Is it possible that Jesus never existed?

Question

Wait one second before you jump to conclusions about my question. I must add one thing. I must add that even a good number of atheists say that a man such as Jesus could have existed because there were plenty of messianic characters around that time period that roamed the land and preached. So even some doubters do say that it might be possible that a man such as Jesus existed. But is it possible that he never existed? Are there any folks out there that would go as far as to say that Jesus never existed? Remember that there were no FIRSTHAND historical accounts of his life on this earth. There is also no mention of him in the most reliable historical accounts of that time period. What I mean by that is the Roman history books. Everything in The Bible was written after he supposedly died.

Answer 1

No, there is too much evidence to the contrary.



People accept what Greeks and pro-Greeks wrote about Greeks,

People accept what Romans and pro-Romans wrote about Romans,

But people refuse to accept what Christians and pro-Christians wrote about Christians?



Luckily there is an abundance of anti-Christians who wrote about Christ. For example:



The (Pagan) Roman historian and senator Tacitus referred to Jesus Christ, His execution by Pontius Pilate and the persecution of early Christians in Rome in his 109 AD work, "The Annals,"



"Consequently, to get rid of the report (that Nero started the great fire of Rome), Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired."



Book 15, chapter 44 of "The Annals" by Tacitus, translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.11.xv.html



See also Magis Online Encyclopedia of Reason and Faith (Why Believe in Jesus?) http://magischristwiki.org/index.php?title=Why_Believe_in_Jesus%3F#Is_There_Historical_Evidence_for_Jesus.3F



With love in Christ

Answer 2

No. We have eye witness writings of his life, death, and Resurrection. The majority of scholarship admits his existence. Even Bart Ehrman, a well known unbeliever and NT critical scholar wrote a book conceding the evidence points to Jesus having actually existed. And all these theories about Jesus being a myth and the product of Roman mythology or gods was disproven in the 19th century. No one today thinks that except for fringe pseudo scholars and ignorant people on the Internet.



edit: of all the heresies the early church had to fight against there is not one heresy of Jesus not existing.

Answer 3

Yes.



Here's the reality of the situation: there is no real evidence other than the bible stories, which aren't at all reliable, to show an actual "jesus" person existed.



That doesn't mean there *WASN'T* an actual jesus person on which the bible stories were loosely based -- it's possible there was. In fact, I personally consider it likely there was at least one real person behind a tiny bit of the mythical bible stories, though there's no way to determine anything about that real person, nor evidence to show who it was. The lack of evidence simply means that claims there WAS an actual "jesus" aren't supportable by evidence, and so are worthless.



We can't use evidence to say with any certainty one way or another -- that there was or wasn't an actual "jesus." And we can't use evidence to learn anything about an actual "jesus" if there was one. That's the reality of the situation. Believers *must* go on "faith;" and non-believers have very good reasons to reject claims of an actual person.



edit for "michael" who wrote:

"Oh so you think the Romans magically accepted the word of two guys (Constantine and Paul) with no evidence?"



Argument from personal incredulity, fallacious and worthless.

Perhaps you hadn't noticed that for centuries before "Paul" and "Constantine," the Romans worshiped a pantheon of gods, often very devoutly, even though there was no evidence of them existing...? Oops. You didn't think that through, did ya?

Answer 4

I respectfully disagree with you.



The first-century Roman Tacitus, who is considered one of the more accurate historians of the ancient world, mentioned superstitious “Christians” (from Christus, which is Latin for Christ), who suffered under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Suetonius, chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian, wrote that there was a man named Chrestus (or Christ) who lived during the first century (Annals 15.44).



Flavius Josephus is the most famous first century Jewish historian. In his Antiquities he refers to James, “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who became his disciples did not abandon his discipleship.”



Suetonius also wrote about the persecution of Christians during the reign of Nero. "The Christians were punished; a sort of men of a new and magical superstition." His criticism of the early Church affirms that this was a "new" religion that had recently appeared.



Pliny the Younger, was born near Milan, Italy in A.D. 62. The historian Pliny, a close friend of Tacitus, served as a consul during the reign of emperor Trajan and was later appointed governor of the Roman provinces of Pontus and Bithynia [Turkey] in the period A.D. 101 to 110. He wrote to the emperor to request specific instructions about the interrogation of the Christians whom he was persecuting. In his Epistles X 96, he states that these Christian believers would not worship Emperor Trajan and would not curse their leader, Jesus Christ, even under extreme torture.



