It's very doubtful the resurrection of Jesus was even believed in around the time of his death, as it's essentially missing in many of the oldest manuscripts. The whole part about Jesus talking to disciples after his resurrection was tacked on some point after.
rumborak
I can't seem to have two separate quotes in here so i'm going to have to multi-post sorry.
"The earliest manuscripts" being Mark. You're right it ends with the women seeing the tomb and running away in fear. that is *after* ch 16:6,7 the part where he talked to the apostles *In Mark* was tacked on afterwards. not so with Matthew, Luke of John. Matthew was written in the 50s (i think remembering from the top of my head) Luke-Acts was written in the...50s or 60s I think. might be 61? It ends with Paul in Rome during Nero's reign so between 54 and 68. It was before the great fire in 64 because Paul got killed as a result of that fire. Paul is very much alive at the end of Acts. John was written in before the destruction of the Temple so before AD 70. The latest clocks in at at the most 40 years after Jesus death and resurrection.
Stuff after the resurrection of Jesus isn't as important to Mark. His gospel climaxes at the 15:37-39. Mark is about the unfolding revelation of Jesus as the Christ/Messiah/Son of Man/Son of God etc. (Interesting tidbit: Jesus attributes the title Son of man to himself the most in Mark. it's referencing Daniel Chapter 7:13,14) so naturally the climax is Jesus dying, the temple veil being torn and the centurion (a non Jew) confessing Jesus as the "Son of God"
If you look at Matthew and luke and John they go into more depth after the resurrection.
If you look at the history of the church after Jesus Ascension in Acts You'll see how quickly belief in Jesus resurrection spread. It comes to a point in Acts (18:2) where the Emperor of Rome (Claudius, He was emperor from 47-51. 17-21 years after Jesus death) had expelled Jews and Christians (at this point Christians were regarded as a sect of Judaism) from Rome. This was during Pauls second missionary journey.
If you read 1 Corinthians 15 You find evidence of creeds already circulating in the Christian church. This was written in AD 55.
So Christianity *was* relevant 17-21 years after Jesus died. Indeed it had reached Rome so efficiently that 'Jews' had been expelled from Rome by that point. If you read Acts you see countless riots started against christians. Not only this but you also see time stamps in there like Acts 18:12 Gallio becoming Proconsul of Achaia. This is while Paul was again on his second journey.
As a side note. if you're going to use mass murder against christianity don't forget to hate your favourite romans who killed Christians for sport. It got to be such a fun past time for Romans they actually used us as torches or street lamps while they burned us alive. During the 1st century.
EDIT: stop posting so quickly I can't keep up