Do Atheists deny existence of Jesus Christ ?

Question

Simple question. Oh, and yes, there is proof. No need
for details here. We all know where you can go, to find
out.... The point is do you believe, in the existence
of Christ ? You admire past historical heros, and leaders.
Like George Washington, and Abe Lincoln. Winston
Churchill. Mother Theresa, and The Pope. So, I have
a legitimate question here. Best answer wins. ~~~

Answer 1

I think the question is really "Do you believe Jesus is who he claimed to be?" His existence as a historical figure is no longer in question; enough non-Christian scholars now accept this, based largely on contemporary non-Christian records (cf: Josephus, etc)
It's just a case of deciding what you believe about who he was.

Answer 2

I don't deny the existence of a man whose actions at the time led him to be used as a basis for such a character. As far as the stories that surround this person, they have, for all intents and purposes, been debunked.

There have been countless human beings throughout history who've made big impacts on their communities, and eventually, through the natural evolution of songs and tales, have become gods. The only thing that makes Jesus Christ any different is the way the ludicrously exaggerated (and yes, plagiarised) version of him was forced upon people by the sword and through fear.

In regards to admiration, yes, it is possible to admire a fictional character. It is possible to find some very admirable quotes about Jesus in the bible. It is also possible to find some abhorrent ones. You can't just pick and choose.

Even if the central character of Jesus was real, the events are still fictional.

Answer 3

Again: Christ is mentioned in at least one serious historical source: Plinius Junior, or Pliny the younger. The proof is very thin but most historians accept that he lived. There is some discussion about the exact years though. You seem to know more sources, please reveal them.

So yes, at the moment it is accepted that he existed.

It is amazing that you name persons who all lived from 1750 to 1900 years after Christ. Do you have any idea what the distance in time means between 37 and 1900, regarding conservation of sources, historical reliabilty, methods and possibility of research. I would only like to mention that many if not most of the few historical records that have survived from the early period of christianity have been preserved by institutions of the catholic church who has a reputation about reshaping, redirecting and fantasizing history.

Just for the record:
George Washington was a freemason.
Abraham Linciln was a deist
Churchill disliked organised religion and declared himself a materialist to his fingertips.
No, I do not think Mother Theresa and the Pope are admirable or heroes. But that would bring us too far.

Best answers wins: yes, we all know that.

Have a nice day.

Answer 4

Well let me put it this way. You cite a single book as proof --by that logic Johnathan Livingstone seagull was a real seagull that found a higher plane of existance--why because the book speaks about him--therefore since one source of information is all you require--then this as well is true. Abe Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Plato, Aristotle, Caeser--there are literally tons and tons of information on him that are in the historical record. Sans the bible there are really no historical independant confirmations that a person named Jesus Christ ever existed. There is a reasonalbe suspicion that this was the Jewish extension of the egyptian Ra myth. If all of the events--just with the crucifixition and purported ressurection actually happened, with the Temple curtian being rent--dead arising and walking into town, earthquakes, the sun being blotted out--all of these things--in a cosmopolitain center like Jersulem with ties to Rome--these sort of events should have been recorded in a variety of non-religious sources--yet there is no record. With all the events that were purported to have happened--would rather be like none of our newspapers, writers, diary writers, business records, government records--ever recording a word about 9/11. Dramatic events such as the ones postulated -- leave historical footprints. There were no footprints in this case.

Answer 5

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" What do these words from Jesus tell you? That he was the original huckster. Jesus existed, but if you actually read the bible rather than regurgitate it you discover that Jesus didn't die, the resurrection was all smoke and mirrors and as Professor Bart D. Ehrman essentially says the NT is a fantasy. Professor Bart D. Ehrman, “Not only do we not have the originals; we don’t have the first copies of the originals. We don’t even have copies of the copies of the originals, or copies of the copies of the copies of the originals. What we have are copies made later – much later. In most instances, they are copies made many centuries later. And these copies all differ from one another at many thousands of places . . . Possibly it is easiest to put it in comparative terms: there are more differences among our manuscripts than there are words in the New Testament.”

Answer 6

Personally I can only go on the evidence , I don’t have the ‘ Faith ‘ gene ;) Outside of Christendom , there is no mention of Jesus Christ , except falsified accounts such as that found in Flavius Josephus’ Antiquities.

Theophilus 115-185 CE wrote over 29,000 words about Christianity – but failed to mention Jesus Christ even once. In fact there are over 40 writers , journalists , historians of the 1st and 2nd centuries that fail to mention Jesus Christ .

The Jews never knew Jesus existed , despite the bodies of the Saints coming out of their Graves upon the Death of Christ and despite the Supreme Jewish High council meeting on Passover eve to pass judgement on Jesus.

I don’t deny Jesus existed , it just seems extremely unlikely given the evidence. In my opinion he is probably a composite character of people like Simon Bar Kochba , Apollonius of Tyana , Jehoshua Ben-Pandira and few other messianic figures of the time who we do know existed.

By making up a composite character like Jesus Christ , the Nicene council were seen not to be taking sides with any of the factions within council , it kinda make sense to me .

Answer 7

The evidence is sketchy, but there very well might have been a guy named Jesus preaching stuff that the people in power didn't like. He might have been killed for it too.

Guy preaches something and government executes him is a story with a long history in humanity. There are instances of this even today.

Unfortunately, there is no corroborating evidence for his existence. The bible story is all we have. There are no writings from Jesus himself. The earliest documents we have are many decades after Jesus' supposed death. His physical existence, with the matter of evidence, is maybe, maybe not.

Compare that with Washington or Lincoln, where we have numerous government records and writings in their own hand. There are many contemporaneous writings mentioning both presidents. The number of records of the presidents, from the time of those president's lives - not after, is overwhelming.

What I absolutely don't believe is all the superhuman and supernatural stuff. George Washington never claimed to heal the sick with a touch of his hand. Abe Lincoln didn't claim to walk on water.

Answer 8

Of course they do not believe in the Living Christ. It is their choice and it is not up to me or anyone else to try and puts my Faith down their throats or anyone Else's.
Yes, I admire them for the things they've down here while on Earth. I was personally blessed by Pope John the second. I admire him as man who lived a hard life yet survived it and that was with his Personal Faith.
I myself do believe in Christ our Lord God. I do walk by Faith and not by sight. That's just me though and I Leave the rest at Christ's feet.

Answer 9

there's a loaded question

I doubt a person called jesus ever existed. What little evidence there is other than the bible (which doesn't count) outside of the bible is of dubious origin and not contemporary. Also there's the rather suspicious fact that the jesus myth sounds a lot like many other earlier myths http://www.sanfords.net/Framed_pages/origins_of_christianity.htm

Ther's more evidence that the other people existed see, more independant sources and in the cases of some - actual photographs.

Answer 10

I'm willing to believe there was a Jesus Christ, even though there is no proof, despite what you claim.

A messiah, the Son of God? Do me a favour!