besides scripture is there any real hard evidence that Jesus lived and was more than a story?

Answer 1

Historical References to Jesus

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/mara.html

A Letter of Mara, Son of Serapion

Mara, son of Serapion, to Serapion, my son: peace.…..For what benefit did the Athenians obtain by putting Socrates to death, seeing that they received as retribution for it famine and pestilence? Or the people of Samos by the burning of Pythagoras, seeing that in one hour the. whole19 of their country was covered with sand? Or the Jews by the murder of their Wise King, seeing that from that very time their kingdom was driven away from them? For with justice did God grant a recompense to the wisdom of all three of them. For the Athenians died by famine; and the people of Samos were covered by the sea without remedy; and the Jews, brought to desolation and expelled from their kingdom, are driven away into Every land. Nay, Socrates did "not" die, because of Plato; nor yet Pythagoras, because of the statue of Hera; nor yet the Wise King, because of the new laws which he enacted.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/talmud.html

Here is what is written in Baraitha Bab. Sanhedrin 43a, probably second century:
On the eve of Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf." But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover! - Ulla retorted: Do you suppose that he was one for whom a defence could be made? Was he not a _Mesith_ [enticer], concerning him Scripture says, _Neither shalt though spare, neither shalt thou conceal him?_ With Yeshu however it was different, for he was connected with the government for royalty [i.e., influential]. Our Rabbis taught: Yeshu had five disciples, Matthai, Nakai, Nezer, Buni, and Todah.


http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/tacitus.html

The most famous passage in which Tacitus mentions Christianity is as follows (Annals 15.44):
Such indeed were the precautions of human wisdom. The next thing was to seek means of propitiating the gods, and recourse was had to the Sibylline books, by the direction of which prayers were offered to Vulcanus, Ceres, and Proserpina. Juno, too, was entreated by the matrons, first, in the Capitol, then on the nearest part of the coast, whence water was procured to sprinkle the fane and image of the goddess. And there were sacred banquets and nightly vigils celebrated by married women. But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order.
Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, 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, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed.

http://www.allabouthistory.org/josephus-and-christ-faq.htm

Josephus mentions Jesus in Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3, paragraph 3 (this paragraph is so phenomenal, that scholars now debate the authenticity of some of the more "favorable" portions of this text):

"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."

http://www.christian-thinktank.com/jrthal.html

Julius Africanus quoting --Thallus (c. 50-75ad)

On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Savior falls on the day before the passover; but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. And it cannot happen at any other time but in the interval between the first day of the new moon and the last of the old, that is, at their junction: how then should an eclipse be supposed to happen when the moon is almost diametrically opposite the sun? Let opinion pass however; let it carry the majority with it; and let this portent of the world be deemed an eclipse of the sun, like others a portent only to the eye. Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth--manifestly that one of which we speak. But what has an eclipse in common with an earthquake, the rending rocks, and the resurrection of the dead, and so great a perturbation throughout the universe? Surely no such event as this is recorded for a long period. (XVIII.1)

http://www.provethebible.net/T2-Divin/D-0201.htm
Lucian, the Greek satirist, wrote this rather scathing attack in The Death of Peregrine circa AD 170:
The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account... You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed upon 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.

Answer 2

No more than the evidence for Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great. That's the problem with ancient history - primary sources are typically far removed from the actual events. In the case of Jesus of Nazareth, the Gospels and the authentic letters of Paul are actually remarkably close to the events they reference when compared to the primary sources used to substantiate the existence of other historical figures.

There is a reason, after all, why you never see legitimate, secular scholars questioning the existence of Jesus. I always have to stop and check myself when my opinions contradict the opinions of the experts in the field.

Answer 3

I see I was too late... Oh, well...
Sorry it's so long...
-Pliny the Younger - wrote a letter describing the effect of the early Christian church (not necessarily proof Jesus existed, but proof Christianity came about a similar time the Bible suggested it did)
-Cornelius Tacitus - wrote a letter describing the early Church and describing the details of Jesus' crucifixion
-Suetonius (secretary and historian to Hadrian) - Regarding Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) and the Riot of Rome in 49 AD, Suetonius wrote:

As the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [Christ], he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome.

Interestingly, Acts 18:2 relates that Paul met Aquila and his wife Priscilla just after they left Italy because Claudius had expelled them.

Later, Suetonius wrote about the great fire of Rome in 64 AD:

Punishment by Nero was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition.
-Mara Bar-Serapion, a stoic philosopher from Syria - wrote a letter saying
"What advantage did the Jews gain from their executing their wise king?"
He is apparently a Christian, for placing Jesus on the same level as Socrates and Pythagoras, calling Him a "wise king"
-Lucian of Samosata - in a satirical letter acknowledges the crucifixion of Jesus

Also, I suppose the fact that so many other religions recognize Jesus as somebody provides some weight for his existence
-Jews consider Jesus to be the greatest blasphemer ever
-Muslims consider Jesus to be a great prophet
-Buddhists recognize Jesus as a "bodhisattva" (a perfectly enlightened being who vows to help others)
-Hindu tradition holds that Jesus was actually a guru who learned yogic meditation in India

Answer 4

Yes The Holy Spirit Is The Proof, But You Have To Experience Him.
Praise The Lord

Answer 5

A Roman historian, Josephus, referenced Jesus.

Answer 6

What? Strong evidence? I think the real hard evidence is the cross with Jesus figures on it. Don't think so?

Answer 7

Josephus gives 3rd or 4th hand accounts of a man named Jesus who was a traveling rabbi that was killed by the Romans. That's about it other than the gnostic gospels that were rejected from the canon.

Answer 8

Josephus mentions him, but scholars have proven the entries about Jesus were forged.

Among other things, Josephus refers to Jesus as "the Christ", yet himself rejected Jesus as a Messiah on his deathbed. The dialects of his writing don't match up with the inserted sections mentioning Jesus, either.

I do believe that Jesus existed; it is highly unlikely that the early Christian Church would have arisen in the manner it did in such a short time. There just isn't any proof of him existing.

Answer 9

There was a Roman, Flavius Josephus, I believe, who recounted him as a prophet. He apparently noted him as one of many prophets running around in Judea at the time.

Answer 10

no.
There is one (1) contemporary- Josephus, and HIS words are 3rd hand at best.
There is ZERO archaeological evidence, even the tomb of Jesus stuff doesn't match the claims of the Bible.

Non-Christians writing that some people they are writing about were Christian is not proof of Christ.

Christians: Don't lie about other historians, you might be asked to CITE YOUR SOURCES. (Here's a clue, if the guy wrote it in 100AD, he wasn't a contemporary.)

More importantly, how did a crowd of 50,000 not get reported to Rome and end up in any histories there?

Answer 11

besides being told you have a brain is there any real hard evidence that you have one?????