Did Jesus Christ Exist.?

Question

"As a matter of fact, the idea of the historicity of Jesus has not been accepted as an established fact by each and every biblical scholar.

The work of G.A. Wells, who has observed biblical scholars, readily admit that the Gospels were written by unknown authors not personally acquainted with Jesus as late as 80 years after his alleged death. There is much evidence that the accounts were written with particular theological motives in mind.

A particular point of interest is the fact that the writings of the earliest Christian authors do not actually support the thesis that there was a Jesus who lived in the first century, even when it would have been to their advantage to say so. The letters known to be genuine Pauline epistles and those believed to be probable are completely silence on Jesus' parentage, when he might have lived, his trial, his death, or even his ethical teachings. What makes all of this particularly amazing is the fact that it would have helped Paul in many of his theological disputes to cite Jesus, but he does not appear to have been aware of what Jesus allegedly taught in the Gospels. Isn't that a bit strange?

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/2850/JesusHist.html

"If the Gospel was not written by an eyewitness to the events described, then it is quite legitimate to wonder just how accurate the reports really are. According to the Gospels, Jesus was supposed to be a public figure and well known. Given that fact, one should be able to presume that he would have been known to some historians and that they would make mention of him. "

Thanks Father K, as always, you have my love and respect.

Answer 1

His name was Yehsuah ibn Yoseph(Romans being the Greekophiles they were Constantine renamed him Jesus during the creation of the Catholic Church) He was a Rabbi(Learned Holy man teacher who studied and taught the Torah) From a well to do family (Joseph his father was a master tradesman carpenter from the house of David i.e. King David) By the way a thirty year old Rabbi is always married. He taught a radically reformed Judaism that challenged the power of The Temple. He empowered the poor and downtrodden and declared wealth to be a hindrance to salvation. His intelligent, compassionate interpretation of the Law was also easy to understand. He spoke in parables that reached the simple as well as the learned.
Unfortunately for His life His followers became so impassioned by His teachings that the declared Him Messiah, and King of the Jews. Out of fear of a reprisal from the Roman Gov. Pilot similar to the one he performed in Samaria 5years before (200 cross's on the road side) The Sanhedrin had Him arrested and tried for sedition.
His manner of meeting His death with an unprecedented Majesty and an actual compassion for His Killers so moved the crowds that the uprising they hoped to quell with his execution immediately occurred.

Answer 2

Sisterzeal: Next time that you are going to say that Pilates records indicate Jesus was alive, then at least provide the evidence and not some link spouting off the Bible.
It is true and has been proven so many times that the New Testament was never written by the authors credited with the books. And you are correct that the Testaments were written many years to multiple decades after the supposed death of Jesus. If there was a Jesus, he was human at best, nothing more. But you would think that if he did exist, there would be more records about him, and not just the ones that the Christians have.

Answer 3

Jesus, probably. Christ, not by the definition at the time.

While you are right about the gospels, they do indicate that four different communities recording four different oral traditions all focus on a single person's ministry by name. This would lend weight to those who argue that there was a preacher named Jesus. On the other hand, the biography of Jesus is clearly suspect. In addition to the Pauline letters being silent on his parentage and early life, so are Mark and John. Even Matthew and Luke can't agree on his genealogy (leaving literalists to claim that the two wildly divergent genealogies represent Joseph's and Mary's despite the clear claims that they are both Joseph's).

The theology of Jesus also seems to be a later construct. Clearly he was not the Messiah (or Christ) that was prophesized by the OT. He did not come in glory to reestablish the throne of David. Because of his failure as a traditional Messiah, the NT seems to try to rewrite history.

Answer 4

This article is about the veracity of Jesus' existence. For historical reconstructions of Jesus, see Historical Jesus.
For detailed mythicist views, see Jesus-myth hypothesis.
The historicity of Jesus concerns the historical authenticity of Jesus of Nazareth. Scholars draw a distinction between Jesus as reconstructed through historical methods and the Christ of faith as understood through theological tradition. The historical figure of Jesus is of central importance to many religions, but especially Christianity and Islam, in which the historical details of Jesus’ life are essential.

