What makes you so sure that Jesus ever existed?

Question

Forget about what the bible says. Imagine that its factuality is up in the air, like the questioning of pluto. What makes you personally believe that jesus ever existed?

Like I said, forget about the bible for a moment when thinking about this question.

Miss portugal and africa, Im actually quite the opposite of how you described me. I am actually very happy and have lots of friends. Sometimes more than I really want.

And when people bring up the subject of religion, I explain openly about how I feel. I like for people to actually question their beliefs instead of going by blind faith, like you.

Thanks for worrying about me though.

Answer 1

There isn't a single solitary shred of credible proof or evidence that he did exist.

Answer 2

Well it is important to consider what the bible says, for the simple reason that it does not have a single author. The four gospels, the book of Acts, and the letters have many different authors.

Now when I say the bible is useful in establishing the existence of Jesus, I don't mean that in a "cuz the bible done say it's real" sense.

It is the fact that disparate writers - not knowing they were setting down writings that would in future be consolidated with other writers' writings and characterized as scripture - write of Jesus as though he was real.

Paul in particular writes letters to communities that easily had the ability to falsify the existence of a non-existent person. Furthermore, he refers to people known to be historical - such as Peter the apostle (Kephas), and refers to having met them, and he does so in letters to communities that had met the apostles first hand.

The gospels themselves contain details that just wouldn't be written about a purely mythological character - for instance, the witness to the ressurection was a woman, Mary of Magdala: at this time, and in this place, a purely mythological character's ressurection witness would have been constructed as a man, since a man was taken more seriously as a witness (which remains true in the middle east today.)

So why would the gospels - all of them - include this detail universally, even the Johannine gospel which does not seem to be much aware of the synoptic line of gospels?

For the simple reason that they have some base historicity in common.

Leaving aside the biblical evidence for the moment, there is also Tacitus and Josephus who reference him.

No - there's a different reason these "Jesus didn't exist" memes circulate today (a meme unknown to the first 1800 years of Christianity). Say the man didn't exist, and you rob him of his power.

But it is in the very power of his words - the unique and forceful vision he had of the "Kingdom of God" so eloquently spoken about in the Sermon on the Mount, the parables, and the dolorous Johannine dialogues with Pilate - that we see a passionate and very real personality, whose opinions and feelings virtually leap off the page.

Who can forget the angry Jesus who made a rope and turned over stalls in the temple, saying "Don't make my father's house a marketplace!" Or the Jesus who railed against the pharisees and sadducees, creating for himself many enemies.

No - a very real man practically leaps off these pages. Whether you consider him God or not is up to you. But those claiming he did not exist are smarmily and sneakily trying to disarm him, the only way they can figure out how.

They don't counter his vision - they slyly suggest he simply wasn't alive to make it. A far easier (and far lazier) technique than trying to take on his hopeful and compassionate vision...

Answer 3

well, first i would encourage you to apply the same standard to any ancient figure or literary work; how do you know its true?

In the case of Jesus, there are other literary works from the time which corroborate the biblical accounts of Jesus. The most well known and quoted of these is the writings of the Josephus. Josephus was a jewish historian of the period. He did not accept that Jesus was the messiah, however, he did write about Jesus and acknowledge his following and miracles.

Additionally, there is Roman writings approximately 70 years after his death. The Emporer, Nero, blamed the early Christians (who were actually Jewish) for burning down half of Rome. After that, Christians were rounded up and killed, fed to the lions, staked, etc. If it is only 70 yrs after he died, why would ppl die for their belief in a person that they knew did not ever exist?

many other facts and evidences, but i think you get the point.

Answer 4

There is so much hoopla (past and present) about Jesus. His life IS recorded for posterity in the Bible. Why would people keep his history alive all these years if he wasn't such and incredible man/God. We celebrate his birthday, his resurrection etc. No man has made an impact on history and society like Jesus Christ. Many people have died for believing in Jesus Christ. You have to admit that he has definately made an impression on the MAJORITY of people living in the USA. I am not sure if Christianity is the majority in the world. I think the Muslim religion is hand in hand with the Christians at this point. Anyway, We all can't be stupid morons for our belief in Christ as we are called daily on this site.

Answer 5

Maybe the fact that Islam, Judaism, and Christianity all agree that he did exist.

Neither Judaism nor Islam will dispute that fact. While he does not hold the same importance, they do believe he did exist. In Islam he was considered one of the prophets, but not the seal of the prophets like Muhammed was, which is part of the reason he's so important. And Judaism also does, but does not recognize him as the messiah.

That's proof enough for me.

Answer 6

Jewish and Gentile writers wrote about Jesus in the first and early second century. The fact that Jesus was a real person is not seriously debated in academic circles anymore. The Babylonian Talmud (Jewish), Josephus (Jewish writing for Romans), Tacitus (Roman) and Suetonius (Roman) all write about Jesus.

Not to mention the fact that if Jesus never existed, there would not be Christianity. The understanding of the Messiah was a military/political leader that would lead the armies of Israel against the foreign invaders. Every time a so-called Messiah was killed, his group disbanded - not so with Jesus. They firmly believed in the resurrection, to the point that eyewitnesses were tortured and gruesomely killed because they refused to recant the message.

Answer 7

Josephus, a Roman historian of the period, wrote quite a bit about Jesus and his claims to be the Messiah. Other lesser known writers have referred to him.

So there's little doubt that Jesus EXISTED. The question really is, "who was he?" That is ultimately the big question of faith...

Answer 8

Actually, the question of whether he existed or not is NOT up for debate. There are secular writings (from non-believers) who wrote about the man Jesus...if you would investigate.

The BIGGER question for your personally, is WHAT do you do with him? It is your choice...So if you would lay aside your glasses of higher criticism...read the Gospels and ASK God to reveal to you if it true or not, and see what happens...You may be pleasantly surprised!

But don't make the false assertion that he didn't exist.

Answer 9

I think he probably did, but I am not sure. His life may have been invented. It seems perfectly clear that many of the events surrounding his life were made up by gospel writers who did not even live during his time. The only halfway contemperaneous account is from Josephus, decades after the fact, who never knew Jesus and who almost certainly wasn't around during the supposed events of his life.

Answer 10

What makes you so sure that Christopher Columbus or George Washington existed? And forget about what the history books say.

Answer 11

What makes you think Genghis Kahn existed. Ya just gotta rely on the the histgorical record.

By the way, Muslims recognize Jesus existed