Do atheists believe that Jesus was a real person?

Question

or do they doubt his existence? Obviously one could believe He was a person without believing in His biblical position, so I just wondered if any atheist had found proof of His existence to be true at any level?

M3 I wonder how you would have me classify it then. Obviously a Christian of any denomination believes he was real and the son of God.Atheists is a broad term just like Christian.By the way I am Christian and will answerquestions addressedto all Christians if I can without regard for denomination which is usually left out of the question's title. I am sorry if I offended you.

Well, Eileen...who changed the water into wine at the reception?

Answer 1

Some do. I used to think he was real, even an admirable person without all the superstitious nonsense attached but I've found there is no historical documentation and the information given in the bible is contradictory.

If Christians spent more time following his teachings than shouting that people would go to hell for not believing in him, I'd have a lot more respect for them.

Answer 2

"Atheism" means "no belief in deity", period. That's all that can be said for certain about those who identify as atheists. So as for the historical Jesus, some buy it, some don't.

Personally, I do not believe he existed a historical person. I came to this conclusion based on my research on the subject, and comparing claims from both sides of the issue. I've seen pretty much seen every argument on the "pro" side refuted.

Of course, this isn't the reason for me being an atheist. Even if Jesus did exist, I wouldn't want to be a Christian.

>>Atheists is a broad term just like Christian.

No, when somebody identifies as "Christian", we can safely assume much, much more details about that person than we can if they identified as "Atheist", even if two denominations might differ greatly in detail. We can assume, for example that the person is 1) theistic, 2) more specifically monotheistic, 3) believes Jesus historically existed, 4) that the crucifixion happened, 5) that he or she has a special belief regarding the teachings described in the Gospels, 6) they believe in some other parts of the Bible, etc.

>>By the way I am Christian

No, really?

Answer 3

First of all, you can't classify all atheists into one group, it's not a belief system. There are some atheists (such as me) that believe it's possible there was a man called Jesus that all the stories are based on. There are those that don't believe that he existed at all. I don't know either way, really, just as I can't be sure any other people that supposedly true stories are based on ever really existed.

Edit: I'm not offended at being classified, just saying you can't generalise about what atheists believe. Atheism is just a lack of belief in God(s), not a set of ideas we all adhere to.

Answer 4

Some do, and others do not.

If they believe that he existed, then they believe that he was wrong in his teachings, or that they are distorted to where they are meaningless.

If there "proof" of Jesus existence?

The Jewish historian Josephius (who was a child during Jesus' ministry and wrote shortly there after) gives three different references to Jesus. He speaks of him as being a teacher and healer who was crucified by the Roman. He states that his followers claim that he rose from the dead, and that his followers were common at the time he was writing. He also mentions John the Baptist, who he states was the cousin of "Jesus, the so called Christ", and tells about John's beheading by Herod. Herod's grandson, also named Herod, was a close personal friend of Josephius, so it is unlikely that he would have been lying about the incident. Finally he records the stoning of James, the "brother of Jesus", who was the head of the church in Jerusalem, and how the Christians were driven out of Isreal by the Jewish leaders. Pretty strong evidence that someone named "Jesus" lived.

The Roman historians Pliny the Younger and Tacitus both write about Jesus, called the Christ, and the Christians as early as 100AD. Tacitus states that he was crucified by Pilate, and then his followers claim he rose from the dead. Pliny writes about the Christains, and how they worship the one they call the Christ by binding themselve with a oath not to steal, kill, lie, fornicate, or do other evil.

The Romans would destroy the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and the leaders of the Pharisee would flee north to the city of Tyre where they would compile a history of their beliefs and traditions known as the Talmud. Writing about 71 AD, they speak of Jesus, stating that he was a man who worked miracles and did healings by evil magic until they had him executed by the Romans. And that the his followers stold his body in effort to make it look like he had risen. If there was no Jesus, why would his enemies, just 35 years later, write a history about him? Maybe a hundred or two hundred years later when the "myth" had come to be considered facts. But the authors of this statement included Pharisees who were at his trial and execution.

Add to that the writings of Lucian the playwright who mocks Jesus in one of his works, the historican Thallus who alludes to the darkness that appeared at the time of Jesus' crucifixion, the references by the historian Suetonius to "Chrestus" (a common misspelling of "Christus", the Greek word for "Chrsit"), and other such references, and there is solid historical evidence to show that such a person existed.

Answer 5

It is called the Historical Jesus vs the Mythological Jesus debate.

The Historical Jesus is the "actual" ancient person, but is only accessible to the extent that later people can reasonably and reliably describe him. The quest to attempt to use scientific principles to reconstruct a verifiable biography of Jesus has progressed for more than two centuries.

Critics variously attack the historical reconstruction of Jesus as either a monumental distortion of Jesus' true identity and ministry or as ascribing historical status to a fictional character.

Do I believe (yes, I am an atheist)? It's not important to me. It has no influence on my life, so why worry about it?

Answer 6

It depends on the atheist you ask. Personally I think Jesus was merely a prophet, a MAN, nothing more. If you compare them, most of the main prophets in major religion are very similar, just like all the stories. I don't believe in his trickery or mind control, but I think he did live at some point.

Answer 7

I doubt he existed but if he did he was just one of the many crazy Jews who reckoned they were messiahs during that age.

Let's face it, the only place he gets a mention is in the bible (aka Goat Herders' Guide to the Galaxy).
Jesus the Christ didn't write any notes; he didn't even leave an 'x'.

Answer 8

Of course he was a real person.We all know that he got married to Mary at the Last Supper and Peter was his best man,God was an usher and the rest of the disciples were bridesmaids.its a very very well documented fact dont you know.The three wise men sent telegrams apologising they couldn't make it but the shepherds did.Apparently there were loads of lepers invited too and they did all the catering.

Answer 9

This person does not believe that Jesus ever existed. Not as a human or as a son of God.

Besides, what would Jesus as just another Joe be, besides totally irrelevant.

Answer 10

I believe jesus lived & that by all reports he sounds like an okay guy but I just don't believe he was the son of god or that his mum was a virgin or that he rose from the dead. To me he's more like the carpenter who took the blame.