Furthermore, why would Christ’s disciples make up a story saying that the female followers were more significant, brave and honorable than their culture generally thought them to be? Wouldn’t that make their story harder to believe?
And why would these supposed master schemers sometimes make their leader himself appear as less than a confident almighty hero? They record that he is unable to perform miracles in his own hometown, and that he loses his patience with the money-changers in the temple. He appears afraid and doubtful in Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest.
The writing style of the gospel accounts is not in keeping with the writing style of myths of that era, but rather it is more like what you’d expect from eyewitness reports. And why don’t the separate gospel accounts show evidence of conspiracy? If Jesus’ followers were trying to pull off a hoax, you’d think they would have made sure to get their stories straight. If the apostles
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Some have suggested that Jesus might have traveled to the near East to study with enlightened Eastern masters during the so-called silent years of his life, where the gospel accounts don’t say much about him. But there is no evidence for this “Jesus-goes-East” hypothesis. The gospels imply that Jesus spent his years from ages twelve to thirty in submission to his parents, studying the Hebrew scriptures. Also, Jesus affirmed his belief in the Jewish scriptures, which strongly deny the polytheism and pantheism of Eastern religions. And the Jewish scriptures make a very definite distinction between the Creator and his creatures, contradicting the Eastern idea that humans are their own gods. The Jewish scriptures focus on divine redemption, not on mystical enlightenment. Eastern mysticism is really the antithesis of the personal Judeo-Christian God that Jesus showed us in his life and