Is Jesus a Myth or historical fact?

Answer 1

Is there historical and scientific proof of Jesus?

It is interesting that when people seek historic and scientific proof of Jesus, they immediately discount the Bible as a reliable source.

If we look at the Bible simply as a historic document, it should be among the most reliable on record compared with others.

Historians routinely cite Herodotus as a key source of information. He wrote from 488 B.C. to 428 B.C. and the earliest copy of his work comes from 900 A.D. (1,300 years later). There are only eight known copies of his work.

By contrast, the New Testament of the Bible (with all its information about Jesus) was written between 40 A.D. and 100 A.D. The earliest known copy is from 130 A.D. and there are 5,000 known copies in Greek, 10,000 in Latin and 9,300 in other languages.

Still, to put to rest the notion that there is no historic and scientific proof of Jesus outside the Bible, we may look to Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and to Roman historian Carius Cornelius Tacitus - both well known and accepted.

Josephus, in the book Jewish Antiquities" wrote:

"At that time lived Jesus, a wise man, if he may be called a man; for he performed many wonderful works. He was a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. . . .And when Pilate, at the instigation of the chief men among us, had condemned him to the cross, they who before had conceived an affection for him did not cease to adhere to him. For on the third day he appeared to them alive again, the divine prophets having foretold these and many other wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of the Christians, so called from him, subsists at this time" (Antiquities, Book 18, Chapter 3, Section 1).

Tacitus, in writing about accusations that Nero burned the city of Rome and blamed it on Christians, said the following:

". . .Nero procured others to be accused, and inflicted exquisite punishment upon those people, who were in abhorrence for their crimes, and were commonly known by the name of Christians. They had their denomination from Christus (Christ, dm.), who in the reign of Tibertius was put to death as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate. . . .At first they were only apprehended who confessed themselves of that sect; afterwards a vast multitude discovered by them, all of which were condemned, not so much for the crime of burning the city, as for their enmity to mankind. . . ." (Tacitus, Annals, 15, 44).

Another source of evidence about Jesus is found in the letters of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan. Pliny was the Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. He asks Emperor Trajan about various ways to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being Christians. He did some research regarding these Christians and this is what he came up with: They met on a certain fixed day before it was light and sang hymns to Christ, as to a god. Unlike other gods who were worshipped, Christ was a person who had lived on earth. They bound themselves by a solemn oath to not participate in any wicked deeds, and never to commit fraud, theft, adultery, falsify their word, or deny a trust. These early Christians believed he was a real person and they held his teachings in the highest esteem. They also bound themselves to a higher oath to not violate various moral standards which is the source of the ethical teachings of Jesus.

There is also a collection of Jewish rabbinical writings that give a few clear references to Jesus called the Babylonian Talmud written approximately A.D. 70-500. The most significant reference from this period states, "On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald. . .cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy.'" The name, Yeshu, is actually the name, Jesus, in Hebrew. However, upon reading the passage, we know for a fact that Jesus was not hanged, but that He was crucified, but the word, "hanged" serves as a synonym for "crucified." And what about the statement that Jesus was to be stoned? This could indicate that the Jewish leaders were planning to do just that, but the Roman Government intervened on those plans.

Another source of writings comes from Lucian of Samosata who was a second century Greek satirist. In one of his writings, he notes as follows: "The Christians…worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. . . . [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws."

We know the man Lucian is writing of, and that man is Jesus. What did Jesus do to arouse such wrath? He taught men are brothers from the moment of conversion which means denying Greek gods, worshipping Jesus, and living according to His teachings.

As we can see, these writings corroborate our knowledge of Jesus from the gospels.

Answer 2

Great question! Want to try for both? Seriously, I do believe in the historical Jesus. There is just too much real evidance out there for which people died. The power of myth eventually dies, or becomes incorporated into fairy tales...but they don't change lives. The "Myth" of Jesus, however, has continued to live on and change lives. This makes Him both historical and myth.

Answer 3

Jesus is a Historical Fact.

Answer 4

Not all myth is necessarily false.
Jesus was and is both. He is historical fact as has been shown by a number of people who have researched his existence as a man.

A myth is a story believed to be true, that may have basis in fact. Jesus, and his claim to godhood is one such story. It is by definition a myth as we don't have an objective way to prove it factual. Something being a myth does not necessarily detract from it being factual, so the answer to your question is "Both".

Answer 5

Jesus is a Historical fact.

Answer 6

Historical fact.

Answer 7

Alexander the Great kept scribes to preserve his campaign 500 year before Christ. When its written down to preserve some account of what has happen in history, it carries more weight than just a complete discounting of the events like it never occurred. Example, Peter, who share a meal or two with Jesus, is documented as the first pope. So, in this case its more than faith, its a matter of documentation. Just because an event is old it doesn't mean there no record of it.

Answer 8

He is a historical fact and the greatest influence the world has ever known for good

Answer 9

Jesus the son of Mary and Joseph is in fact a historical fact. Not only is his life recorded in the Holy Bible, but he is alsso found in historical record of Rome, Jerusalem, and mentioned in thousands of ancient manuscripts, some lableing him as a prophet, others as a teacher, and of course the son of god. His story is told not only in the Christian Bible, but also in the Jewish, Muslim, and other religeous books that dont recognise him as the son of god. He was in my World History Text book in High School, and in World History/World Literature text in College as well (public college for that matter, not christian based)

Answer 10

Jesus was a myth invented by the gnostics who were the original christians (actually he was their personification of their cosmic Christ who was a personification of the trans-universal spiritual force). The mainstream Christians (Xians) didn’t understand their advanced metaphysical/cosmological/ spiritual concepts and took it all literally and made the so-called “bible” and “Christianity” and have been arguing among themselves for two millennia. Yes the Jesus of their bible is a myth.

Answer 11

Actually, there is no empirical evidence to support the man called Jesus Christ (nor for any of the other names ascribed to him).

While there are many sources of information on the web, the most concise is www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm. It delves into the inaccuracies of the so-called evidence, exposes why the writings of Josephus are less than reliable, and more.