the proof that early Christians went to their death to defend the resurrection could be given proof enough
Christian or not, that's poor logic.
Firstly, people die for crap reasons all the time. Lung cancer, cirrhosis, suicide; none of those should be regarded as proof of the divinity of cigarettes, alcohol, or mental illness. People also give their lives in support of assholes and phonies all the time, Hitler, Kim Jong-Il, Jonestown Massacre. Never underestimate the power of mass hysteria.
Now that being said, secondly, one doesn't have to believe that someone is divine in order to believe they are right. It sounds perfectly plausible to me that someone could have never heard of the virgin birth, the Resurrection, or even that Jesus was anything more than *A* child of God and still feel that the words he preached and principles he stood for, together with the belief in the right to worship freely, were worth dying for.
Christian or not, that's poor logic.
Firstly, people die for crap reasons all the time. Lung cancer, cirrhosis, suicide; none of those should be regarded as proof of the divinity of cigarettes, alcohol, or mental illness. People also give their lives in support of assholes and phonies all the time, Hitler, Kim Jong-Il, Jonestown Massacre. Never underestimate the power of mass hysteria.
Now that being said, secondly, one doesn't have to believe that someone is divine in order to believe they are right. It sounds perfectly plausible to me that someone could have never heard of the virgin birth, the Resurrection, or even that Jesus was anything more than *A* child of God and still feel that the words he preached and principles he stood for, together with the belief in the right to worship freely, were worth dying for.