"The truth is there's a great deal of historical evidence that supports Christ's bodily resurrection from the grave. For instance, we have the firsthand testimonies of the disciples of Christ, who witnessed the events surrounding His death and burial, then had personal encounters with the Risen Christ in the days that followed. As the apostle Peter explained: 'For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty' (2 Peter 1:16)."

If the Elvis people wrote a holy book would it be evidence? I hope it wouldn't...

No Atheist will accept the bible for proof for anything as they don’t believe it is true. And to use it as proof for a religious belief is something people call circular logic.

"In all, more than 500 people saw the Risen Christ over a period of several weeks. As Christian apologist Josh McDowell writes in his book "Evidence That Demands a Verdict," if you brought all of those 500-plus witnesses into a courtroom and allowed them each just six minutes to give their accounts, you would have an astounding 50 hours of firsthand, eyewitness testimony in support of Christ's bodily resurrection from the grave.

...

Combine this with all of the other historical evidence for the Resurrection – the facts surrounding the empty tomb, the inability of the authorities to produce Christ's corpse after news of His appearances began spreading, the conversion of Saul of Tarsus (enemy and persecutor of the church) to the apostle Paul (writer of two-thirds of the New Testament by inspiration of God) after his own encounter with the Risen Christ, etc. – and you begin to see that it takes more faith not to believe in the Resurrection and to come up with ridiculous hypotheses like 'the swoon theory' to try to explain it away than to follow the data where they lead and affirm this exhaustively attested historical event."

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/jeff_lowder/jury/

Basically claiming an event is historical because someone else says it is isn't proof....

"So Harris shouldn't be so chagrined by the fact that a stunning 87 percent of Americans say they 'never doubt the existence of God.'

There's simply no reason for them to do so."

Try talking to an Atheist then...

http://www.rationalresponders.com/ might be a good place to start.

Mr. [me]: If the "Elvis people" laid down their lives for this truth, and continued doing it by the untold thousands through many years of horrific persecution, it would certainly lend a great deal of credence to their testimonies. With all of the other proof for the truth of the Bible (fulfilled prophecy especially, but much else), it would be absolutely compelling. The fact is that most scholars agree on the central facts surrounding the Resurrection, including the changed lives of the disciples, etc., because of the historical evidence that exists OUTSIDE of the Bible (Josephus, etc.). For more on all this, I would direct you to the works of Gary Habermas, Lee Strobel, et. al. But thanks for sharing your thoughts and the related links.

Tom