What do you do with all the Messianic Prophecies in the Jewish Bible (Also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls (specifically the Isaiah scroll) found to be written even before Jesus time)? These prophecies told us (the Jewish people) what to look for in the coming Messiah which Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) fulfilled.



What about the Talmudic references to Him (albeit they are negative) written by those who opposed Him?



Also - Check a copy out of "Evidence that demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell.



And- "The Case for a Creator" and "The Case for Christ" by former atheist Lee Strobel.



Excellent materials for the true seeker. (That is unless you are a juror with your mind already made up before the other lawyer ever gets up to speak).



The Biblical texts that were written hundreds of years before the Messiah (the Dead Sea Scrolls prove this) tell us about the Messiah....



The Bible tells us that the Messiah would be…



• Born in Bethlehem The Jewish prophet said so in Micah 5:2

• Born a descendant of David The Jewish prophet said so in Jeremiah 23:5

• Live a sinless life The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:9

• Do miracles like Moses The Jewish prophet said so in Deuteronomy 18:18

• Enter Jerusalem on a donkey The Jewish prophet said so in Zechariah 9:9

• A rejected man The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:3

• Die as a substitute for others The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:5

• Rise from the dead The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 53:10

• Come before 70 A.D. The Jewish prophet said so in Daniel 9:26

• Have an impact on all nations The Jewish prophet said so in Isaiah 49:6



And this is just the start!



Jesus did in fact exist.

Answer 5

Typically, when historical evidence of Jesus’ existence is sought, what is meant is evidence “outside of the Bible.” But the Bible is a reliable historical source of evidence for the existence of Jesus and nothing in the Bible has ever been discredited by secular historians. In terms of ancient evidences, writings less than 200 years after events took place are considered very reliable evidences and the entire New Testament was written within 100 years of Jesus’ death. Further, the vast majority of scholars (Christian and non-Christian) will grant that the Epistles of Paul (at least some of them) were in fact written by Paul in the middle of the first century A.D., less than 40 years after Jesus' death. In terms of ancient manuscript evidence, this is extraordinarily strong proof of the existence of a man named Jesus in Israel in the early first century A.D.



There are more than 25,000 ancient manuscripts of parts or all of the New Testament, and there would be many more had the Romans not invaded and destroyed Jerusalem and most of Israel in A.D. 70, killing most of the people. Cities were burned to the ground, persecution against Christians reigned, and many of the survivors were forced into hiding. Further, the second century in particular and the third century, for sure, was a time of immense Christian persecution and an effort to stamp out Christianity and its followers. Had this not been the case, possibly thousands more manuscripts would be extant. But the Lord preserved the ancient texts we have today, copies of those manuscripts very close to the original. It is universally accepted among historians that the closer a copy is to the original, the more accurate it is.

Read the rest here

http://www.compellingtruth.org/did-Jesus-exist.html



There is overwhelming evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ, both in secular and biblical history. Perhaps the greatest evidence that Jesus did exist is the fact that literally thousands of Christians in the first century A.D., including the twelve apostles, were willing to give their lives as martyrs for Jesus Christ. People will die for what they believe to be true, but no one will die for what they know to be a lie.



http://www.gotquestions.org/did-Jesus-exist.html



Surprising Archaeological Find: Proof of Jesus' Existence?

http://www.ucg.org/science/surprising-archaeological-find-proof-jesus-existence/



The Evidence for the Existence of Jesus (part 1 of 4)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JX0UMq2FQbU



Archaeological Evidence for Jesus’ Existence?

http://powertochange.com/students/ossuary/



Archaeological evidence for Jesus Christ .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39-dhelsPbY&feature=related



The Case For Christ From Archeological & Historical Records

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSaaSxTaLvY&feature=relmfu



Is There Any Proof of Jesus Other Than the Bible? (1of2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HknelAk8_S8&feature=related



Archeology Proves The Bible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e20Cq5yob4&feature=related

Answer 6

Yes, it's possible. I'm even one of those atheists that think the mythical Jesus was based on a historical figure, but I'll admit it's not an airtight case. Of course, there's even less evidence for the existence of Socrates, but few people seem to doubt that he existed for some reason. I don't think believing there was a mortal, historical Jesus is an unreasonable position to take.

