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What evidence is there for Jesus existing?
This isn't meant to be a religious question but a historical one. I personally don't believe Jesus was the son of God. However, I don't have an opinion on wether or not Jesus actually existed. I have herd most historians believe an actual Jesus existed. However, I know others don't. What kind of evidence is there for Jesus? Additionally, besides the Bible, is there other first hand evidence of Jesus performing miracles? I'm particularly interested in primary sources. However, other sources will work for me if there appears to be a good reason they are accurate. Thanks guys!
4 Answers
- ?Lv 67 years ago
Mostly references to his existence and his crucifixion by Roman historians and figures. There is a letter sent from a regional leader to the Roman emperor about his very early followers, for example, recent enough to show that there was SOMEONE named Jesus they were all riled up over. The historian Tacitus recorded that he had been executed, or at least that people around that time believed that there was a jesus executed by pontius pilate... nothing TOO concrete, but I personally find it believable. Some apocrypha/non-canon bible parts might detail Jesus's miracles. The infancy gospel of Thomas might be interesting to you, it deals with some of jesus miracles- some of which were a little scary in his childhood.This wiki page might be a good launching ground for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus
- ?Lv 77 years ago
IIRC there's not a lot of evidence from non Christians about Jesus existence. The Christian gospels might not be considered the most unbiased source. IIRC Josephus, the Roman-Jewish historian who was born slightly after Jesus death, mentions him in one of his works.
- sanityLv 77 years ago
When Christians made the claim that "most historians believe an actual Jesus existed", this statement is a lie.
What is meant by the term "most historians"? Do they include historians from China, Korea, Japan, and all over the world? I am sure that 99.99% of the historians in the world do not specialise their field of studies on the biblical Jesus and as professionals, they would not be making the claim that "Jesus existed" since they are not experts on the subject and would not want to jeopardise their professionalism by stating an unfounded claim.
However, because there's absolutely no evidence to support the historicity of Jesus, the church cleverly weaved the dubious statement of "most historians believe an actual Jesus existed" knowing that it is impossible to interview all historians, and next, to have all the historians show proof/evidence of the claim. The clever use of "most historians" is a ruse, in the absence of evidence to support the historicity of Jesus.
