Convert an Atheist!!?

Question

Ok, all you good, bible following christians, heres the big chance youve all been waiting for.

I am an Atheist, and if any one of you can give me solid proof, not hersay or friend of a friend accounts that make up the bible, that Jesus actually exsisted as a real person, you will convert me.

Just so we're clear, Im in no way asking you to prove the exsistance of a god, just a historical, physical being that was Jesus Christ.

As well, I am in no way insulting your faith. If this question actually causes you to be angry, you need to recheck your beliefs, cause they're obviously not solid.

Anything physical will work : a physical writing from someone who directly followed Jesus Christ, a writing directly from the man himself, anything you can find that is physically dated during the time he lived, not after.

So please, do your christian duty and help me see the light.

Answer 1

You hit on the nail on the head.



Below are inescapable truths that no Christian can deny, but something rarely talked about on Sundays. I would wager most Christians would be surprised to hear them.



1. Not one person ever wrote about Jesus while he was supposedly alive. Not one.



2. The first Christian reference we have to Jesus was around 50 AD by Paul. Paul even says he never met Jesus. No eyewitness account there (dreams don't count). Paul offers no biographical details about Jesus. He could have been pretty much any Jesus.



3. The first real details of Jesus' life emerge in the Gospel of Mark around 70 AD, nearly 40 years (generation in those times) after Jesus supposedly died. Even Christians don't claim that he ever met Jesus.



4. The first NON-christian reference MAY have been written by Josephus in 93 AD. This is highly disputed, but neverthe less Josephus was born years after Jesus supposedly died, and writes 60 years later. Even if Josephus wrote about a Jesus possibly existing, it shows nothing. Every non-Christian accepts Christians existed by 93 AD (due to the Gospels they had beliefs about his life and death). Again these types of references only prove Christians existed (which no one disputes), not that Jesus existed.



Given the extraordinary claims of Jesus (dead people walking all around Jerusalem, the slaughter of the innocents by Herod, a solar eclipse during a full moon, the feeding of the multitudes and the headaches he caused the Sanhedrin among just a few) it is telling that ZERO people wrote about it.



ZERO!



Any Christian who can disprove anything I wrote please post it or let me know.

Answer 2

I'm an atheist as well. If you are wanting to discuss this topic with people who are, well, more willing to answer nicely, try the link below. Anyway, you probably aren't going to be given any proof that can be dated back to the time Jesus was claimed to walk on earth. I really don't see how any texts could offer proof that he performed any miracles or was resurrected, unless there were many secular texts that made that claim shortly after it was stated to occur.



I can't remember the name of the text, but there is one that some people think was written by Jesus. Still, from my understanding there isn't any proof that he wrote it. Even if it was written by Jesus, the text apparently does not do much in the way of showing Jesus was Christ (otherwise the person who told me about the text wouldn't have been Jewish).



btw, isn't it funny that people are so deeply in denial that they honestly think atheists don't exist?

Answer 3

From one aethist to another, you're going about it the wrong way bro, there was a historical Jesus, proof of this is Roman records and the fact that they all started a religion after he died.



The question isn't was there a man named Jesus there was back then, a historical Jesus, who died around that time 33 AD.



The question is was he God or was he some wack nut job, or more specifically, were the people who wrote about him a bunch of wack jobs, or even so, were they just writing in code against the Romans.



So what you are saying is if a christian could build a time machine and take you back in time and take you to the sermon on the mount you would believe, neh, neh I say, even a Christian who believes just cause there was a jesus is fake.

Answer 4

There was a documentary about Jesus that was really good and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it.

Like you, I'm an atheist, but this doco made me go Hmmm...

It suggested that the three Wise men were actually Buddhists looking for the incarnation of the Dali Lama, not the king of the Jews, but it so happened that they were one and the same and that the missing years were where he was taken to Tibet (I think) and was taught the Buddhist way.

