"extraordinary claims"

 Donald Williams (in Touchstone) made a great point about the "extraordinary claims" sometimes wielded by the atheist or agnostic against history and Christian faith. He notes that the argument cuts both ways:

-"the idea that this wonderful, intricately designed, and finely tuned universe randomly popped into existence out of nothing for no reason and then proceeded to organize itself through random, purposeless processes"

-"the notion that Christ's disciples were transformed from clueless wimps and cowards into people who turned the world upside down by what they knew to be a lie"

-one could add Jesus Christ as liar, lunatic, or legend

-or subsequently, "the idea that atheists are the only ones who care about reason and evidence, while Christians are the ones who believe absurdities out of blind faith"