They believed they saw Jesus risen.

How many firsthand accounts do we have? I found Paul’s in Acts and Corinthians, but Paul also seems to have spoken for James. Did James or anyone else record meeting Jesus after resurrection themselves? I would especially prefer to hear it from more consistent and verifiable historical sources than the bible. The gospels were written in 70-100 AD, long enough for rumors to grow into legends.

If someone is going to die in regards for something they saw, it’s likely true.

No. If someone is going to die for something they saw, it means they believed it. It doesn’t mean it’s true. I maintain that it is far more likely that A) they made it up B) they hallucinated or dreamed it C) they were tricked, or any other number of explanations before “dead man who claimed to be a death god returned from the dead to prove his resurrection, but only to people around at the time and then he disappeared forever.”

why would I give my life up for something that’s a lie?

What if you did not see what you think you saw? For example, it could have been some kind of criticism of Kim Jong Un, someone impersonating him and pretending to cheat. Or you saw him with his wife, but did not recognize her for any number of reasons. Maybe she was pretending to be someone else because they like it kinky.

Your willingness to die is only evidence that you were convinced, not that the thing you witnessed was true.

The apostles who gave their life up had nothing to gain.

They thought they would be rewarded in the afterlife. It is a death cult.

Therefore there is no other plausible explanation than that it really happened.

I have provided many plausible alternatives, and scholars have more. Jesus can’t be god because god can’t exist. The old testament contradicts itself and our reality with surprising frequency.

I have grown up surrounded by different denominations, I know my statement is factually correct.

For your area, maybe, but I suspect you were just ignoring the conflicts. Having grown up in southern baptist churches, I know my statement is factually correct, different denominations can and do fight over their interpretations of the bible.

Christ alone saves - which is what Christianity has generally taught in every denomination anyway, and work towards removing the distressing superstition of works-based salvation.

But that’s bullshit. People “accept Jesus” to get saved. Then what? Then they are expected to obey him completely. It immediately becomes all about works, sustaining an abusive relationship under threat of supernatural obliteration.

The evangelicals I knew were insistent that everyone should follow their particular denomination.

If you are going to provide an example of what I am saying is being wrong, you’re either going to provide an example of some war from three hundred years ago or an example of some dude in the middle of nowhere in one congregation with a whole flock of like 30 people being a sectarian douchebag saying he is the one true church.

So you’ve chosen to reject evidence in advance? Dishonest.

So no one is telling these catholics they’re going to hell? https://www.patheos.com/blogs/bluecollarapologetics/2024/05/all-catholics-are-going-to-hell-really/

The Orthodox Church is the true Church.

What does that make other churches?

https://www.pravmir.com/do-all-non-orthodox-people-go-to-hell/

But they know it’s bad PR to say others are going to hell, so they came up with this complete cop-out:

If anyone is saved, he must in some sense be a member of the Church; in what sense we cannot always say

“If they’re saved, they’re one of us… somehow.” Ridiculous.

Do you value individual experiences? How many Reddit posts do you think we can find where religious people are either condemning each other or venting about being condemned? How many points of data do you need to be convinced of a problem’s existence?

unless you’re counting sects which aren’t even Christian like Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons

There you go rejecting evidence again. Let’s check the Jehovah’s Witness website:

https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/

We are Christians who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior.

And mormons?

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

Common Questions

Are members of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints christian?

Yes! As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the World.

I’m curious why you don’t consider them. If christ was here, we could ask him. Since he isn’t, anyone can claim christianity, and they have exactly as much evidential support for their beliefs as you do.

Your original quote was:

Denominations agree on 95% of things.

I asked for a citation, as I doubt the veracity of that arbitrary 95%. You said:

Find any Church that publishes a statement of faith

This is unhelpful, as we need a many-to-many comparison: many different denominations, and many different beliefs held by each.

Denominations are formed over random stuff, usually church structure.

This is ignoring a lot of violent history.

https://christianeducatorsacademy.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-christian-denominations-types-beliefs-and-differences/

During the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, a number of denominations broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in response to what they saw as corruption and abuse of power within the Church. These Protestant groups believed in the primacy of individual interpretation of the Bible, as opposed to following the teachings of a central authority like the Pope.

Already we see three broad factions with fundamentally incompatible beliefs:

Catholics believe in the authority of the Pope and the sacraments

[Orthodox] believe in the authority of the Bible and the church’s teachings

[Protestants] believe in the authority of the Bible and emphasize the role of individual interpretation in spiritual matters.

Hmm, interesting. So what happens when individuals interpret the bible?

There are many denominations within Protestantism, such as Anglicanism, Baptism, Lutheranism, Methodism, and Pentecostalism.

We get even more division, because there is no standard and there never was.

How different are they? Quite. Does the trinity exist? Are we saved by faith, works, or both? Should we listen to a guy in a funny hat, a different guy in a funny hat, or whichever preacher is most convenient?

Are there divine consequences for choosing the wrong denomination? Depends on which denomination you ask.

They all claim to believe in christ, but they all have different interpretations of what that means, what his teachings meant, how to follow them, etc.

If you say this to me one more time I am going to donate £5 to a church’s evangelical outreach on your behalf.

“You accused me of supporting terrorism, so I’m going to fund terrorists because you’re annoying” is a concerning mindset for anyone to have.

I can rephrase it as a more polite request: Would you consider making choices that are less likely to result in the needless suffering and death of yourself, me, and everyone else alive today?

But I feel that undermines the urgency. Your casual denial of reality is harmful, deadly. We can’t measure your christ or your god. We can count the real bodies left in the wake of selfish believers.

Please think carefully.