As I earlier implied, the people that had reason to know about this event were so convinced of His ressurection that they endured all manner of persecution and execution in order to preach it.
So did the Branch Davidians and the people in Jonestown. Just because someone is convinced of something doesn't make it true.
I said,
"people that had reason to know about this event". I was talking about knowledge of a verifiable/falsifiable fact. Whether or not a person is physically, literally alive can be known, proven or disproven.* I don't know much about these two cults you mention, but I doubt their followers were in a position to know whether Koresh or Jones were God/Messiah, what-have-you.
In the same way, modern jihadis are not in a position to know whether the Koran is a divinely-inspired book that orders them to kill children and other civilians. This is a major difference between bin Laden and Joshua. Joshua, after forty years with Moses, could have no doubt that the command to kill every man, woman, child and animal of the enemy was directly from the God that had the right to make such decisions. What proof hath bin Laden?
Check 2 Kings 4:8-37 on the prophet Elisha reviving the child. A passage in the Talmud (I think Megilla) where one rabbi accidentally murders another one, prays, and the other one is revived. Again, we have a principle that we do not rely on miracles.
The magicians in Egypt were able to replicate almost all the "miracles" performed by Moses. We don't believe in them either. The prophet Bilaam was able to perform miracles and communicate with G-d. That doesn't make him worthy of anything, since he was wicked.
btw, what "history" attests to this? You only have the Gospel account. How many people actually saw him? I think more people have seen Elvis or Czar Nicholas II since they died. That doesn't make Elvis the messiah, just a hunka hunka burning love.
Elisha - Did he claim divinity? Did he resurrect himself? If not, how is he relevant? The same can be said of this Talmudic account or of Balaam. And which of Pharoah's "magicians" was beaten, scourged half-to-death, crucified for six hours, speared in the side by Roman executioners to verify his death, then laid out in a tomb for three days (two and a half days by our modern reckoning) and then ressurected himself?
I am curious, though. If you do not "rely on miracles" then do you rely on some other evidence for the truth of your beliefs? Or is Judaism even concerned about this?
What history, you ask? The Gospels are known for their historic accuracy, and if I am not mistaken, have a better provenance than the Tanach,** though of course I hold that also to be inspired and true. The other books of the NT are also considered by many historians to be accurate, based on objective standards, and also speak of Christ's ressurection. In one verse, Paul reports that Jesus was seen alive by 120 people, if that helps answer your question. I'm afraid I can't find it, though. I'll keep looking.
*Now, I'm not saying that Peter or I can
prove that Jesus rose from the dead, but we can show that it is the best explanation for the facts of the case. On the other hand, the Jewish authorities attempting to quell the Christian sect should have been able to provide Jesus's dead body as proof, had they been correct.
**For that matter, the New Testament is more reliable as a historical document than any other document from the ancient world; if I am correctly informed.
