He says it was primarily the resurrection accounts. Christians cite the apostles as firsthand eyewitnesses who lived with Christ for three years and then claimed to see him risen, but after his studies he does not find any valid or credible firsthand eyewitness accounts of a bodily risen Christ, including James, Paul and Peter.

Yes. Michael Utorka calls Jesus's existence probably one of the most credible historical claims, noting he is mentioned by Josephus and that Christians appear in Tacitus and other secular historians. He also agrees Jesus was crucified, but he doubts the resurrection and does not believe the scriptures are inerrant.

He says there is no reliable history that the apostles died for the claim that Jesus rose. Most church traditions appear three, four or 500 years later, and narratives shift, such as the apostle John once said to be put in a boiling pot, while current consensus says he died of natural causes.

Utorka argues Matthew 1:23 cites Isaiah 7:14, but the Hebrew word there means young woman, while the Septuagint uses parthenos, which had a broad meaning including woman of marital age. If Matthew knew Hebrew, as Papias implies, he says the prophecy should not have been read as a virgin.

Pagano notes Matthew quotes the Greek Septuagint, which roughly 70 Hebrew-speaking Jews produced, not Christians, so the complaint is really against the Jewish translators. He says Utorka relied on Bible Gateway dictionaries, asks for a Hebrew scholar, and adds that apostles knowingly quoted the Septuagint without changing theology.

Utorka cites the usual scholarly dating of Matthew between 80 and 90 AD and says Mark, the earliest gospel, is roughly 65 AD, 20 to 30 years after Christ. Pagano accepts that the gospels were not written right away, arguing Jesus told followers to share the message, not write it down.

Pagano argues Rome hated the Christian movement and, like the America of that time, had every ability to disprove it by finding the body. He cites Pliny the Younger writing to Trajan around 120 AD about torturing Christians, and Nero scapegoating Christians around 60 AD, as signs the belief persisted.

He says stealing bodies was a common practice, pointing to the Nazareth inscription from Augustus or Claudius. In John's gospel Mary Magdalene first assumes the body was taken. He suggests the body may have been stolen or moved, perhaps by the disciples, while Pagano counters with the Roman guards Matthew describes.

Utorka says more faith than historical evidence is required. On a number line, he estimates maybe 30% of the evidence suggests it actually happened, while 70% would have to be accounted for by faith. Pagano disagrees, saying all history requires trust, since faith comes from the Latin fide, meaning trust.

He says he would expect substantive firsthand eyewitness testimony, and early church fathers or other historians mentioning specific persecution of the apostles. He rejects secondhand accounts like Mark writing for Peter, and objects that Eusebius, a fourth century historian quoting Papias quoting the elder, is not even firsthand, secondhand or thirdhand evidence.