Jesus in historical context?

Question

For those who catogorize Jesus with the Easter Bunny, bare with me.
At the time of jesus, early 1st century...there is no mention of Jesus of the nazarene, the healer, the prophet, or the exorcist (as some believe). In fact, the only record of Jesus comes many decades after his alleged death, in a biography by Paul and John the baptist that is written through visions he had of Jesus after his death. If he was known to be a leader of religious movements and a defiant against the traditional pious leaders who led him to the crucifix....than why is there no recorded historical text? There are records of others (ie: john the baptist, the first to write about Jesus)....but wouln't there be some written evidence of Jesus during his stay on earth?

As big as jesus is in the bible, if he exists, wouldn't there be some record? This has nothing to do with faith...i'm talking about actual evidence, not "i just believe"

Answer 1

True, there is no evidence that Jesus ever lived. One scholar proposed the idea that Jesus was a mythical person, like King Arthur, and his life was really a synthesis of an earlier person, known in the Dead Sea Scrolls as "the righteous teacher." He says the earlier stories about the righteous teacher were collected and given a Nazarene name and history as Jesus. There is some merit to this.

Even if Jesus lived, the stories told about him decades after his life are likely hagiographic and not historical. His words were changed to fit the political and cultural realities of a later generation. His life was also altered to fit into a Greek conception of divine humanity associated with the Mithraic cult.

I think it most likely that Jesus was a preacher with a small following in Palestine. He probably never had more than a few dozen disciples. His only brush with history was his riot in the temple, which led to his arrest and execution. He was not a significant character in Roman history, and was not chronicled in any way. Later, his cult grew in strength, and that is when the written testimonies began to be collected.

Answer 2

The thing is, at that time, VERY few people were written about while they were alive. Writing about things was just not the best way to preserve history, simply because they had not come up with system that made the writings easily accessible, or able to stand up to the tests of time. The materials they used easily disintegrated (hence, why they kept copying them every so often) unless kept in sealed jars (like the Dead Sea scrolls were) in a dry place.

The leaders at the time kept persecuting those who believed in Christ, and kept trying to quell the belief that Jesus had risen from the dead. They tried to discredit Him. This is obvious from later writings. They insisted that His mother was a whore, that He was a sorcerer who was possessed by Satan, that His believers were a member of a cult, that His believers had practices that were inhuman (which they did not)...the list goes on and on. This is obvious from texts dating back to the late first century and throughout the second century.

As far as the New Testament goes, the VERY last book accepted as canonical was written in about 95 A.D. The very first was written as early as 55 A.D. The majority were written prior to 70 A.D. That really isn't that long after the fact. MOST things weren't written until far after they happened, if they were written about at all.

Christianity itself, though, dates back to about 33-35 A.D. That's within three to five years after Jesus was crucified and all that. And it originated in Jerusalem, which is where it's claimed that Jesus was crucified, and where His tomb was/is. Myths about a person take a LOT longer to actually form.

Oh, and John the Baptist never wrote anything. He died before Jesus did.

The majority of the earliest writings of Jesus are in the New Testament. I know what you're thinking, "But they made it all up!" Why would they do that? What did they gain? And most historians value the New Testament as far as historical reliability. The terms they use, the places they describe (such as the Pool of Bethesda), the people they describe...all is accurate. And the terms they use are completely accurate to the middle/late first century.

Answer 3

the only available suurviving document from the time Jesus was alive is called "the dead sea scrolls" found near the dead sea in west bank , in 1950's , it does not mention Jesus by name but it describes a strict religious group and their teacher , the description is very similar to Jesus, the scrolls describe Jesus as a prophet not a son of god , so there is a lot of argument around it , some say its not talking about Jesus , others say its describing Jesus and the church has been deliberately trying to hide a lot of the scrolls , there has been a lot of books written some with some against n example The Prophet of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Dr. Upton Clary Ewing( its with the theory that the prophet described is Jesus ) , now its up to you to investigate and read , i am just putting facts and i am not trying to convince anyone with anything , personally i am with the theory that the prophet described in these scrolls is Jesus and that he is a prophet. PLEASE ALL DO NOT TAKE FROM MY WORDS THAT I AM ATTACKING CHRISTIANITY , SO DO NOT TAKE THE defending or counter attack part,its all about scientific and historical facts , and everyone is free to take the part he sees most convenient, another thing i am not christian but a guy intrested in history , and religions

