Can someone point to anything independent of the Bible to prove that Jesus Christe ever even existed?

Question

Thanks.

My personal favorite is this dude's mistaken logic:

There are a number of secular writers such as Josephus who mentions Jesus. Too, our present calendar is reckoned A.D meaning "annui domini" or "in the year of our lord".
Recent diggings have discovered proofs of Jesus contemporaries. Examples are: (a) a coin w/ Pilate's image, and (b) a box said to contain the bones of James, one of Jesus brothers or disciples.


How fabulous it is that he cites a coin that independently assert's someone else's existence, a box that is total hearsay, and the entire calendar system, which was designed hundreds of years after Jesus would have lived. You, sir, are a true marvel of a man.

Answer 1

If you go to nobeliefs.com and find the link about a historical jesus, you'll get a thorough examination of why all evidence is suspect. The summary includes arguments about hearsay, Josephus being sponsored by a bishop who advocated deceit, and an examination on the lack of contemporary evidence.

A quick google search will dispel the argument concerning the calendar.

So, I guess the short answer to your question is: no, there is no true evidence to support his existence.

Answer 2

There are a number of secular writers such as Josephus who mentions Jesus. Too, our present calendar is reckoned A.D meaning "annui domini" or "in the year of our lord".
Recent diggings have discovered proofs of Jesus contemporaries. Examples are: (a) a coin w/ Pilate's image, and (b) a box said to contain the bones of James, one of Jesus brothers or disciples.

Answer 3

Sure, read the Qur'an and the Book of Mormon. Both discuss Christ as having been a real figure. The writings of Josephus, a Jewish historian from the first century AD contain references to Jesus, as do the writings of Pliny the Younger, the Roman historian Suetonius, and Tacitus (also a Roman historian). The Talmud mentions a person called Yeshu, who lived during the reign of the Hasmonean King Yannai (Jannaeus) in the early 1st century BCE and who was executed by stoning for enticing other Jews to idolatry.

Answer 4

Was Jesus Christ a real, historical person?
The Bible itself is the principal evidence that Jesus Christ is a historical person. The record in the Gospels is not a vague narrative of events at some unspecified time and in an unnamed location. It clearly states time and place in great detail. For an example, see Luke 3:1, 2, 21-23.

The first-century Jewish historian Josephus referred to the stoning of “James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ.” (The Jewish Antiquities, Josephus, Book XX, sec. 200) A direct and very favorable reference to Jesus, found in Book XVIII, sections 63, 64, has been challenged by some who claim that it must have been either added later or embellished by Christians; but it is acknowledged that the vocabulary and the style are basically those of Josephus, and the passage is found in all available manuscripts.

Tacitus, a Roman historian who lived during the latter part of the first century C.E., wrote: “Christus [Latin for “Christ”], from whom the name [Christian] 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 (New York, 1942), “The Annals,” Book 15, par. 44.
With reference to early non-Christian historical references to Jesus, The New Encyclopædia Britannica states: “These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus, which was disputed for the first time and on inadequate grounds by several authors at the end of the 18th, during the 19th, and at the beginning of the 20th centuries.”—(1976), Macropædia, Vol. 10, p. 145.

Answer 5

Evidence that ancient Christians existed is NOT evidence that Jesus Christ existed. Neither is a willingness to die for your beliefs. The members of Heaven's Gate willingly died for their beliefs. That doesn't mean there was a spaceship out there waiting for them.

The paragraphs in Josephus's work are considered to interpolations, that is they were not part of the original manuscript and not written by the original author.

Some will point to the James ossuary as proof when experts have declared the inscription a fake and it's "discoverer" was arrested for participation in a forgery ring.

Answer 6

I thought there were some Roman documents, but haven't had any luck finding them. There's this though:

If Jesus lived, he must have been born. When was he born? Matthew says he was born when Herod was King of Judea. Luke says he was born when Cyrenius was Governor of Syria. He could not have been born during the administration of these tow rulers for Herod died in the year 4 B.C., and Cyrenius, who, in Roman history is Quirinius, did not become Governor of Syria until ten years later. Herod and Quirinius are separated by the whole reign of Archelaus, Herod's son. Between Matthew and Luke, there is, therefore, a contradiction of at least ten years, as to the time of Christ's birth. The fact is that the early Christians had absolutely no knowledge as to when Christ was born. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says: "Christians count one hundred and thirty-three contrary opinions of different authorities concerning the year the Messiah appeared on earth." Think of it -- one hundred and thirty-three different years, each one of which is held to be the year in which Christ came into the world. What magnificent certainty!

Answer 7

I have not found anything. I've been told about the Roman census records, yet No One could provide them.... Not even a hint as to where one could find these records. As you can see, someone else listed it here, but didn't offer a reference where you could find them.

Another answer completely astounds me... because the Jews don't believe him to be the Messiah, that means he exists? Sorry, the Jews base this off of the WRITINGS of the Bible... not any outside source. They claim that going by the New Test writings alone, Jesus could not have been their Messiah. *Sigh*

And Fireball... all of those things are proof that My Goddess Exists........... Do you see how easy it is to use those things to "prove" something like this? Come on....

Answer 8

Josephus, the most famous secular historian of the day, wrote about Jesus. He wrote about him being a charismatic leader with many followers and that he died the death of a criminal by habging on a cross.

Also, other historians of the day wrote about his disciples. Most of them eventually died terrible deaths because of what they believed and preached. One was skinned alive, one was crucified upside down, others were beheaded. But they knew what they saw. They walked with him for 3 years. They knew the truth and were willing to die for it. People will not die for something they know to be a lie.

Lots of evidence exists. Search out websites. Just type in Jesus, evidence.

Answer 9

Excerpt:
Cornelius Tacitus, one of the most reliable source historians of first-century Rome, wrote in his Annals a year-by-year account of events in the Roman Empire under the early Caesars. Among the highlights that he reports for the year A.D. 64 was the great fire of Rome. People blamed the emperor Nero for this conflagration since it happened "on his watch," but in order to save himself, Nero switched the blame to "the Christians," which is the first time they appear in secular history. Careful historian that he was, Tacitus then explains who "the Christians" were: "Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus" (15:44). He then goes on to report the horrors that were inflicted on the Christians in what became their first Roman persecution.

Answer 10

Josephus' history of the Jewish people - he was not a Christian. There were also a couple of Roman writers - I've forgotten their names - there is a letter from one, describing the darkness that came over the world when Jesus was crucified.