[werewulf]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by billyboy
[B]Wouldn't hundreds of witnesses be considered proof in a court of law?

there is one big problem here! hearsay is not admissable in court!
when i was growing up and going to church, it was conveniently left out that the entire bible is hearsay! i was shocked to learn that not one person who ever saw jesus, wrote anything!
thats right, the words of the deciples were not written by them. the bible wasnt written until 80 to 300 years after jesus death. scholars still speculate who actually put a pen to the words, but all agree it was not those who alledgedly spoke them. the stories were handed down by believers by word of mouth.
now there is historical evidence of jesus trial, handed down from the romans. however, the people who were actually involved in the entire matter (jews), deny it.
i was not aware of this until i read "the age of reason" by thomas payne, when i was in college. i felt that surely he must be mistaken. how could people let a document of hearsay run their lives. i found that many people that can quote directly from the bible and were very astute individuals, didnt even know this. their pastors dont tell them!
since then, i was able to confirm this info many times. even the "history channel" had a program "who really wrote the bible".