Most scholars in the fields of biblical studies and history agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee who was regarded as a healer, was baptized by John the Baptist, was accused of sedition against the Roman Empire, and on the orders of Roman Governor Pontius Pilate was sentenced to death by crucifixion.[1] A small minority[2] argue that Jesus never existed as a historical figure, but a purely symbolic or mythical figure syncretized from various non-Abrahamic deities and heroes.[3]

The four canonical Gospels and the writings of Paul of the New Testament are among the earliest known documents relating to Jesus' life. Some scholars also hypothesize the existence of early texts such as the Signs Gospel and the Q document. There are arguments that the Gospel of Thomas is likewise an early text. Many later texts provide valuable historical information as well.

Scholarly opinions on the historicity of the New Testament accounts are diverse. At the extremes, they range from the view that they are inerrant descriptions of the life of Jesus,[4] to the view that they provide no historical information about his life.[5] As with all historical sources, scholars ask: to what extent did the authors' motivations shape the texts, what sources were available to them, how soon after the events described did they write, and whether or not these factors lead to inaccuracies such as exaggerations or inventions.

Answer 5

You are mixing apples and oranges. The Bible is the Canon of the Church. This means that there are other texts that exist but one particular Church or other has chosen to exclude them from their version. When the Bible was compiled and drafted was several centuries later. The stories already were in existance and spread either by text or word of mouth until someone wrote them down.

This is pretty much the case with any event that occurred or person who existed that long ago. Were you go ary is by tring to scientifically prove something that is not proveable. If you accept the existance of any person named in the ancient texts used to compile the Bible, you must accept the existance of Jesus, too. His name comes up just like everyone else's.

Whether or not he was the Messiah or not is a matter of faith. But I can see no reason to doubt his existance when he has had such an impact. Unless everyone was lying for some reason.

My grandmother came from poland and forget about finding any record of her. We tried and tried. Record keeping, even in the recent past is hit or miss. I am amazed any records at all exist from that long ago.

We have no idea if we have anywhere near everything to examine from that time period. It is not likely that we do. It is unwise to draw any conclusions based on what you have unless you have some idea of how much there is that you do not have to read. There are also far more language related problems with translations and such then a lot of scientists would like to admit.

No one is forcing you to believe it. Do or don't. That is what faith is about.


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Answer 6

The 1st century historian Josephus wrote about Christ. Plus no one said that Jesus was well known, because he really wasn't. that's whats so amazing. Your right about the epistles and stuff they were written by someone other than the Apostles,except for the gospel of John, close acquaintances, like Luke and Mark who were students/disciples wrote the rest.

Answer 7

In the Pauline Epistle, Paul is not concern about the the parentage of Jesus. His concern is the salvation of mankind through Jesus death and resurrection. In the allegation that Paul did not know Jesus teaching is full of lies and ignorance of the Bible. It is Jesus who call Paul (Saul) in his road to Damascus and reveal himself to him. This is the reason why Paul has a complete 180 degrees turn around on his belief. On his dark day he is the prosecutor and executioner of the Christ believer. He became the prosecuted when Christ reveal himself. Read the bible and pray that God gives you the knowledge to understand it.

Answer 8

Jesus Christ *as presented in Scripture* almost certainly did NOT exist; he is a pagan "Godman" who follows every archetypal convention in ancient Western cultures of the Mediterranean.

Yeshua bin Josef, the historical human being, may or may not have existed. Roman records, usually meticulous, are absent any mention of him (or the supposed events of his life) and references to him in texts like those of Josephus are widely thought to be later (and clumsy) forgeries by the early church. If he DID exist, in all probability he was a member of the Essene sect of Judaism, which IS a historically documented group.

Jesus Christ, the spiritual leader of the Christian church and an aspect of their Godhead, almost certainly DOES exist, if only by force of belief among his followers.

Answer 9

That is by far not the strangest thing in or about the Bible. It is relatively impossible to know, given currently available evidence and documentation, that Jesus of Nazareth was a real person. I think it is certainly possible, even probable that there was a charismatic spiritual teacher named Yeshua who garnered the admiration of many followers. Even if that man did exist, however, it would be further impossible to know what, exactly, his message was. The Christianity we have today is Paul's creation.

Answer 10

I think it is probable that a person named Jesus lived. I also suspect Mary survived into the apostolic period. I suspect what actually happened was that Jesus was a cult figure like David Koresh and a man by the name of Judas realized that this peasant rabble he was attracting was no match for the legions and like the other twenty similar figures of the same period, he was arrested and killed. My guess is that the body was hidden as a cruel joke by teens or soldiers and that the group imploded and divinized him.