[onedoug]

One thing that should give pause to a non-believer of this narrative is how hard it must have been for these gospel writers to gravitate toward women as the first witnesses to the resurrection, as opposed to keeping the tale simple and, even as in some respects today, less controversial.

Why would they have made that up?

[so_real]

Excellent point. In a male dominant culture, those made responsible for penning the gospel identified women as the first witnesses to the resurrection. That is a considerable honor. And they were the first to be charged with a post-resurrection responsibility, to deliver the good news to the disciples. Another considerable honor. To anyone with a rationale mind, this suggests an accurate transcription of events, rather than a fabrication of them.