Atheists - do you think Jesus existed?

That's some ridiculous statement that if Jesus really existed " they would have wrote about him" during that time??

Who says they are obligated to write about him in the first place?

Such a falacy to say that if it wasn't written during his living moment then therefore it's unreliable testimony. I could write a book about men I knew who passed away but does that mean that my writing is not true? Certainly it's reliable and even more reliable when a greek philosopher and a "Jew" even bear witness to his existence. Even if they did not live during his time, why would Tacitus who is a pagan even mention jesus being crucified by pilot if Christ never really existed? Certainly it was known about him existing. Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple that not one stone would be left on top of another after him and Josephus who was born later testified to the destruction of it removing each stone and and said you would not believe it if someone told you!

Christ is Lord

I do have self belief that Jesus existed, he substitute into in undemanding terms a universal guy, who substitute into attempting to make the international a greater effective place, rather like John Lennon or Bob Marley. yet, the undeniable fact that Jesus existed for actual is not any information of the existence of god, nor does it advise that Jesus somewhat walked on water or greater effective the breads or healed the crippled. in case you look in a London telephone e book, i'm specific you will locate a minimum of one Harry Potter, does that advise that individuals could have self belief in magic 2,000 years from now?

There are no good historical records, but I'm inclined to believe that there was an actual charismatic preacher who gathered a following that Paul was later able to exploit.

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

Suggested Reading

The Case for the Real Jesus By: Lee Strobel

http://www.christianbook.com/the-case-for-the-real...

Non Biblical evidence as proof for Jesus Christ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrRQqYGf4O0

'Did Jesus Exist?' A Historian Makes His Case

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/149462376/did-jesus-...

Refuting the myth that Jesus never existed

http://bede.org.uk/jesusmyth.htm

Did Jesus Really Exist?

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/philosophicalfragment...

What do we know about Jesus - from non-biblical sources?

http://www.provethebible.net/T2-Divin/D-0201.htm

Did Jesus Christ Really Exist? Proving Jesus Without the Bible

http://beginningandend.com/jesus-exist-historical-...

Is There Any Evidence for Jesus Outside the Bible?

http://www.pleaseconvinceme.com/index/pg79644

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

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

Yes. I think he tried to simplify Buddhism and bring it to the Middle East, but he left out some crucial teachings, including the importance of reforming yourself and not other people.

There were many "holly" men running around in that time. I believe he's probably a compilation of those men. But not an actual person. And no factual evidence that there was.

I do not think he existed.

I find the fact that Philo of Alexandria did not mention the young upstart very telling

There is no contemporaneous evidence that jesus existed.

No...

From my files...

“As for your "historical documents"....

“The only other accounts of Jesus (other than the Bible) were written way after his supposed death.

Josephus wasn't even born until 4yrs after Jesus was crucified and he didn't even write the "Antiquities of the Jews" until the late 1st century, and then the writing only has two passages "possibly" attributed to Jesus.

There is Tactus, who “eluded to” the crucifixion of Jesus in Book 15 of the "Annals".

But he wasn't even born until 56AD, and the "Annals" weren't even written until 116AD, 83yrs after Jesus death.

Two others, Julius Africanus & Lucian of Samosata, weren’t even born until the 2nd century AD.

Even Pliny the Younger wasn’t born until 30yrs after Jesus was crucified.

They are not witnesses, so how can they be credible?

As for the "letter from Pilate to Emperor Claudius", that is a pseudepigrapha letter, and not even written until the 4th century… which means that it’s a forgery.

As for Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, he wasn't born until 40yrs after Jesus death and most scholars believe that his passages on "Chrestus" were about some other person and then passages were later changed by Christian scribes.

And as for Mara Bar-Serapion (not born until the 2nd century) only had one passage that talks about a "wise king?"

That is hardly an automatic nod to Jesus.”

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AND

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“There's no reliable evidence that Jesus even existed. The story of Jesus is just a myth bolted together out of prophesy and stories from the Old Testament and previous myths -- created in the 40's and 50's by Paul of Tarsus (who exhibited evidence 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, his moral teachings, his disciples, or even when he existed. 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, and teachings. Paul did not write about any of this.

If Jesus had actually existed, the gospels would have been written in first person format. Instead, they were written in third person format like a Harry Potter story, with Matthew and Luke extensively plagiarizing from Mark.

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 wrote about him or his disciples.

Therefore Jesus didn't exist.”

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Well yeah. I can see it being very plausible that he was just a revolutionary, and over the times, the facts got a bit (a lot) twisted. Seems to make sense to me :)

The man might have existed, the myth around him no.