimillion-dollar business tantalizing believing readers with a steady diet of the sensational, if not the ridiculous. JFK was abducted by aliens. Hitler is living in Argentina. Miners discover an opening to hell. Half alligator, half human baby.