There was also something about when he ascended he actually just went back up the mountain. That the herbs they took to the tomb were healing herbs not embalming herbs and that he lived out his final days up the Himalayas. There was something about a tomb that had two men buried in it. (As was the tradition) but one was buried at right angles to the other one facing the Tibetan way the other the Jewish and that there were a set of footprints set in rock that had puncture holes that would fit the described injuries of Christ.

It was very very interesting.

Sorry I can't remember the name, but it might give you some ideas on where to continue your search.

Good Luck.

Answer 5

Dude, I hate to break it to ya, but you ARE insulting my faith...your sarcastic question, your entire existence insults my faith...but unlike alot of folks, you do not insult ME, because I happen to be quite secure in my beliefs...and uninformed atheist notwithstanding, my Friend, I'm convinced that your search is futile for two reasons...first, there IS no solid proof that Jesus Christ existed..only speculations and textbook answers...because obviously, no one that would be capable of providing solid proof that Jesus was an actual physical being is actually alive to tell the tale...Second, no matter how many sarcastic half-serious atheist questions you post on the net, you still dont believe...it wouldn't matter if JC came into your room, petted your cat, and sat in your lap...the only way to convert people like you is if you decide to open your mind to the possibility that there is a higher power...something out there more significant than your selfish little existence...So, until something happens to you-and others like you-to make you realize that you dont know everything and actually SEE the "light" on your own...well, lets just say that there are going to be many more questions in life that youll need answered, and the only one that can answer them is the very being you dont believe exists...

Answer 6

No one can convert you. It is God that does the calling and the converting.



All any of us can do is share with you...and pray for you.



But there is a way to prove that God exists...because you cannot have a copy without an original. In other words, it's impossible to produce a counterfeit, or fake, without the real first existing.

According to you (and all real Christians), there are millions of false, or fake, gods in the world.

Case closed. ;)



If you'd like real proof that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever, then click here...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bibletruths_forbelievers/

Answer 7

Jesus didn't write anything down, his followers didn't write anything down until a generation after his death, and the census results and other historical records that people point to are only passing mentions of people who MIGHT have been the figure Jesus was based on. In other words, you're not going to get what you asked for. It doesn't exist.

Answer 8

Sorry to disappoint you but NONE of us who answer this CAN convert you - it's only through the revealing of Godly things by the Holy Spirit can you be converted! Faith is a gift and it's not ours to give - only God can give it!

While Jesus lived on earth people didn't believe in Him and they had very many reasons to believe He was the Son of God so what makes you think just by giving you a few evidences you will believe?

Answer 9

I know several books and websites that can point you to the truth, some being to google Dr. Dino and his studies, the books "A Case for a Creator" and "A Battlefield of a Mind" (especially the last one). Email me if you are a believer in Jesus or if you have questions at [e-mail]

Answer 10

The movie Stigmata offers some interesting insight into this. It probably won't give you any answers but it might make you ask some more questions. Everyone reacts differently to it, though.

Answer 11

Let's double up on that offer .. and if we get the answer you have been waiting for 2000 years to give, I'll throw in a baptism for my young son!

Answer 12

Jesus was a person who walked the earth. The question isnt whether he existed or not it's whether he was a god. Theres as much evidence of his existence as of George Washington's existence.

Answer 13

Why in the world would you be atheist? Agnostic is truly the wiser choice. Agnostics realize that we cannot prove or disprove god. Look into agnostism, it makes sense!

Answer 14

1.I think you have already seen the light, just by inquirying about Jesus. 2. I'm your new associate/ friend if you ever need someone to talk to .! You're cool after all!

Answer 15

So far QED has the best answer. Thanks for answering my other question: "Did you know Jesus Christ is just a myth?"



I'm not even going to try to answer this question, because it's unanswerable. (If that's a word)

Answer 16

proving a historcal Jesus has already been done...proving he's God... I don't go there, and as an athiest why would you care? at any rate do your own homework.

Answer 17

God Bless your search. I will pray for you. You don't need to have physical proof, what you need is a little faith.

Answer 18

The historian Josephus recorded it.

Answer 19

read the bible, it'll give you a better answer than any answer..start with the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Answer 20

Atheists DO NOT EXIST and therefore cannot be converted.