Now that most Christians realise that Jesus never existed, has it affected their belief in God?

Question

Mulereiner. I know that burritos exist, but it is hardly a proof of God.....or is it?

Gnostic. Interesting logic there, think about it, does one follow the other. Pontius Pilate was never recorded as having anything to do with Jesus, except in the Bible. Same goes for Herod, and you'd have thought an infanticide of that scale would be recorded, but it wasn't except in the bible. And Augustine was writing about things that were alledged to have happened hundreds of years earlier.

Wanzanna. It is pretty well established that Jesus in the writings of Josephus was a later insertion. Apart from anything else Josephus was an orthodox Jew, and the last thing he'd have said was that there had been a Messiah, he'd have been in as big trouble as it gets. Read it, get some background history in Judaism, and you'll see it's made up.

Thanks for the Tacitus ref. I'll have a look.

I would actually quite like to have an informed opinion that he existed, hence the blatantly provocative question, to get a strong reaction, as well as the kudos of getting awarded so many stupid question points.

It wasn't wanton teasing....well just a bit.
But sincere enquiry.

Been looking at the Pliny/Tacitus stuff. And interestingly cross referencing from the same source, ie Pliny, the Christians refered to probably worshipped Serapis, who was an incarnation of Osiris.
This fits well with the idea that Jesus is mythical, based on previous figures such as Mithras.
It is practically impossible that there is any solid historical basis for the life of Jesus, unless it is yet to be found. If there was, then every person in the western world would know about it

Answer 1

Really? WOW, thanks for informing us...
Reality is.... even secular writers of Jesus' era wrote about a man named Jesus:
One popular misconception about Jesus is that there is no mention of Him in any ancient sources outside of the Bible. On the contrary, there are numerous references to him as an historical figure who died at the hand of Pontius Pilate. Some even noted that he was reported to have risen from the dead, and was worshiped as a God by all who followed him.


JOSEPHUS: (37-101 A.D.)

Josephus was born in Jerusalem only four years after Jesus' crucifixion. He was an eyewitness to much of what he recorded in the first century A.D. Josephus mentions many events and people from the Gospels. Josephus was an Orthodox Jew who was commissioned by the Romans to write a history of the Jewish people and Rome up until that point.

Mentions Jesus: Antiquities, Book 18, ch. 3, par. 3.

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.

LETTER OF MARA BARSARAPION: (73 A.D.)

Mara Bar-Serapion was a Syrian who lived in the first century A.D. He wrote a letter to his son Serapion that mentions the Jews who killed their King. The letter is now in the possession of the British Museum.

"What benefit did the Athenians obtain by putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as judgment for their crime. Or, the people of Samos for burning Pythagoras? In one moment their country was covered with sand. Or the Jews by murdering their wise king?...After that their kingdom was abolished. God rightly avenged these men...The wise king...Lived on in the teachings he enacted."

Below are from what other secular writers mentioned of Jesus in their writings-

Jesus was a wise man and was called the Christ or Messiah, (Josephus)

Jesus gained many disciples from many nations, (Josephus)

He healed blind and lame people in Bethsaida and Bethany, (Julian the Apostate)

He was accused of practicing sorcery and leading Israel astray, (the Talmud)

Under Herod, and during the reign of Tiberius, Pontius Pilate condemned Christ to die, (Tacitus)

Christ was crucified on the eve of Passover, (the Talmud)

His crucifixion was accompanied by three hours of unexplained darkness, (Thallus)

Christ's disciples, "reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive;", (Josephus)

His disciples took to the habit of meeting on a fixed day of the week and took their name "Christians" from him, (Pliny)

They gave worship to Christ "as to a god", (Pliny)

They bound themselves over to abstaining from wicked deeds, fraud, theft, adultery, and lying, (Pliny)

Christians held a contempt for death and were known for a voluntary self-devotion, (Lucian)

Christians believed themselves all brothers from the moment of their conversion, (Lucian)

Christians lived after Christ's laws, (Lucian)

Christians were willingly tortured and even executed for their refusal to deny their belief in the resurrection and deity of Jesus Christ. (Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny, Lucian)

Never assume- you know how that old saying goes;)

Answer 2

where did this come from . He did exsist, you can not "prove " He did not.
it's recorded in ..

the works of Josephus?

