Reddit mentions of The Case for Christ, Revised & Updated: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus

FWIW, the four gospels in the Bible were written from first- and second-hand accounts and could still be verified/contradicted by people who were around when the events recorded happened. The gospels you reference were written much later, would have been impossible to verify, and include stories that do not appear in any other sources.

Think of them as the Bible version of DC's Elseworlds or Marvel's What If ... ? series. That is, not canon.

There's a really interesting book called The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel that investigates how the Bible we recognize came to be and if/how/why it's trustworthy. It's an easy read.

Christianity is weak but for so many reasons, including the corruption. I think you were taught about corruption in the Bible because the Quran is well-preserved and faith-based religious teachers are always trying to one-up each other.

Keep in mind that many Christians will tell you that their version of the bible (among hundreds of versions and translations) was perfectly preserved. How lucky they are to have the exact right version! God has truly blessed them.

I've read the book, The Case for Christ, and it was given to me as the best argument for Christianity. But it only taught me more about how weak of a foundation it is. If you want, you could read that for the "strongest case".

Christianity's main focus is the stories of Jesus and claim that he died and rose from the dead to save humanity from going to hell. These stories, collectively known as The Gospels, were then expanded upon by some other writers who compiled what is now known as the New Testament.

In my opinion, it's extremely weak. They begin, at best, as rumors from unknown, anonymous authors, taking the word of others who claimed to be eyewitnesses, writing about events over 30 years late.

The stories themselves would be very heavily scrutinized if told today. There is no modern medical record of dead coming back to life after 3 days, and no known theoretical mechanism to even allow such a thing (aside from convenient Divine Intervention). The same goes for like 100 other miracles reportedly performed.

There are plenty of direct quotes from Jesus. How is any quote possible 30 years after he said it? So these anonymous authors just memorized the Sermon on the Mount on the spot, but didn't write it down until after 30 years. Along with everything else he said. If it were so important to memorize, can't they just get like, one guy who knows how to read and write? Isn't it really important that future generations know exactly what Jesus said?