re: Is this how atheists think Christianity started?

No.

Most atheists don't waste time thinking about how Christianity started. It's a religion. They're all attempts at control. No one cares how they started.

I’m a hardcore Trump conservative and an atheist. Religion or Christianity doesn’t cross my mind anymore after converting 20 years ago. I have no issue with religion, to each their own.

To come back to the OP, while I certainly don't attempt to speak for all atheists, my perception of the mainline atheist position re: the assertions in the skit are:

1. People die for lies all the time. If Mohammad had been killed early on during his religious expansion phase, no non-Muslims would be citing that as evidence that his beliefs/assertions were factually correct.

2. There is little to no non-Biblical historical evidence for the "post-resurrection" lives of the overwhelming majority of the apostles. Further, the Biblical renditions were written decades after the alleged events, starting with the Gospels on down. The ones that were relatively contemporaneous were letters sent within the church that would obviously have ulterior motives. And to cap it off, the first major Christian evangelist, Saul/Paul would have no claim to standing around the fire in that skit to begin with.

Frankly, if one looks at the Gospels critically, the apostles were pathetically weak. If I spent years following a man around who I, literally and first hand, witnessed perform actual god-honest miracles, including raising a man from the fricking dead and who had told me to my face that following him was the only path to eternal salvation, the idea that I would immediately deny him/hide after he was taken by authorities almost defies logic. The way they are heroically described post-Gospel basically reads like fanfiction, to say nothing of the Gospel fanfiction/hit piece that is John, written what, half a century later, taking absurd swipes at Thomas for what was arguably doctrinal reasons.

quote:

---

If I spent years following a man around who I, literally and first hand, witnessed perform actual god-honest miracles, including raising a man from the fricking dead and who had told me to my face that following him was the only path to eternal salvation, the idea that I would immediately deny him/hide after he was taken by authorities almost defies logic.

---

Seems like there is a lesson in that story that Jesus wanted Peter to learn.

And Peter learned it.

He became the most fearless and successful evangelist in Israel

quote:

---

If I spent years following a man around who I, literally and first hand, witnessed perform actual god-honest miracles, including raising a man from the fricking dead and who had told me to my face that following him was the only path to eternal salvation, the idea that I would immediately deny him/hide after he was taken by authorities almost defies logic.

---

Humans fear death and detention… can you right now say you believe in some so much you would die or risk prison for it???

quote:

---

Seems like there is a lesson in that story that Jesus wanted Peter to learn. And Peter learned it. He became the most fearless and successful evangelist in Israel

---

From a moral allegorical narrative perspective, sure. But does that really read like a human being to you? People blow themselves up for Islam damned near every day based on zero tangible evidence that their god knows they exist. Yet Peter, who allegedly had overwhelming first hand evidence of the divinity of Jesus, cowered like a child at the first hint of adversity. Is that how you would expect most people to act in his position after having his experience? Is that how you believe you would act in his position after having his experience?

quote:

---

If I saw a god on Earth raise a man from the dead? Uh, yeah.

---

Would you though???… you know it’s people who exist right now that people claim they’ve witnessed bring the dead back

quote:

---

Would you though?

---

Yes

That was only one miracle, too.

Feeding thousands with a couple loaves of bread and a couple fish would probably have sold it to me even stronger.

quote:

---

if you had followed Jesus around for years and seen miracle after miracle, is that how you think you would have acted?

---

I would think I’ll be braver than the apostles in that situation… but none of us know what we’ll do in a situation we’re you could save your life with a worded denial… I mean would Jesus really be against you doing as such ??