Why Is There So Much Missing Information About The Life Of Jesus? (disciples, prophets)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think it's probable that Jesus was the most influential human being who ever lived (and I do believe he was a flesh and blood human being and not fictitious as others do) and yet we know so little about him. When you compare all of the individuals in history who were very influential there is generally a wealth of information about them. Even individuals who lived before Jesus have a much more detailed account of their lives and often include sculptures or paintings that are believed to be an accurate depiction of how the person really looked. There is not any physical description of Jesus at all which I find very peculiar for a person of such importance. There is also the fact that most of the years of his life are not even mentioned with the exception of a handful of events that may have happened in his youth. Basically we're told the story of his birth and the main focus of the Bible is Jesus as an adult, his philosophy, and his death. It makes it even more peculiar when you consider the fact that there were individuals who lived at the same time, his followers and disciples, and yet there are no written records from the time that Jesus was still living, that happened much later. This is truly unique when you compare lesser known figures who we have a wealth of information about. Why isn't the central figure in the Christian religion represented in history by a larger body of literature, works of art, sculptures or anything that we would expect from an individual of such historical importance?
quick!!! someone find a book or papyrus scroll in some cave someplace!!!! and say it's jesus's biography...that's what we need to save us all!!!!!!! LOL
I can only surmise that God chose for the only info about His only begotton Son would be recorded in His word. That way, it would only be the truth. Mankind has done enough of a job picking that apart, without having non biblical accounts to pick apart!
Jesus was born in a small town to an illiterate carpenter's family. Most of Jesus' disciples were illiterate, too. The Romans had no reason to take any notice of Jesus until He began to minister and disrupt their empire. Also, the Romans totally destroyed Jerusalem (Burned to the ground) in 70 AD. Then the arab muslims destroyed it again in the late 600's. From the 1100's to 1300's the Crusaders fought over and destroyed Jerusalem at least three times. Every since the Muslims gained control of Jerusalem after the Crusades, they have systematically destroyed any historical and archaeological evidence they could find of jewish and christian history. The ottoman empire even put a tax on all trees in Jerusalem in order to keep people from living there. The area of Jerusalem is probably the most fought over piece of real estate in the world. I don't think it's too hard to understand the records might be a little sketchy. I think we know almost as much about Jesus as we do most historic figure's early life. For example, how much do we know of the childhood of Rameses II? He was the greatest pharaoh with many scribes that served him. We know very little of his personal life before he became pharaoh.
Sandgirl, I do agree that information can be lost to history and his uneventful youth could also be a reason for not having a detailed record of his life. I've always thought the most unusual missing bit of information is just a simple description of what the man looked like. I'm sure it's nothing like the religious depictions we seen in art museums around the world.
There is alot of information about the Romans in this time period though and due to the interaction between Jesus and the Romans which resulted in his death you would think there would be other non Biblical accounts of these events.
Location: In the North Idaho woods, still surrounded by terriers
2,179 posts, read 7,017,257 times
Reputation: 1014
Because no one knows . And those who wrote down the stories of his adult life and its activities really did not care, I suppose. With no cameras or videotape back in the day, it would have taken someone to specifically document his young life and since he was simply another jewish boy, nothing extraordinary, why on earth would anyone take the time or make the effort?
Could you please site the Bible reference where it says that Jesus was illiterate?
And His followers, could you please provide a passage where we are told that his followers were illiterate?
The Bible does say that Jesus followed custom and on his Bar-mitzvah was questioned form the Scriptures. Presumably he read the scriptures.
Jesus quoted the scriptures a great deal, presumably he read them a lot.
On the beginning of His ministry Jesus attended a worship service and he read the scripture aloud to the
congregation, as was / is the custom.
My post did not say 'Jesus was illiterate'. We know He studied in the temple as a child. And He was not just a man. The only ones during Jesus' time who had a formal education were the ruling elite who were less than one percent of the population. Only some of the Greek city states of the time tried to give some education to most of their people. Since there were no public schools there are only two disciples who might have been literate, the tax collecter and the physician.
This was to fulfill the scripture:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty CORINTHIANS 1:27
Last edited by sandgirl; 09-01-2008 at 09:48 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. And those who wrote down the stories of his adult life and its activities really did not care, I suppose. With no cameras or videotape back in the day, it would have taken someone to specifically document his young life and since he was simply another jewish boy, nothing extraordinary, why on earth would anyone take the time or make the effort?
