The early followers of Jesus would have been influenced by the consistency of the testimonies from the eyewitnesses. These early followers would have been convinced by earlier stories told by the previous generation who had seen Jesus.
Factors that would have validated the claims of Jesus' followers include:
1) The consistency of the details observed about the resurrected Jesus. The over 500 eyewitnesses of Jesus would have been very consistent, especially by the first generation of witnesses.
2) The genuine excitement affected all the witnesses. It would not make sense if people were sad he had resurrected from death, perhaps except for the pharisees and religious leaders. The atmosphere at this time would have permeated the population of the entire region of Galilee. Good news traveled fast and furiously.
3) The effect in the lives of many of the witnesses continued over the decades after his ascension to heaven. As they grew older, they would have continued to hold to the teachings of Jesus, and stories of healings and miracles conducted during his earthly life.
4) The consistency in the stories of Jesus' actions. He would have healed the sick and infirmed even after he was resurrected from death. Stories of his healings, and whom he had spoken with and visited would have been transmitted orally by many people.
5) The consistency in Jesus' teachings. Jesus would have continued to teach about God's kingdom after he resurrected. His teachings would have been remembered by most listeners. They would have passed on his teachings from one generation to the next by word of mouth.
6) Testimonies of the same account suggest a single unique event. Over 500 eyewitnesses of Jesus is not a small number. Their stories, together, would corroborate the single claim of the early followers that Jesus had been raised back to life. The stories of his crucifixion and death of the cross was also widely known. He would have shown many people his nail scars from his body (as he had shown to his disciple Thomas).
There would have been a special bond between these eyewitnesses. Each of them had seen something supernatural. We know the biblical accounts do not record everything from every witnesses. They did not have the benefits of sound/video recordings. Writing and record-keeping was limited. Word of mouth, or oral story-telling was the mode in which truth were transmitted from one generation to the next.
The Gospel of John states, "Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." (John 21:25). They certainly didn't have enough scribes and writers who could record everything that happened in the life of Jesus' earthly life. As the church grew exponentially, the impossibility of recording everything in the early church would then be an even further absolute impossibility.
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