Answer 4

Josephus refers to Jesus in his writings. For more detailed information on evidence of Jesus' life read "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell. He started the research for the book to prove that Jesus was not God.

Answer 5

Historical/Archeaological and scientific evidence abound as proof of the work of Jesus Christ on earth. Records preceeding His coming into the world by thousands of years exist. Nobody is making any attempt to convince anybody about the fact of Jesus Christ. Jesus is a living person even now. Forget about history and argument. Jesus is right here right now. Do you want to interact with/experience Him? Get into the privacy of you room. Pray sincerely and solumnly. Invite Him into your heart. Ask for His fellowship. I guarantee that you will have concrete evidence of His presence and devine touch. Your life will never be the same again. You will experience joy unspeakably. I challenge you to try.

Answer 6

There is no historical context for jesus. The very first mention of jesus anywhere is from one of Paul's epistles after he had his "vision". There is no mention by any historian outside the bible until decades after he would have died.

There are many Jewish historians writing at the time of jesus and we still have some of their works today. Yet not a one of them mentions jesus. there are a few who mention christians a few decades after jesus, but not jesus. There was Josephus's writings, 60 years after jesus, which mentioned him but were seriously rewritten by christians.

Nobody mentioned a miracle working son of god who, performed miracles in front of thousands, fed thousands, walked on water resurrected the dead and then was resurrected himself. No one word, anywhere.

And let's not compare him to other historical figures, if true his deeds far outweigh those of any other human who walked the earth. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, yet there is none.

Answer 7

The term historic Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century parent Jesus of Nazareth.[a million] those reconstructions are based upon historic procedures alongside with severe prognosis of gospel texts as a results of fact the ordinary source for his biography, alongside with attention of the historic and cultural context wherein he lived.[2] historic Jesus replaced right into a Galilean Jew who undertook a minimum of one pilgrimage to Jerusalem, then component to Roman Judaea, for the time of a time of messianic and apocalyptic expectancies in late 2d Temple Judaism.[3][4] He replaced into baptized by using John the Baptist, whose occasion he would have accompanied, and after John replaced into accomplished, began his very own preaching in Galilee for under approximately 2 to 3 years ahead of his dying. He replaced into an eschatological prophet and an self sustaining ethical instructor.[5] He informed surprising and unique parables, a lot of them regarding the arriving Kingdom of God.[6] some pupils credit the apocalyptic declarations of the Gospels to him, on an identical time as others portray his Kingdom of God as a ethical one, and not apocalyptic in nature.[7] He despatched his apostles out to heal and to evangelise the dominion of God.[8] Later, he traveled to Jerusalem the place he brought about a disturbance on the Temple.[3] It replaced into the time of Passover, whilst political and non secular tensions have been severe in Jerusalem.[3] The Gospels say that the temple guards (believed to be Sadducees) arrested him and grew to become him over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate for execution. The flow he had began survived his dying and replaced into carried on by using his brother James the basically and the apostles who proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus.[9] After splitting with Rabbinic Judaism, it developed into Early Christianity.

Answer 8

Even if there was that kind of evidence, would you actually believe it?

Edit: And as such, does it matter? Nothing I can say to you will make you believe, because faith cannot be forced upon another, and so my testimony will avail you nothing.

Answer 9

It is indeed quite difficult to find historical records of fictional fairy tale characters dear.

Answer 10

hearsay and recanted fable
Lucius Annaeus Seneca "the Younger," Roman stoic philosopher, writer, and politician (4-65).
"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by rulers as useful."