Answer 7

With many legends there is an ingredient of certainty, even if if feats accorded to different others are then on the subject count of those greater time-honored figures and the tale grows. in terms of Jesus, it is in all probability there replaced into an itinerant preacher in the area at that factor, who previous mythos grew to alter into linked to, becoming the spark for christianity. Robin Hood is greater complicated. Medieval peasants led a exceptionally undesirable existence and countless ballads got here approximately as a fashion of raising their morale. those ballads in many situations on the subject count of communities of outlaws concentrated on the wealthy landlords, doing sturdy deeds, and dispensing alms to the destructive - some element you nevertheless see in each and everything from "westerns" to "the A-team" In my interior reach Warwickshire (uk) we've our very own legends too, this sort of woman Godiva, and guy of Warwick. i needed to coated some information on Nottinghams "black arrow" (yet another particularly grittier and slightly much less savoury version of Robin Hood), yet won't be able to discover the references i replaced into finding for.

Answer 8

True. The bible is not a minute-by-minute account, and it WAS written centuries after his supposed death, by Roman Catholics in their language at the time. Language evolves MUCH faster than people, so the bible had to be constantly rewritten as our language changed. No one speaks aramaic anymore. FEW speak King James's english anymore, so we translated it again into current english. It's been around quite a while as a storybook. There is no archeological proof of any Jesus, so it IS possible that he never existed.

Answer 9

It seems unlikely that he did exist. He's like Hercules -- mythical, but just a tad more recent than Hercules.



And don't let anyone try to convince you with a list of Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny, Thallus, bar-Saerapion, etc, because those men wrote long after Jesus, and most don't mention Jesus but seem to know of "Christians," writing in the 2nd century. See No Meek Messiah, p, 42-29.



Paul was the first writer included in the New Testament. Let's see how much he knows:

". It is amazing and quite telling how little Paul knows about Jesus. He wrote of Jesus' mother, "a woman" (Gal 4:4), but never virgin. Not only had this supposed apostle not met his savior, but Paul seems to know only two important things about Jesus: that he was crucified (then supposedly resurrected), and that Jesus had a brother and mother. That's it. And there were no "500 witnesses" as apologists insist; this was a later insertion..." - No Meek Messiah, p. 207



Note that "The Bible tells us so" is not a reasonable answer to anything. The bible is simply a collection of ancient lies and myths and guesswork. Nothing in it has been proven to be true -- nothing.



@N1VEUS - " Jesus did exist because we based our time period on him, Bc, AD." Okay, therefore the following gods existed: A GOD FOR EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK, AND EVERY MONTH. We base our time system on Thor, Janus, Venus, etc, therefore they definitely existed?

Answer 10

We do know that there were many so called "prophets" around Jesus's time and it's not hard to believe that some of them would have made the leap from claiming to be speaking for God to actually being God (or the equally all powerful son of God). So my guess is that there were several Jesus characters. Some of them probably believed what they preached and many of them were simply looking for free meals, free lodging and groupies.

Answer 11

Jesus existed. With how much atheists would love to claim he didn't even exist, don't you think the Romans and Jews that disagreed with the Christians in the first century would have love to clain he didn't even exist also, if they could get away with it? Of coarse they would. If Jesus didn't actually exist historically Christianity would have never made it past the first century and the opposition to what started as a movement a far smaller than atheism, that no authorities or powers in the world even liked at the time. The Jews and the Romans both would have ate such a movement alive if they could afford to deny Jesus even ever existed. They didn't, because the couldn't. The Bible would have been forced to argue the matter in depth to counter such argument of Jesus actually existing. The early Christians had no such challenges to confront, because it was very well known Jesus existed. Christianity didn't grow from a few people to claiming an entire 1/3 of the world's population as adherents, by magic. It did so by having a history that made such a growth possible. . A history that by far well enough establishes that a historical Jesus indeed existed. Without Jesus's own fame in Biblical regions to start with, Christianity would not have even survived the first century resistance to it. The overwhelming masses of people that opposed the Christians would have done exactly what you are trying to do centuries latter, and it would have worked. If they could have denied Jesus even existed, no one would have credited the first century christian church, at all. However, Denying such, even today just makes atheists look uneducated. The only evidence truly required is the fact Christianity surely exists today, and what documented history we do indeed have. Such a small movement as Christianity began as, and with the resistance offered it at the time, there's just no way Christianity would even exist today if arguing it away back then was as easy as saying, "Where is your proof this Jesus ever even existed?" Early opposition to Christianity by far obviously enough, did not have the option of that argument. It takes little more than common sense for such to be called historical fact. I'm a christian, and Christianity still exists. It would not have without the personal fame of Jesus Himself in biblical regions by his own earthly ministry to empower its movement. Its opposition just would have denied, or even possibly even proved he never existed.( being it was with in a time such could be done effectively) Lets put it this way. You arguing Jesus's existence, is not going to stop anyone from becoming or staying a christian.. The Christians will just think you a hater, and at that also an uneducated one. Waste you time if you want, but there is plenty historical evidence Jesus existed. It wasn't that easy for the first century haters of Christianity, and its not going to be for you, either. Besides, proving Jesus existed can be done even without any historical evidence, at all. You only think the miracles stopped( because you don't experience them). They never stopped, and the never will.. You should believe me, I find your arguments against that Jesus existed, quite laughable, and so will anyone that stays close enough to me for long enough.. He who gets the most atheist thumbs down must have said something true.

