and the apostles being willing to die for that belief (to a man, no less) goes to how deeply they held it. Where did that come from?
Yes, Jac - and here's the thing: Unlike the 9-11 hijackers who were deceived by the lies that caused them to murder so many innocent people and commit suicide - who sincerely believed those lies to be truth - the Apostles and many others KNEW whether they actually saw a Resurrected Jesus and they were intimately interactive with many, many others who also so Him. So would they ALL die for a lie - a lie they all unmistakably KNEW was a lie. They all well knew of the barbaric methods of Roman justice, all knew Jesus received it as well - would they have ALL risked the very same fate for a lie they KNEW was a lie? Were they ALL lunatics with some cult-like death wish? Read their sober words and preaching of love, harmony, grace and seeking and acting in truth - do they SOUND like crazy lunatics typical of fanatic cults? Were they ALL liars and lunatics? Absolutely NOT!
And what are we to make of the Apostle Paul - highly educated, a respected and renowned - an up-and-coming rockstar of Judaism - and so what is HIS deal? Lawyerly, intellectual, zealous for his strong beliefs, widely feared for rooting out this Jewish Christian "cult" - what else besides encountering Jesus on the Road to Damascus can even come close to explaining his incredible 180?
Paul testifies that he endured: "far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches."
Paul traded his immense respect and stature, acceptance by the establishment for all of THAT? WHY? He of all people knew that he was inviting his own gruesome death - either by Jewish or Roman hands. And, quite interesting, his was an overnight transformation - not as if he, over a period of time, "lost it" or went mad. Paul's writings are those of an especially thoughtful, determined intellectual, a master communicator whom had great love for those he was burdened to reach.