Or have I totally gone past the point of no return(atheism)
2007-02-05 05:41:39 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The "character" was clearly made up in an attempt to make the 30 year old Jew into more of a god.
Take the virgin birth. It is never mentioned in the earliest gospel (Mark) but only in later ones. It is a copy of a number of god-woman offspring stories which were known at the time including Hercules who was said to be the son of Zeus and the mortal woman Leda.
Furthermore, while Mark mentions the empty tomb, the resurrection appearances by Jesus are not part of the most reliable ancient manuscripts and appear to be later additions to Mark. Certainly the trajectory from an empty tomb in Mark to a vision in Paul to a body which could be touched by Thomas seems to be a typical confabulation.
Many of his alleged "miracles" also seem to be based on other miracles recorded elsewhere, especially in the OT. They seem to reflect the attitude of "if the Patriarchs could do it then Jesus needs to do it."
The Jews of the time were expecting a messiah who would beat the Roman Empire in war. Instead they got a pacifist philosopher who condemned the Jewish hierarchy so they had him killed. Is it any wonder that his followers tried to pump up his legend into something more than the messiah, into something god like and, eventually, into god.
2007-02-05 05:45:01 · answer #1 · answered by Dave P 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Historically speaking, Christians and critics say it is impossible to deny that Jesus was a real man. If you're interested, check out anything written by Gary Habermas.
2007-02-05 13:44:56 · answer #2 · answered by Emmy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Logically speaking, it is quite a miracle, even if Jesus was just a 'character' that 2000 years later there would be 2.1 Billion followers.
2007-02-05 14:01:32 · answer #3 · answered by Someone who cares 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was thousands of years ago when the story was told and we all know how stories can't stand going around a circle without changing so yes I can see how it could have been manipulated or "made up"
2007-02-05 13:53:43 · answer #4 · answered by katie d 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you have totally gone past the point of no return(atheism), better known as the "Ostrich Syndrome".
2007-02-05 13:45:01 · answer #5 · answered by Chef Bob 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It should be obvious that the figure of Jesus was taken from other figures in other religions.
After all it isn't as if Christains didn't pick and choose what they wanted to steal from other religions.
The Birthday of this Jesus was originally the Winter Solstace (Pagans)
Easter comes from another set of pagan ideas.
And their own devil figure got part of his appeariencde from the Pagan god Pan!
2007-02-05 13:47:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Paul recognized that Jesus could be used to fulfill the "prophecies" of the bible. So, he made up a lot of stuff to fulfill the bible prophecies, and now here we are, 2000 years later, still thinking it's all real.
2007-02-05 13:48:03 · answer #7 · answered by atheist jesus 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yup. There were many who claimed to be God's son back then and they all came from pagan beliefs, and Christ is no different except he withstood the test of time..
2007-02-05 13:44:59 · answer #8 · answered by Art 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jesus was a real person, that is a historical fact that cannot and will not be denied by any rational person.
The evidence of His existence is overwhelming and empirical.
It cannot be denied.
2007-02-05 13:45:46 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you choose to ignore historical texts, of which there are plenty about Jesus, then you can't prove any person existed.
2007-02-06 06:27:59 · answer #10 · answered by cmw 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