Answer 12

Check out this video by Chris White. It shows Non Biblical Secular Sources about Jesus :



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CycbvARsxWU&list=PLF3AAF2E080CC1DD9







Also this site :



http://thedevineevidence.com/jesus_history.html







I gave you a legit answer so please don't "Hide" this answer like you did with the others that "Disagreed" with you.

Answer 13

Short answer: The evidence shows that Jesus Christ is just a mythical character and never existed.



For Jesus-believers, here's the long answer (with supporting evidence), which is needed to cover all bases:



All reliable evidence points to Jesus Christ being just a myth. There is no reliable evidence that Jesus even existed, and significant evidence that he didn't. The evidence is in the Bible, the other religions of the time, the lack of writings about Jesus by any historians of the 1st century, and the lack of writings about Jesus by anyone until a decade or more after his supposed life.



The story of Jesus can be shown to be just a myth created to fulfill prophesy, cobbled together out of stories from the Old Testament and previous gods and myths - created in the 40's and 50's by Paul (ne Saul of Tarsus) (who exhibited symptoms of epilepsy and had delusions of Christ talking to him), the other apostles, the unknown authors of the gospels in the 70's or later, and many other people. The reliable evidence for this is overwhelming.



Paul and the other epistle writers don't know any biographical details of Jesus' life, or even the time of his earthly existence. They don't refer to Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee, Calvary or Golgotha — or any pilgrimages to what should have been holy sites of Jesus' life. They also don't mention any miracles that Jesus was supposed to have worked, his virgin birth, his trial, the empty tomb, or his moral teachings. To them Jesus was largely a sky-god who existed in the spiritual past.



If Jesus had actually existed, Paul would have written about his life, disciples, teachings and miracles. Paul did not write about any of this. Paul even wrote (1 Cor. 1:22-23) that Jesus did no miracles. Also, Paul thought that Peter and James were other (competing) epistle writers. Paul referred (Gal. 1.19) to James as the Lord's brother, not Jesus' brother. Note that "brother" is used about 130 times in the Pauline epistles - with no use meaning blood brother. Paul wrote (in Rom. 16:25-26, Gal. 1:11,12) that he knew Jesus through revelation, which is another term for fantasy and delusions. We can also tell that people were accusing Paul of lying, because he attempted to defend himself in Rom. 3:5-8.



If Jesus had actually existed, the gospels would have been written in first person format. Instead, they were written (in Greek) in third person fiction format, often with the supposed thoughts of Jesus. The gospels should also have been original. Instead, Matthew and Luke extensively plagiarized from Mark. The gospels don't even claim to be eyewitness accounts. All we have are hearsay accounts.



If the Jesus story were true, his trial would have been legal. Instead, the purported trial was illegitimate under both Roman and Jewish law. The story of the trial is just a re-telling of the Jewish ritual of scapegoating, where one goat is set free (i.e. Barabbas, which means "son of the father") and one goat is sacrificed (i.e. Jesus). In addition, many scholars have pointed out that the entire crucifixion scene is created out of material extracted from the Psalms.



If Jesus had actually existed, at least one of the approximately 30 local historians of the first century would have written about him. No historian of the first century (including Josephus and Philo of Alexandria) wrote about him or his disciples.



Therefore Jesus didn't exist.



The Jesus story also shows extensive similarities to other myths of the time (especially Horus, Mithra, Osiris, and Dionysus). For instance, baptism into the death and resurrection of Osiris washed away sins so the soul could obtain the best place in heaven. Some early Christians attributed these similarities to Satan who went back in time and created the religions that "copied" Christianity.



Jesus is worshiped on Sunday, like over a dozen sun gods whose birthdays were also on the old winter solstice of December 25, when the sun is “reborn.”



There were also over a dozen other deities and saviors who were resurrected (often after violent deaths). Christianity just told the story the best, and managed to get control of the government under Constantine. With control of the government, the ruling Christians were able to stomp out competing (heretical) versions of Christianity and enforce their doctrines.



