What evidence can christians provide?

So let me get this straight some highly suspect hearsay accounts written years and years after he would have lived make him the most proven historical figure ever? Poor, really poor. Oh, and the Bible proves itself. You realize there is no other book anyone would try that with other than maybe Muslims with the Koran. We have more documentation for Herod as a ruler (although no mention of the slaughter of the innocents from the Bible oddly) and other historical figures who are written about from a variety of sources. So although this doesn't prove Jesus did not exist and I am not saying that he didn't it is in no way unreasonable to say it is inconclusive. Its no homerun obvious case some want to say it is. Believe as you will but lets be honest about the strength of the evidence. There are a lot of claims in the Bible one would expect some independent confirmation outside the Bible somewhere for it they actually happened. Sun standing still, dead people walking around Jerusalem, slaughter of the innocents, etc...

Problems with nonBiblical references to Jesus:

http://skeptically.org/newtestament/id13.html

http://www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm

How about this: Roughly 90% of historical scholars ALL believe that Jesus existed. The only thing that's in doubt is His divinity.

Also consider that in all of the negative things written by various authors about Christians and Christianity from the beginning, NONE of them tried saying that the man who STARTED the religion didn't exist. They said that the resurrection was a myth, but still couldn't explain the empty tomb. Obviously, there couldn't have been a burial without a body, right?

There are plenty of writers OUTSIDE of the Bible that wrote about Jesus. There are plenty of writers that poked fun at Christians. And there are also writings which state that most Christians would not recant no matter what kind of death they were faced with, even within the first thirty years after the fact.

I know that one of the things Christians most often quote from probably had some interpolation, but there's ANOTHER reference to Jesus that isn't often quoted from. It's in Josephus' Antiquities, I believe, and it's about James, the brother of Jesus. Josephus mentions James as being the brother of Jesus, and that James was given over to be stoned because he wouldn't recant. How could James have been the brother of someone who didn't exist? Well, maybe it was a different James, and a different Jesus. After all, the names were pretty common. However, Josephus ALSO says that this particular Jesus was CALLED the Christ by His followers, and that several of His disciples were also killed at the same time.

This, in fact, corroborates what OTHER early writers stated, which is that James, along with several other of Jesus' disciples, were stoned.

If Jesus was a myth, don't you think that at least ONE of the detractors of Christianity would have said so? They HATED Christians, and said awful things about them, but they NEVER tried saying that Jesus Himself was a myth. Furthermore, do you really think that Jesus' own disciples would willingly die for something they KNEW was a lie? And don't give me that "lots of people die for their beliefs" crap, because even though that's true, not too many people will die for something they KNOW is a lie.

And I might add, just in case you were going to bring up some of the most recent cults and the deaths associated with them, they died for what they BELIEVED. They didn't KNOW it was a lie. Two completely different things.

I also might add that if you bring up Jonestown, some of the cult followers tried to leave, there were reports that some defectors had been murdered, and what was known as a "mass suicide" actually may have been mass murder.

There was no such thing within early Christianity.

Edit: So I guess unless these things were written about DURING the fact or within the first twenty years they don't count, huh?

In that case, Alexander the Great didn't exist. HE wasn't written about until more than 150 years after he died, and the most accurate account of his life wasn't written until nearly FIVE hundred years after he died.

Do you understand, can you get this through your head: At that time, because writing materials were so scarce, almost EVERYTHING was passed on by word of mouth. Only very important things were written down at ALL, and usually not until about twenty years after they happened.

Besides, a LOT was going on in the first century besides Jesus.

Try these articles, they should give you a start, mostly so you can look into their sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_century

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus

I am a Hindu.

We help science with our religion rather than oppose it and many truths being discovered by science was already in our knowledge (Yoga, Ayurveda, Astronomy etc).

From a Hindu Perspective:

You cannot prove the existence of Jesus as much as we cannot prove the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

As a Hindu, we feel that this is besides the point. Whether or not is of no consequence to our future. What we can learn from the life of Jesus (or the story of Jesus) is all that matters.

We pity the narrow-visioned Christians because of the way they distort the whole thing in a bundle of right-wrong, good-bad, sin-action concept. Is it possible to frame a set of rules that is infallible under ALL circumstances??

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documented eye witness accounts

there are even non religious secular writers who have writen about an man named Jesus and the good deeds He traveled around doing.

He is the most powerful man that has every existed............even history was divided because of His name

B.C. / A.D.

The Bible, whether you believe or not, has been around for 100's of years and although you won't see it being reported it is always the best selling book.

Besides, what I have mentioned already is more evidence that Jesus existed than evidence that I have that YOU exist.

Are you really you?

I need some proof.....:-)

How does anything that happened before you were born have any definite proof?

You have to trust the evidence that was left by those who were there. In the bible there is evidence written by people who were there, carefully copied over of the years to make sure it was the same, new found Dead Sea scrolls confirmed this.

What more evidence do you want??? a meeting with the Christ himself

The best way to prove Jesus is Lord is this..

I don't believe in Muhammad, Buddha, or any other religion other that Christianity.. Therefore, I don't talk about it, I dont even think about it.

But Satan, always puts it on non-believer's minds to inquire and try to prove Jesus didn't do the wonderful things He did.

I hope this doesn't sound like I'm attacking you, man. I am in no way trying to be a smart-butt.

jesus(pbuh) was prophet of god the only proof is that the religions makes faith in him islam and christianity and may be ur next generation will see him in his second coming

They don't really need to prove he lived - we have historical records that indicate that - they have to prove he was the son of god, performed miracles, died and was resurected

Not an answer to the question itself, but to the answers, instead.

Here goes: Hooray, circular "logic"!