"About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared."

- Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63

How about the gospel accounts? Did you know the first gospel account (Gospel of Luke) was actually recorded while Jesus was alive but was not transcribed as a full text until around 50-60 AD. That's less than 20 years after the crucifixion of Christ

Answer 3

You seem to forget God loves all the half brained idiots out there. He loves all the little children who are (99% of the time) to ignorant to come up with all the logic of your average Psychology professor. You are making it too hard. And that's exactly why you do not get it. Ask Him. Seriously, just ask God of He is real? And ask Him to tell you in a way you will be able to understand so significantly that it will leave you with no doubts. He is able to do that. You really are underestimating His creative capabilities. He made the way to Him simple enough for the simple minded. That's what you are denigrating but how dare you leave out the kids and simple minded! If the smart folks were not so arrogant, they'd have seen the way all along. Ask the Guy you want to know is He exists to tell you. He does that. Then, whose the fool?

Answer 4

If God exists or not is an open question, I don't intend to talk about it. But, from a strict scientifical and historical point of view, Jessus was a real living person. He spreaded the Christianity and made it a widely accepted religion.
Buddha and Mahomed were also real people.

If their teaching are true or not, we can discuss for centuries. But all of them were people who existed in the real life.

Answer 5

I don't expect you to just believe Jesus existed. Why should you? You read one or two books (or saw a 3 hour movie or a documentary on TV or some web pages) which said Jesus never existed and believed them.
Now I will tell you the names of 4 books which say he did exist: The Gospel of Matthew (killed for believing Jesus was a real person), the Gospel of Mark (friend of St Peter - both were killed for saying Jesus was a real person), the Gospel of Luke ( a close friend of St Paul who spent many years in jail and was killed for saying Jesus was a real person), and the Gospel of John (died interned on the island of Patmos for saying Jesus was a real person). That is 4 books written by people who knew to personal cost that saying Jesus was a real person was dangerous, but did it anyway.
Which of your sources has been threatened or in danger or died or been thrown in jail for saying Jesus didn't exist? My guess is that none of them was threatened with jail or death (although they might have been threatened with having to pay taxes on the money they made).

So who has the greater credibility: a witness who stands by what he or she saw knowing it might or will cost them their life or a witness who might make some money out of it?

Answer 6

Most Christians do nor "realize" that Jesus never existed..Anyone who knows any history other than The Davinci Code knows that Jesus existed.

Josephus - a very important historian of the first century,was a priest and a Pharisee. One of his most ambitious works was called The Antiquities - a history of the Jewish people.In the antiquities he refers to James the brother of jesus and Jesus himself. It reads"He conveined a meeting of the Sanhedrin and brought before him a man named James, the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned."
"No scholar has sucessfully disputed this passage".

Answer 7

That Jesus existed is historical fact. Not only that, He exists today.

No, it would not affect my belief in God. How can you not believe what your eyes have seen...in spiritual form? I do not know why so many people try to convince others that Jesus & God do not exist. They do exist & the fact that people don't belief that does not change the fact that Jesus existed/exists & that God is real. Many people know the existence of God in their lives today. Too bad that there are people who don't know this.

PS...I owe the fact that I am even alive today to this God that people say does not exist. There is nothing that can convince me otherwise...Nothing,

Answer 8

Jesus of History Christ of faith. There was a historical figure named Jesus. What makes one a Christian is the belief that he rose from the dead. To say that he never existed is historically wrong.

Answer 9

You see, the you have to prove that Jesus never existed, and you can't...because history and documents stand staunchly against you.

Secondly, most Christians believe that Jesus existed. Actually, all Christians believe he existed.

So, like I said, the burden of proof is on you.

Answer 10

LOL not one single Christian believes Jesus never existed. Otherwise there would be NO Christians nor Muslims or several other religions. Where did you get this idea?

Answer 11

umm...maybe it's time to put down the little glass pipe for a bit...ALL Christians believe that Christ lived, died, rose again, and is in heaven preparing a place for us...it may be the only thing that we all, as Christians, do agree on, but without this, we would, by definition, not BE Christians...has anyone taken the time to explain to you what a Christian is?