For much more evidence, see the links. There are also several good books on this, including:

"Nailed: Ten Christian Myths that Show Jesus Never Existed At All"

by David Fitzgerald

"The Jesus Puzzle" by Earl Doherty

"Not the Impossible Faith" by Richard Carrier

"Proving History: Bayes's Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus" by Richard Carrier

Answer 14

Plenty of atheists believe he either didn't exist or at least that it's more likely that he didn't.



The fact is, no serious scholar in the field of ancient history believe Jesus didn't exist, and by Jesus, I don't mean some random Jesus. I mean the Jesus mentioned in the Bible as the father of the Christian movement. A man who lived in the first century BC, had disciples, and was crucified by Joseph Of Arimathea. Atheists like to point out how most scholars in that field are Christians and therefore have no choice but to believe Jesus existed, but most (if not all) of those people are themselves atheists. Plus Bart Ehrman is an agnostic historian specializing in that time period, and yet his portrayal of Jesus in his recent book "Did Jesus exist?" Is identical to that of those other historians. Atheists like to point out how there's no contemporary writings about Jesus, in a society in which about 8% of the population could actually write, with a ministry that only lasted about three and a half years.

The fact that all we know about him was written after his death is quite irrelevant. That doesn't mean he didn't exist. There's historical techniques to assess the reliability of such documents, and when they are assessed by the objective knowledgeable historian, there's no way he or she can support the hypothesis that Jesus did not exist. I mean, everything we know from Plato we got from Aristotle's writings...after his death. No serious historian doubts that Plato existed though.

Answer 15

What about non-Biblical references to Jesus Christ? How are they assessed? The works of Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, Pliny the Younger, and a few other classical writers include numerous references to Jesus. Of them, The New Encyclopædia Britannica (1995) says: “These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus, which was disputed for the first time and on inadequate grounds at the end of the 18th, during the 19th, and at the beginning of the 20th centuries.”



Some charge that Jesus' resurrection was a hoax concocted by the disciples. But what benefit would there be in doing that? Bearing witness to the resurrection exposed the disciples to ridicule, suffering, and death. Why would they risk so much to support a mere lie? Moreover, they first gave their testimony in Jerusalem, right under the eyes of their opposers, who were ready to seize upon any excuse to condemn them.



The resurrection was the very thing that gave the disciples the courage to bear testimony about their Lord in spite of even the most violent persecution. The fact of the resurrection became a central part of Christian faith. The early Christians did not risk their lives merely to bear witness about a wise teacher who was murdered. They risked their lives to proclaim Jesus’ resurrection because it proved that he was the Christ, the Son of God, a powerful, living person who both supported and guided them. His resurrection meant that they too would rise from the dead. Really, if Jesus had not been raised up, there would be no Christianity. If Jesus had not been resurrected, we might never have even heard of him.

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/wp20130301/resurrection-of-jesus/

Answer 16

No, that's ridiculous, if he didn't exist then his story would not be so historically based, rooted in a specific time and area with details about life in that time and place.



Such tales about fictional characters almost always either never take off or are far less grounded, taking place often in places said to be unreachable to human kind or in a time before recorded history. In a galaxy far far away or long long ago

Answer 17

Yes

Answer 18

The fact the writings we have date after the fact prove nothing other than things had not been written down yet or we have simply not found anything older yet.

Answer 19

It's possible, but unlikely.

It's very likely that a man similar to Jesus did exist and roam the land and preach the word of God with a group of Apostles. It seems that there were many people who testified to his existence, and many who died for it.

Just because he existed, doesn't mean he's the son of God.

Answer 20

im positive that many people such as jesus existed. Many people went around preaching around teaching about God, or gods. Jesus did exist because we based our time period on him, Bc, AD.

Answer 21

Josephus wrote of Jesus as did other sections of communities in the Middle East.



If Jesus was not the Saviour, the texts of his acts would not have been recorded for over two thousand years, and the Jewish scribes were active in those days although they rejected Jesus as their Saviour, they did acknowledge him in their records as did Islam who refer to him as a prophet.



Jesus existence, no question about that.

Answer 22

It's 100% certain that Jesus existed, and still lives in Heaven.

Answer 23

Not only is it possible. It is very likely.

Answer 24

Yes, of course it is possible, and most probable as well.

Answer 25

No, Jesus is the most highly documented person in history.

Answer 26

Wrong, there are indeed many Roman sources mentioning him. He is of course not referred to as "Jesus" but as "the guy who calls himself king of Jews"

Answer 27

It is a fact that He existed.



The Bible tells us so.