How Do We Know Jesus Existed? (prophecies, gospels, bible, quote)
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ell its the same with mnay ;the evidence is direct testimany in the bible. then we find other documants all the time that relate same.By your temrs I don't know George Washington reallty existed.
ell its the same with mnay ;the evidence is direct testimany in the bible. then we find other documants all the time that relate same.By your temrs I don't know George Washington reallty existed.
What "direct testimony" is there in the New Testament?
We know George Washington existed because we have contemporaneous evidence of his existence. People wrote about his inauguration. Newspapers covered it. He wrote letters in his own hand (in which he identifies himself). We have absolutely nothing of the sort for Jesus Christ. Paul did not know him. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John did not know him. Roman and Jewish records make no reference to him, even though he was supposedly tried before Pontius Pilate. We have no other accounts corroborating the factual details of the Gospels (earthquakes, etc.). We don't even have historical evidence that the city of Nazareth existed during the time of Christ.
When I started to question my faith, I realized that Christianity makes truth claims, and that it should be pretty easy to look into those claims. And that -- the facts in your OP -- is why I'm no longer a believer.
When I started to question my faith, I realized that Christianity makes truth claims, and that it should be pretty easy to look into those claims. And that -- the facts in your OP -- is why I'm no longer a believer.
Well, I don't think you have to take a literal interpretation of biblical events to be a "believer." I wasn't deflated when I discovered that Chicken Little and the Boy That Cried Wolf never existed (or did they?). The historical basis of the stories is completely immaterial to their moral and educational value. I look at the Bible in pretty much the same way.
Well, I don't think you have to take a literal interpretation of biblical events to be a "believer." I wasn't deflated when I discovered that Chicken Little and the Boy That Cried Wolf never existed (or did they?). The historical basis of the stories is completely immaterial to their moral and educational value. I look at the Bible in pretty much the same way.
Sure, but if I'm just looking for a coherent moral philosophy I don't think the Bible is the best one (the most pro-social one) out there. I can appreciate it as literature without believing it, too. If you do believe that Jesus existed and was who the Bible said he was, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.
Sure, but if I'm just looking for a coherent moral philosophy I don't think the Bible is the best one (the most pro-social one) out there. I can appreciate it as literature without believing it, too. If you do believe that Jesus existed and was who the Bible said he was, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.
Yeah, the typical response I get from people is, "That's where faith comes in...you have to believe in the absence of evidence" or something along those lines. If that's the case, why Jesus? Why not Vishnu the Destroyer? Or Hercules? Or the Dogon gods? We have about as much evidence that Hercules as existed as we have for Jesus.
Yeah, the typical response I get from people is, "That's where faith comes in...you have to believe in the absence of evidence" or something along those lines. If that's the case, why Jesus? Why not Vishnu the Destroyer? Or Hercules? Or the Dogon gods? We have about as much evidence that Hercules as existed as we have for Jesus.
I've been told that too, and I agree.
So for me, there are four categories of things you find in the Bible:
1.) Prophecies/predictions;
2.) Moral instruction;
3.) Historical summaries of things that aren't crucial to the message of Christianity; and
4.) Historical summaries of things that are crucial to the message of Christianity.
I can see setting aside #1, because you don't know how or when those things will come true, or if they're metaphor or what-have-you. #2 isn't really a "true" or "false" thing. And I can see setting aside #3; that's what some (most?) liberal & mainstream Christians do. You don't have to believe that David slayed Goliath or that there was a ginormous flood that destroyed mankind (except for, somehow, the parts of the world from which we have written records dating back that far) or that Jesus fed a massive crowd with five loaves and two fishes to be Christian.
But I don't see how you can set aside #4 and still be Christian. If you don't believe that mankind was created in some way, then how can you have original sin, and what's the point of the Resurrection? If you don't believe that the literal, actual Jesus was raised up on the third day after his execution and that he was taking the sins of mankind upon himself at the Father's behest, then what does it mean to be Christian? If it's a metaphor in some way -- if it didn't actually happen, or if Jesus appeared to the apostles as some sort of spirit apparition or a folie a deux, then what makes Christianity special?
I have a religious friend who once told me, "If Jesus didn't actually exist, then I should just go ahead and do what I want. What's the point if there is no Heaven?"
If you think think that way, then you don't have "faith." That's like a kid saying, "Man, you mean all this studying is not going to get me a Ferrari, 10 supermodels, and a mansion in Malibu. It's pointless!"
As christians our only evidence about God, Jesus and everything else is the bible. It by faith that we do believe in God. Everything around us like the nature testify that God, Jesus and bible are true.
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