I have outlined why I think lies or mistakes are unlikely to have played a part in this part of History. It is untrue to say that I am reluctant.
You are reluctant, just like other Christians I've asked this of, since you haven't explained how you've assessed these risks - dismissing them out of hand isn't the same thing.
It was me after all who mooted that a conspiracy would not have lasted and the motivation of the authorities to establish lying....... In other words Gordon I have tested other hypotheses unfavourable to my own.
What hypothesis is this? The authorities at the time Jesus was executed had no reasons to treat this as being anything other than routine for those times.
I do not invoke the divine since resurrection merely postulates a rearrangement of matter.
Do tell.
You would be unwise to claim impossibility here not least in light of the induction problem, In other words God doesn't have to be invoked. You introduce the divine as a red herring.
It's actually unclear what you're claiming: you say you've had an encounter with the divine then you deny you're invoking the divine and suggest that what most Christians regard as the key miracle involving divine intervention (the resurrection of Jesus) was some kind of physical change to matter. I think you need to think this through a bit more.
In terms of Goddodgery it could involve dodging the idea of God 9although we are left with the question why.
So are we dodging 'God' or the 'idea of God'?
I rather think we are waiting of your take on history for scrutiny
I don't have a 'take' on history - since you guys haven't addressed the risks of mistakes or lies in the NT as regards the claimed divinity of Jesus then I don't think its something I need to take seriously, especially since the claims involved are outwith the scope of the historical methods.