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Incidentally, I think the concept of "if you have faith, then everything will be pretty" is a Christian one. Faith is the only significant requirement in Christianity, and grants them the assurance of salvation. Its a zero-sum game. Your either an angel or a devil, you've either got grace or retribution.
And yet, over two-thousand years later we're still talking about him.
Its always hard to tell what type of argument that is meant to be when there have been many other religious leaders both before and after Jesus that are still discussed today as well.
To the degree of Jesus; very, very few.
I can hear the argument that Paul was a significantly more important figure in terms of historical impact.
Yet without Jesus, Paul would have stayed Saul and would have been long lost to history.
And we're still making movies about the Gods of Egypt. So what?
There success is definitely as undeniable as Muhammad and co. But my point is that its not Jesus that actually made any direct impact, its Paul. Jesus and everyone else didn't really have any direct impact. I mean, if not for Jesus' great-great-grandmother, Paul would have stayed Saul too, but that doesn't really directly impact history either, right?
And what are the gods of Egypt but dead myths? Unlike state cults, Jesus was anything but what should have been noted to history. He is one of the most, if not the most attested person of that time period.
Paul believed in Jesus to the extent that he gave up his position as a respected Pharisee to join the very ones he was persecuting. He helped hunt Christian down for stoning for goodness' sake. Thus there must have been something about Jesus and his movement for someone such as himself to end up becoming one of its greatest spokesmen. Saint Paul is important, his letters comprise the bulk of the New Testament, but it is not Paul who is worshipped. Paul's impact on the spread of Christianity doesn't at all detract from the historical importance of Jesus. It goes back to my original point, Christ has been revealed to the world.
I'm not sure what "position as a respected Pharisee" means. There doesn't seem to be any indication as to what position he held within Pharisaical leadership. While Gamiliel is a well respected Jewish figure in Judaism, Paul doesn't seem to share that facet. And the Pharisees themselves were in contention with a number of other Jewish groups so were certainly not respected.
I think you need to take it one step further. It's not there because of the polytheistic nature of surrounding cultures. It's there because ancient Judaism was itself polytheistic. Yahweh is but one god in the old pantheon.
But this isn't what Christians claim. They claim the Bible is indeed God's word.
..... supernaturally protected by Him.
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It’s so majestically deep that scholars could swim and never touch the bottom. Yet so wonderfully shallow that a little child could come and get a drink of water without fear of drowning. That is God’s precious, holy Word. The Word of God.
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the Bible is exclusively the Word of God is because of its perfect unity.
the Bible is exclusively the Word of God is because it predicts the future.
the Bible is exclusively the word of God is because of its perpetual survival.
[etc., etc.]
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Nice thoughts, but hardly substantiated by any evidence; however, if you think you have some I'd be happy to look at it.
