Was Jesus Christ a hoax of the Church?

Question

Let me start by saying that by posting this question, I do not wish to aggravate anyone. I am simply trying to encourage intellectual debate. Regardless, do you think that Jesus Christ really existed or was he just a fabrication for financial purposes, i.e. cults, etc.

The Romans have no records of his execution or life, and they were the leading historians of the day. Josephus wrote of him, but was around long after Jesus' supposed death. The first Gospel was not wrote until 90 years after his supposed death.


What is your conclusion and your thoughts?

Answer 1

There is no historical evidence that Jesus ever lived. He was an invention of the early Christian church as the result of period folklore which foretold of a messiah. In fact, there were numerous stories of different people of the time which mirrored the same story. One that comes to mind is that of a guy named Horus, who was reportedly born of a virgin, died for the sins of the world and saved all of mankind. It was nothing more than popular folklore that took root in the early Catholic church when it voted to give Jesus divine origins.
While the stories were many they varied greatly in the details. Much like the stories in the Bible.While there is a common thread, they do not fully agree - thus proof positive that a supernatural being did not oversee the writing or compilation of this so-called most important of books.
The same is true for all religions, popular stories eventually become their Gods.
Facing facts is often hard, but, there you go.
By the way, martyrdom is not a sign of truth, just look at all the Muslims that are blowing themselves up for their faith.

Answer 2

Good question. Actually Tarsus of Rome wrote 30 years after Christ's death about Christians burning down Rome. Now this is Secular history not Christian. Romans were the leading historians of their day, but did you know that Tarsus of Rome was hired by the Emperor to write on Roman history, how accurate can that be?

There is evidence that Paul wrote some of his letters before the Gospels. And the gospels can be dated back to the first century as early as 60AD were if there was a body of Christ the Romans could have opened his tomb and said "here is the body, you Christians are full of it".

Answer 3

The Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner reports that the “early Talmudical accounts” of Jesus confirm ‘both the existence and the general character of Jesus.’—Jesus of Nazareth, p. 20.

There are also two references to Jesus in the works of Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian.
Josephus tells that “the sanhedrin of judges brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James.”
(Antiquities of the Jews, Book XX, Chap. IX, par. 1)

Roman historian, Tacitus, tells of Nero fastening the blame for the burning of Rome upon those “called Christians by the populace. Cristus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.”
The Complete Works of Tacitus, translated by A. Church and W. Brodribb, p. 380.

A number of other Roman Writers, including Pliny the Younger, Seneca and Juvenal also make references to Christ’s followers.
The Encyclopædia Britannica states regarding the testimony of early Jewish and pagan writers:
“These independent accounts prove that even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus.”
1974 Edition, Vol. 10, p. 145.

Bible scholar Wolfgang Trilling comments:
“The controversy as to whether Jesus ever lived was settled. The question was resolved in a scholarly manner, at least in such a way that serious-minded people no longer see the problem as an academic issue.”

Answer 4

At least some of your facts are wrong. The Gospel of Mark was written around the year 70, which is 40 years after Jesus' crucifixion, not 90 years.

Josephus wrote most of his historical documents around the end of the first century, less than 70 years after Jesus's crucifixion, hardly "long after" in historical terms.

There is plenty of evidence that Jesus existed. Lee Strobel's book "The Case for Christ" is a good resource.

BTW, He STILL exists. Read His word and seek His face and you will know personally!

Answer 5

I do think that all religious entities are false. during these times, holy books were written to control the people, to give them some morals to live by. thus, keeping the people in line without harsh methods. the only way to do this, was to have a really good story to believe in.

If you think about it, modern day heroes are built on their life stories. religion is the same. It has been passed down from generation to generation over the years, but as life gets more complex, and technologically advanced, the rules become harder to follow.

Answer 6

The bible was written by a man, and it is just a book. A book of fairy tale. But the human mind is a weak thing, and people began believing this book because is says that it is true, much as I can say that I am Albert Einstien reincarnate and SOMEONE out there will believe me.

It happened a long time ago with the older movie of the War of the Worlds. It was originally broadcasted as a TV newsreel and people actually thought that aliens were taking over planet earth.

Go figure eh?

Answer 7

I wonder why men would suffer the humiliation and even death to protect a myth onto the world. All the Apostles save John died a horrible death and all including John never saw and financial renumeration. What was in it for them? Paul was beheaded, and before that help as a prisoner for years and years. What would have been the reason to endure all that suffering... Their witness rings true. Jim

Answer 8

Jesus, Esa, regardless of the name, was a man who lived about 2,030 years ago in that area of the world who promoted peace and was known to have healing powers and was a champion of children who were often abused and neglected. That much has been documented. Some regard him as a saviour, some regard him as a prophet, some regard him as a model human being that God blessed for the message that he promoted. He was persecuted for his differences and for the fact that he pushed people to resist the Romans, and that the Jewish rulers used him as a scapegoat to take pressure off of themselves. They wanted business as usual, not to upset the Romans, to have their rich little lives go on as usual with the poor people relying on them to tell them what to do and what was right...and Jesus was telling people to rely on their own conscience, not on the Saducees, the Jewish rich guys, for their guidance, that their relationship with God did not have to be governed by these fat cats and that they could spend their tithes to help their neighbors and not to make the temples richer. The fat cats did not like this at all and took the first opportunity to turn Jesus in to the Romans as a trouble maker. But Jesus' message stood, whether he was the son of God, or a prophet, or just a carpenter's son who spoke the word of God, he was blessed and his teachings live on today, even if they have been twisted by the rewritings of so many human authors throughout the millenia that followed...the essential message is peace and love and self determination.

Answer 9

The story of Jesus is just a myth. It is a fairy tale and a sad one. The character of Jesus is a combination of other popular gods from surrounding areas during that time period. Mithras, Krishna, Horus, etc.

Any Christians out there who may doubt this information, try researching for yourself. Why were all the characteristics of Jesus present in other popular gods before the supposed lifetime of Christ? Why is his story so strikingly similar to the stories of Horus and Mithras who existed long before the myth of Jesus? Why, if he is so important, did he not write anything down during his entire life? Why did no one else that knew him or knew of him write anything about his existence until years, decades after his supposed death?

Answer 10

Jesus is real. He was alive then, He's alive today, and He reigns on the right hand of the Father. Sorry if that's not intellectual enough for you, but I believe it with my whole heart! Sometimes you have to forgo man's wisdom because it is quite insufficient when it comes to the things of God.l