I think Lemmy has a problem with history in general, since most people on here have degrees/training in STEM. I see a lot of inaccurate “pop history” shared on here, and a lack of understanding of historiography/how historians analyze primary sources.
The rejection of Jesus’s historicity seems to be accepting C S Lewis’s argument - that if he existed, he was a “lunatic, liar, or lord,” instead of realizing that there was nothing unusual about a messianic Jewish troublemaker in Judea during the early Roman Empire.
Maybe nothing unusual about his existence, since it is historically proven anyway. But what about the stories of healing and even resurrecting? Would you also think that these were not unusual?
“Miracle workers” were not that uncommon during the era - see Apollonius of Tyana who lived around roughly the same time.
I think OP was asking if the particular miracles ascribed to Jesus were common.
For resurrection from the dead, Empedocles was said to have thrown himself into volcano to ascend to Godhood. He would have existed about four centuries before Jesus, but this story would have probably been popular at the time of Jesus.
Elijah raises a boy from the dead in the Hebrew Bible.
In a pre-modern medicine world, how do you actually tell if someone is dead or not? How do you explain things like a remission from cancer? Even in the modern world, at faith healing ceremonies people will walk out of their wheelchairs or claim to be healed of a variety of ailments. It’s not impossible to imagine scenarios where someone appeared to be dead but was not, or had some chronic condition that they appeared to temporarily recover from.
Excellent reply! Had not thought on much of that, especially the last phrase. Seen that IRL when dad was dying of lung cancer, many have told tales of sudden lucidity at death, all that.