5 reasons to suspect Jesus never existed...

[_I have a question]

http://www.alternet.org/belief/5-reason ... er-existed

1. No first century secular evidence whatsoever exists to support the actuality of Yeshua ben Yosef.

2. The earliest New Testament writers seem ignorant of the details of Jesus’ life, which become more crystalized in later texts.

3. Even the New Testament stories don’t claim to be first-hand accounts.

4. The gospels, our only accounts of a historical Jesus, contradict each other.

5. Modern scholars who claim to have uncovered the real historical Jesus depict wildly different persons.

[_Gray Ghost]

There are several criteria used by historians that have lead most to conclude that there was a historical Jesus.

While it's always possible that there wasn't a historical Jesus, the evidence suggests that it's more likely that there was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_c ... ical_Jesus

[_Themis]

I think it's safe to say the New Testament writings of who Jesus was and the events of his life have little accuracy.

[_KevinSim]

http://www.alternet.org/belief/5-reasons-suspect-jesus-never-existed

1. No first century secular evidence whatsoever exists to support the actuality of Yeshua ben Yosef.

2. The earliest New Testament writers seem ignorant of the details of Jesus’ life, which become more crystalized in later texts.

3. Even the New Testament stories don’t claim to be first-hand accounts.

4. The gospels, our only accounts of a historical Jesus, contradict each other.

5. Modern scholars who claim to have uncovered the real historical Jesus depict wildly different persons.

Matthew 27:46 quotes Jesus as He hung on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" If people attempting to start a faith tradition were fabricating out of thin air the story of their central character, why in the world would they include a quote that makes it sound like Her/His God is forsaking that central character, when S/He needs that God most?

[_Gray Ghost]

I think it's safe to say the New Testament writings of who Jesus was and the events of his life have little accuracy.

Yes, that's likely so.

[_Jersey Girl]

http://www.alternet.org/belief/5-reasons-suspect-jesus-never-existed

1. No first century secular evidence whatsoever exists to support the actuality of Yeshua ben Yosef.

2. The earliest New Testament writers seem ignorant of the details of Jesus’ life, which become more crystalized in later texts.

3. Even the New Testament stories don’t claim to be first-hand accounts.

4. The gospels, our only accounts of a historical Jesus, contradict each other.

5. Modern scholars who claim to have uncovered the real historical Jesus depict wildly different persons.

Have you investigated these claims for yourself or are you planning to swallow it all whole without doing so?

[_schreech]

Matthew 27:46 quotes Jesus as He hung on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" If people attempting to start a faith tradition were fabricating out of thin air the story of their central character, why in the world would they include a quote that makes it sound like Her/His God is forsaking that central character, when S/He needs that God most?

You can't be serious...

Why did odin forsake thor (many, many times...)?:



Honestly, is your world so small that you think the "forsaken main character who triumphs in the end" plot device is only found in the Bible?



Why was Achilles forsaken when he needed Thetis/Zues the most?

Why was Gandalf forsaken by Eru Ilúvatar when he needed him most?



Why did Aruru forsake Enkidu (and Gilgamesh) when he needed her most?



Im not sure you really thought this one through if that is the reason you believe the Christ myth...

[_Jersey Girl]

I'll just use the para's from the link you provided and pose some questions for discussion.

1. No first century secular evidence whatsoever exists to support the actuality of Yeshua ben Yosef.


In the words of Bart Ehrman (who himself believes the stories were built on a historical kernel):

“What sorts of things do pagan authors from the time of Jesus have to say about him? Nothing. As odd as it may seem, there is no mention of Jesus at all by any of his pagan contemporaries.

How big was the Jesus movement?

There are no birth records, no trial transcripts, no death certificates; there are no expressions of interest, no heated slanders, no passing references – nothing.

Where would the birth records, transcripts, death certificates have been stored and where are the extant copies of these types of records located for the rest of the local folks of the time period?

In fact, if we broaden our field of concern to the years after his death – even if we include the entire first century of the Common Era – there is not so much as a solitary reference to Jesus in any non-Christian, non-Jewish source of any kind.

Why would there be?

I should stress that we do have a large number of documents from the time – the writings of poets, philosophers, historians, scientists, and government officials, for example, not to mention the large collection of surviving inscriptions on stone and private letters and legal documents on papyrus. In none of this vast array of surviving writings is Jesus’ name ever so much as mentioned.” (pp. 56-57)

What is the "large number" of docs, etc. that are mentioned here? Where are they located? How are they viewable to us? What constitutes a "vast array"?

[_Brackite]

This Topic has been debated several times before here.

See For example: viewtopic.php?p=280746#p280746

[_Jersey Girl]

This Topic has been debated several times before here.

See For example: http://www.mormondiscussions.com/phpBB3 ... 46#p280746

No kidding. It was being debated when I came online 15 years ago. Know what's going to happen? People are going to throw up links to articles, etc. as "evidence", others will be rude and mocking, and people like me are going to sit here without my questions being answered while my eyes roll.

Personally, I'm waiting for someone to post an image of the historical FSM as a valid form of response.