My very first thought to this question is Jesus' bones. If we found Jesus' bones then I think Christianity means nothing.

It would mean that he did not raise from the dead and without the Resurrection I don't see Christianity having any meaning.

Maybe that is just me. Perhaps there are groups or people out there that think Christianity would survive that. I don't see how though. What does Christ's death mean then? Why is a resurrection recorded in the Gospels then? It seems like a lot of the NT theology depends on the Resurrection being fact, not myth or fiction.

So I ask my peers:

WOULD CHRISTIANITY SURVIVE IF ... we found Jesus' bones?

@fredsbend I read that question as "WOULD CHRISTIANITY SURVIVE IF ... there was proof that Jesus was not resurrected", is that what you intended?

I'm pretty sure Paul's answer would be: "No"

> Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.

> For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

(1 Cor 15:12-19)

Great question to kick us off. Thanks for setting up the room.

I think we would have a tough time if we found Jesus's bones (assuming there is some way to confirm that they were his, beyond reasonable dispute). That said, there could also be ways to wiggle out of it, with some pain.

(1) a resurrection body that is distinct from his mortal body, but after the same image (so it still has the marks for Thomas to find)

(2) abandoning the body at the Ascension

(3) accept the non-resurrection (a very painful option) and say the Biblical resurrection account is all a metaphor for the church being inspired, or something

Of course this would all be very devastating. The authority of Scripture is in trouble, as is the consistent teaching of the church for the past ~2k years.

Is there a problem with Christianity dying?

@Anonymous a problem for who?

if Christianity is true then there is zero chance of it 'dying': but setting aside that objection it's 'death' would be a problem for two parties: 1) God (his main activity is the creation of a group of humans who trust Him) and 2) humanity; without Christian witness no-one would be saved from God's wrath

@Anonymous I suppose eventually there will be no Church Militant, but it would be horrible if that happened while there was still stuff to do.