Do historians have any persuasive evidence that Jesus existed?

Answer 1

the existence of historical figures is not always an easy thing to prove. I think in a case like Jesus, it is reasonable to assume that he existed based on the fact that people close to his alleged time period thought that he did. In my opinion, the one who says that Jesus did not exist has a much more difficult task in proving that theory than the one who assumes he did.

The personage of Jesus makes sense in that time period in which he is said to have lived. There were indeed apocalyptic prophets in that time period, so there is nothing out of the ordinary about there being one more. The stories told about him which are the oldest are actually quite realistic about a Galilean man for that time period. The stories which begin to be told about him at later time periods begin to be more unearthly, and less realistic. But the fact that the earliest texts describe a very human, realistic figure, seems to say at least to me that there was a man behind the name and stories.

Some of the stories told about Jesus actually don't sound like something that a worshipper of Jesus would make up. Take the fact that he was baptized. That was to remove sins. Why would a perfect being need to be baptized? Why make up a story like that? In fact, the earliest accounts tell it rather straight-forwardly - but the later accounts try to explain it because it actually proposed a theological problem. So the later writers insert into the story things like John saying he is unworthy to baptize Jesus, and Jesus says, "Let it be so for now."

I am not aware of what arguments scholars use to make the claim that Jesus existed. But I do know that the vast vast majority of scholars believe that he did exist. So in my opinion, it would take a lot to prove that he didn't.

Answer 2

Yes, there are thousands of scripts of noncanonical writings about the life of Jesus from the first century. Being that they were often written by people who never met him, they often differ in their accounts, but any historian without an anti-relgious agenda would tell you there is a strong likelyhood that he existed.

For example, there are Roman court logs (now destroyed, in 1970s) and recordings of Jewish law violations. I don't have a link, sorry.

You see, the main role of skepticism derives from a lack of attention from surrounding communities. When Jesus was going about his daily life, he wasn't the only 'prophet' to do so. Granted, his indepth and often insipiring teachings now have earned him great fame, but back then he was just another wandering soothsayer, with a following of a dozen. So there are no personal diaries claiming 'Jesus came today! Hosannah be praised!', because in his lifetime Jesus wasn't one to amass great fame, although his supposed miracles brought the attention of say... King Herod, who wrote of 'a great miracle worker' in his own personal journals. But the argument here is that this could be 'any other prophet'.


The choice is yours, take the astounding physical evidence, or take the path of eternal skepticism.

Answer 3

We do not have any persuasive evidence that Socrates existed. But we believe that he did exist. Why?
Because a non-existent thing can not give any sign of his existence. A non-existent sun can not shine and a non-existent spring can not produce the rivival of nature.

Answer 4

Yes the dead sea scrolls pretty much prove this, not to mention writings by Jewish Historians.

Answer 5

Personally, I don't doubt he existed. Unfortunately, the historical documentary evidence is very weak. The oldest surviving scrap of parchment on which the New Testament is based is dated 60AD at the earliest, and is more likely 150AD. There are no independent eyewitness accounts and the non-Biblical sources such as Tacitus are years after the fact and are often based on biased testimony. They may well be based on eyewitness accounts that are lost, but historically that makes them unreliable.

Answer 6

Yes there is historical evidence that Jesus existed.

For further information see: http://www.jesusfactorfiction.com/answer.php?historical_evidence

Cordially,

Topaz

Answer 7

Pliny the Younger wrote about Christian revolts almost immediately after his death/resurrection/ascension. So it is pretty likely that he existed, because it would be awfully strange to completely fabricate a person who was recentlly "dead".

Answer 8

Basically you have a few ancient books written by unknown authors well after the alledged facts, and a few recently discovered ossuaries with similar names. That is about it.

Answer 9

Yes, and even outside of the Bible. Christianity is something what happened in history. You cannot take that fact away. : )

Answer 10

Go to your library.There are tons of books on it.