To the people who say that Jesus Christ never existed: Have you ever even cracked a History text before?

Question

I'm serious. I want to know why people buy into bizarre conspiracy theories when secular historians say that Jesus existed. Some details are disputed. But that there was a Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary and crucified by the Romans there is no doubt.

Here's my text book:

McKay, John P., Bennett D. Hill, John Buckler. A History of Western Society: Eighth Edition. 2006. Houghton Miffin Company.

Chapter Six (The Pax Romana) has a section called "The Coming of Christianity" starting on page 161, and a subsection of that is "The Life and Teachings of Jesus" on page 163.

Here's the book on Amazon so you can read the reviews and see for yourself that it isn't some sort of Christian propaganda book:

http://www.amazon.com/History-Western-Society-Complete/dp/0618522662/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/103-2607929-3253407?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187420709&sr=8-3

Answer 1

If the many early Christian writers does not do it for you, the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (born 37 AD) wrote a history of Jerusalem and mentions Jesus.

I can understand when people have difficulty believing in Jesus' divinity, his miracles, and his resurrection, but those who question His existence as an historical figure just get a roll of the eyes from me.

Answer 2

For one thing, there are limited historical texts pertaining to Jesus other than religious documents, which would limit their being introduced into standardized curriculum in schools. Second, Jesus as just a guy, (since his performing miracles and cheating death are surely faith-based facts and also not historically documented like Julius Caesar's rule), didn't really do much until he was 32 years old and then was crucified shortly after that. But in all actuality, I'm not sure how a history teacher can teach things like the forming of the Holy Roman Empire or the founding of other Christianity-based governments without mentioning that Jesus existed. Are you asking this question to attack Christians? I'm confused.

Answer 3

I've studied enough of history to know that you need multiple, independent accounts of something to establish some level of credibility. For some historical figures, we get that (Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, etc.). For some others, we don't really have more than one source of information (Jesus, Pythagoras, etc.).

ALL of the sources written about Jesus were ultimately based on the Gospels, which were written years after Jesus' alleged death. After looking at the validity of what most Christians propose as "sources" (Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, Roman records, etc.), combined with alternative explanations of where the story of Jesus came from and how it grew, I have come to the conclusion that Jesus was essentially a fabrication.

(And for the record, even if he did exist, I still wouldn't want to be a Christian.)

Answer 4

I like your question.

Hmm. The Shroud of Turin, the fact that the muslims won't allow you to explore the temple, the found cave where the stone was rolled away. What more do you want?

It has been proven by other history books that all of the disciples existed as they travelled ministering to others of Jesus coming back for us.

If all of you others out there do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, then I challenge you to do something. No! I dare you!

Pray to God ending your prayers with, "...in Jesus' name, Amen." Do this for forty days and nights straight, three times a day. Your life will change. You will change.

Answer 5

You are missing the forest for the trees. Most people who say he never existed don't care whether he existed or not, they are more concerned with his status as Savior/Son of God. Saying/proving he acually existed is a moot point. Buddha existed too, but showing that to a non-Buddhist won't convert him to Buddhism. Besides, using history as a Bible/faith defense tool is a poor idea; history shows the Bible was greatly manipulated. The Emporer Constantinople is known to have edited it to suit his needs at the time.

Answer 6

Um, yeah, I have cracked quite a few history texts. I have had quite a few conversations with people who write them and with the people who edit them for publication. So sorry, I do not believe Jesus ever existed. I do believe that the Jesus story as used by the Catholics to create a totalitarian government on the ruins of the Roman Empire is historically significant though.

Answer 7

Sorry that is totally incorrect. He wasn't the first fictional one, but he was the one taken for fact. He replaced the pagan Gods with the ridiculous idea that Satan went back in time to put all these other "fictional" Gods in place to fool the people. Yikes!!!

Answer 8

There were probably at least a hundred guys named Jesus, born of Mary and crucified by the Romans back in those times.... Very, very common names, you know.

Answer 9

I agree that secular historians indeed testified that Jesus of Nazareth existed. I would however, not take some of them seriously like Joseph for example. He was a leader of the Jewish military and he commanded his troops to commit suicide instead of dieing or becoming prisoners to the Roman soldiers. Joseph himself however, turned traitor and joined the Roman army and became a biographer. It is during his time as a traitor with Rome that he wrote all his Jewish History.

Answer 10

Sources?