Is it a fact that Jesus Christ existed?

Question

I am speaking from a completely factual and non-religious point of view here.

Is it a fact that a man named Jesus Christ existed?
If so, it is just a theory theory that his mother was a virgin, correct?

Also, is it an actual fact that he was crucified?

Please, all answers need to be 100% factual without any religious influence.

Answer 1

There is no historical contemporary corroboration to Jesus' existence, other than the bible. There are no non-Christian evidence or eye witnesses that were Jesus' contemporary. All the Christian accounts were written decades and centuries after his death. The only physical evidence of a person living in Jesus' time was a broken fragment found bearing the words, "Pontius Pilate, the prefect of Judaea..." (1961, archaeologists discovered a plaque fragment at Caesarea Maritima, an ancient Roman city along the Mediterranean coast of Israel.)

This is not to say Jesus did not exist, only that the non-Christian evidence is not there.

Answer 2

Yes, Jesus Christ existed. The historian Josephus records his execution under the rule of Pontius Pilate. You should be able to find a translation of Josephus online, as it's centuries old. Try Project Gutenberg. Look for Antiquities of the Jews.

As for Mary being a virgin, there is considerable controversy here. Some have claimed that "virgin" is a mistranslation of the original text, that "maiden" might have been a better choice of word.

Lastly, as to the crucifixion, Josephus does record Jesus' execution, so I believe the answer is yes.

Answer 3

The academic field of History does not accept the idea that Jesus Christ ever existed, as all the so-called "proofs" are from biased religious sources. This according to the department chair at the university where I am a grad student majoring in History. Until corroborating evidence is discovered, Jesus will be considered an influential character who may or may not have lived.

Answer 4

There's considerable historical documentation of his existence - see links below, please

The general consensus - as shown in the sample from link 2 below - is this:


"…if we apply to the New Testament, as we should, the same sort of criteria as we should apply to other ancient writings containing historical material, we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never questioned. ... To sum up, modern critical methods fail to support the Christ myth theory. It has 'again and again been answered and annihilated by first rank scholars.' In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary.
Overall, the unhistoricity theory is regarded as effectively refuted by almost all Biblical scholars and historians."

As to Mary's being a virgin, this is believed to be true by both Christians and Moslems.
But it's not something that can be proven or disproved; it's a matter of faith.
As for Christ's being crucified, again this can't be historically proven or disproved. Christians believe that he was whereas Moslems believe he wasn't - or at least that he didn't die on the cross.

Answer 5

History actually does tell that Jesus Christ existed. There are many secular history books that confirm this. They even confirm many of the events that are described in the Bible about Him. Here is a short list of some of the books:

- Documents of the Christian Church
- A Source Book for Ancient Church History
- Origen: Contra Celsum
- The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?
- The Evidence for Jesus

You can order them at amazon.com and read them for yourself.

Answer 6

Most historians believe that Jesus of Nazareth did indeed exist, but there are a very small few that are skeptical or believe that he did not exist.

As far as the facts that surround his life go, unfortunately that part of history is a bit skewed, so nobody can say for sure about the other questions.

Answer 7

There was a real person called Jesus Christ, yes.

Answer 8

Yes is a fact. Try reading the Case for Christ

Lee Stobel The Case for Christ

Answer 9

Yes, he existed.

Crucifixion was the form of capital punishment adopted by the Romans - nasty race those Italians!

Answer 10

nothing in religion is fact, in my opinion. that's why there are so many kinds out there, because ppl question why this is true and this is wrong. if there was fact to any of it, than we could agree on one kind of religion. i hope ppl don't get mad at what i have to say, but then again, if they are, they are very close-minded. we need to be respectful to other ppl's opinions if you want the world to stay whole. once again, only my opinion.