R&I – FS
Paul of Tarsus: False Witness?
Fatal Flaws In Hearsay Evidence
In Corinthians, Paul claims (sic) 500 witnesses to a supposed resurrection of Yeshua.
They are “hearsay” witnesses, and hearsay evidence is so deeply flawed, courts do not allow it to be submitted.
In 1 Corinthians 15: 3-7 Paul had this to say:
“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.
Why Hearsay Evidence Is Dismissed By Courts
The rule excluding hearsay arises from a concern regarding the statement’s reliability. Courts have four principal concerns with the reliability of witness statements: the witness may be lying (sincerity risk), the witness may have misunderstood the situation (narration risk), the witness’s memory may be wrong (memory risk), and the witness’s perception was inaccurate (perception risk)
There are three safeguards intended to mitigate against weaknesses in a hearsay statement:
- Witnesses must testify under oath
- Witnesses must be subject to cross-examination
- Witnesses must be present in court for the fact-finder to assess their demeanor and credibility.
Thus, courts prohibit hearsay when these three safeguards are missing, since they are designed to assuage reliability concerns of testimonial statements.
All three of these safeguards are entirely missing for Paul’s claim..
The statement “Paul told us there were 500 witnesses to Jesus’s resurrection” is unreliable because Paul is not under oath, Paul was and is not subject to cross-examination, and Paul cannot be present in court for the fact-finder to assess his credibility. Paul’s statement is therefore unreliable and cannot be permitted as evidence
Technical Note
Paul claims the supposedly risen Yeshua was “seen by over five hundred brethren at once…”
Paul is therefore recording hearsay evidence of hearsay evidence, since none claim Paul was present to see Yeshua in the flesh.
…and that makes Paul’s statement hearsay evidence at two removes…double-hearsay evidence. You read about it from Paul, he heard about it from…others.
Questions:
The Christian claim to the resurrection does not meet evidentiary standards that have evolved through Common Law.
- Does this matter to you as a Christian…as an Atheist?
- Given the claim does not meet evidentiary standards, why would it be acceptable to anyone
- If for Christians, this gap is bridged by Faith, is it just to suggest Faith is devoid of fact?
Verisimilitude