I am not talking about any supernatural being, powers, or miracles. Put that aside. Do you feel that he existed, or could have existed, as a human being?
2007-09-05 04:39:34 · 27 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I used to think he existed as just a man, an important man, but still a man. Recently though, I've read some things that show that there is very little historical cooberation that he existed. I'm undecided mostly, but still lean towards the man existing, but his deeds being over-exaggerated by Paul who afterall, had the pagan gods to compete with when he was proselityzing.
2007-09-05 04:46:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes and no. First of all, you asked about "Christ." Christ comes from the Greek word christos, which means messiah. In other words, the word christ implies that the person you're talking about was the messiah.
That aside, I do believe that 2000 years ago, there was a guy named Jesus who claimed to be the son of God and gained a large following. How do I know this? Historical evidence shows that back in Roman times, there were hundreds of people who claimed to be the messiah. It's kind of like those crazy people standing on street corners proclaiming, "The world will come to an end soon unless you repent!" Believing that there was one more of those guys isn't at all farfetched. I just don't believe that Jesus was the messiah.
Now for whether he could have existed in a human form. No, he couldn't. It's very simple: God, according to Judeo-Christian teachings, is ominiscient, omnipotent, and perfect. Humans are imperfect. Logically, a perfect God couldn't be partially imperfect. That would be like saying, "I have a flawless diamond, except for one flaw on the side." In other words, if God were to have a piece of the Trinity in the form of an imperfect human, the whole concept of God would be in need of major revisions.
2007-09-05 12:29:56 · answer #2 · answered by x 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, very much so.
I think it is generally accepted among historians that a person named jesus (or at least fitting his general description) did exist during the rule of emporer tiberius ceasar and was a preacher in and around the roman province of judea. Pontius pilate existed as well and probably the characters in the gospels.
however, that is likely where the reality ends and one has to read into them with logic and match what we do know from history as to how things really went down.
2007-09-05 11:57:15 · answer #3 · answered by Bluto Blutarsky16 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A person called Jesus could have existed, sure. It'd be just as easy to base the stories on an actual person as on a fictional one.
I've heard some evidence that he did. It was probably propaganda, but I can't be bothered looking into it, since it would make absolutely no difference to anything whether Jesus existed or not.
2007-09-05 11:45:36 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, he most likely did... Just without the superpowers. You don't just form a cult in the 20 years after somebody dies when they never existed. There are pretty decent records of what the guys around him did shortly after he died
It seems like it'd be quite a bit more work to get John, Thomas, Paul, Peter, James, and so forth to believe they had met the same ENTIRELY fictional figure than to embellish the deeds of a man they had known and mix his parable with stories presented as true.
2007-09-05 11:48:37 · answer #5 · answered by yelxeH 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
... i think for athiests the question is....... the denial of Christ as Sovereign and as being God.
any athiest who declares Jesus Christ was an imaginary made up person who didn't exist is a fool and apparently hasn't very much knowledge of history. The fact that He lived and died is etched in history, eternally. It's a documented fact.
But the idea of his Divinity is where athiests disagree.
2007-09-05 12:00:17 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
A Rabbi named Yeshua ben Yoseph existed. Paul took this beloved man and created a Christ using the story of Mithra.
2007-09-05 11:49:49 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
There were many men named Jesus in the First Century, but yes, I believe the historical man Jesus existed.
2007-09-05 11:58:11 · answer #8 · answered by Lukusmcain// 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I think there's a good chance that he really existed. I just don't believe there was anything divine about him. I think he was just a man who was way ahead of his time and that stories about him have been exaggerated and changed to fit other people's agenda after his death.
2007-09-05 11:49:13 · answer #9 · answered by undir 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sure. I think someone inspired the story, but he was either a manipulative illusionist or just a popular dude who people turned into a god. It could have simply been completely stolen from another myth too, so that Jesus is based on a real guy from an older era.
2007-09-05 11:46:24 · answer #10 · answered by Meat Bot 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