The Historicity of Jesus Christ

It may very well be that there was a historical Jesus. As a non-believer I'm A-OK with that being the case. And indeed many scholars now believe he was historically real. I think the key point is that we know vanishingly little about him from contemporary sources. I ASSUME the wonderful teachings attributed to him are, indeed, his, but I don't think we can necessarily count on the Gospels (the "Synoptic" ones) as being accurate histories given their inconsistencies, the fact that they were written decades after the events and all written from some particular bias for a particular audience.

Obtenebrator:

There are no inconsistencies in the Gospels. The Christian Greek Scriptures aka New Testament ("NT") is entirely consistent. Jesus' 1st Century disciples reported various incidents from different viewpoints. Those are not inconsistencies; it's simply reporting the same incident from a different angle.

And I can easily dismiss the miracles and the coming back to life stories.

Go ahead and dismiss to your heart's content. Until you can prove the miracles and the resurrections did not happen, your comment is simply that of an unbeliever. Nothing more.
 
The witnesses to Jesus's existence and ministry were almost entirely Jewish. We know most Jewish scholars would destroy any evidence of his existence whenever they found it, it's a frequent practice with them in those days, denying anything outside their post-Ezra cult as not existing. But, we have the 4 Gospels and Paul, all Jewish or a disciple of educated Jews in Luke's case, and some scholars hold the opinion that Luke was also a Jew. Then there are the followers, numbering in the thousands and known to already exist in those years and soon after his death.

Even Bart Ehrman, an oft cited critic of Christianity, wrote a book proving he was a real person.


DArrell Bock has written extensively on the evidence that the orthodoxy regarding the NT books are indeed valid and can be trusted, as opposed to the Gnostic rubbish and the silly nonsense that Constantine rewrote a lot of stuff in the 4th Century.


See also Joachim Jeremia's excellent econmic and social history Jerusalem In The Time Of Jesus, which extensively verifies that NT texts are indeed contemporary writings and there are no anachronisms in them, making it impossible for them to have been in some later century. He extensively footnotes the book and used entirely Jewish sources.


AS for whether he was a 'divine' son of God or not isn't relevant to the issue of whether he really existed or not; the fact is he did indeed exist, and was a well educated rabbi to boot..
EdwinA:

Great comments and fine research on your part. Although I don't agree with your last paragraph, "AS for whether he was a 'divine' son of God or not isn't relevant to the issue of whether he really existed or not; the fact is he did indeed exist, and was a well educated rabbi to boot," the rest of your comments are great!

Alter2Ego
 
There are no inconsistencies in the Gospels.

Then explain his different genealogies? And why would it matter what line Joseph had if he wasn't the father?

Jesus' 1st Century disciples reported various incidents from different viewpoints. Those are not inconsistencies; it's simply reporting the same incident from a different angle.

Different genealogies are not just the same thing from a different view point.

Go ahead and dismiss to your heart's content. Until you can prove the miracles and the resurrections did not happen

I am under no obligation to prove a negative.

, your comment is simply that of an unbeliever. Nothing more.

Pretty much by definition.
 
Then explain his different genealogies? And why would it matter what line Joseph had if he wasn't the father?



Different genealogies are not just the same thing from a different view point.



I am under no obligation to prove a negative.



Pretty much by definition.
it is your obligation, but it cannot be done.

that's a pickle you put yourself in.
 
Then explain his different genealogies? And why would it matter what line Joseph had if he wasn't the father?



Different genealogies are not just the same thing from a different view point.



I am under no obligation to prove a negative.



Pretty much by definition.
Kafka:

Jesus's life started off as a spirit son (an angel). His spirit life force was transferred into the human Mary. Joseph was not his biological father. So what is your point?
 
Jesus's life started off as a spirit son (an angel). His spirit life force was transferred into the human Mary. Joseph was not his biological father. So what is your point?

My point is that two different accounts representing the real life of Jesus show different geneaologies which means the people who wrote the Gospels were NOT necessarily working from the same set of data indicating that it's possible that a lot of the back story of Jesus was...sorry for this...made up.
 
My point is that two different accounts representing the real life of Jesus show different geneaologies which means the people who wrote the Gospels were NOT necessarily working from the same set of data indicating that it's possible that a lot of the back story of Jesus was...sorry for this...made up.

Rubbish. The two genealogies are easily explained and in detail in several sources. It's also possible you just need to discredit the proof for other reasons than historical accuracy, is all.
 
Kafka:

Jesus's life started off as a spirit son (an angel). His spirit life force was transferred into the human Mary. Joseph was not his biological father. So what is your point?

Yes. Mary's ancestors would be the ones that matter, and of course Jewish traditions would create problems with that genealogy due to laws re levirate marriage to brothers-in-law and ancient Hebrew prohibitions forbidding female names in genealogical tables. If a man died his wife would then marry one of his brothers and the line of descent would also be expanded via being adopted and other legalisms..
 
Joseph was not his biological father.

His genealogy is important due to needing to establish his family's status and 'racial purity'; there were extensive racial purity laws established in those days that determined Temple access, educational access, economic rights, etc. for the family.
 
Yes, there are timeline inconsistencies, among others. Why is that a problem? The gospels can still be read and the lessons understood.

Like what? The priorities were in topical arrangements, not chronological order, in the four Gospels and Paul's, letters, for instance. In the Old Testament, Isaiah isn't in chronological order either. This isn't an error, it's an editing choice. There are editions of the Bible laid out in chronological order for scholarship and enlightenment, but this doesn't invalidate anything re the intent, as you said..

Some examples:

 
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Like what?
One big one was the more-than-a-decade between Jesus having been born and Jesus still not yet born.

Historical timeline:

* Herod the Great was king of the Jews between 37 BCE to 4 BCE.
* Ten years later (i.e. 6 CE) , the Jewish kingdom became a Roman province, under the Roman governor of Syria, Quirinius
* Upon becoming a Roman province, Quirinius ordered a census.

Gospel Inconsistency:

* In Matthew, Jesus is born sometime prior to 4 BCE and is visited by wise men from the east. Those same wise men visit Herod the Great and reveal that the true king of the Jews has been born. Herod has all children under two years of age killed.

* In Luke, Jesus is not yet born in 6 CE. Quirinius orders a census. Joseph and pregnant Mary return to Bethlehem only to find no room at the inn. They find shelter in a barn in which Jesus is born and wrapped in swaddling clothes.


The only way to claim that this is not a major inconsistency is to declare that there are, in fact, two or more Jesus Christs.
 
* In Matthew, Jesus is born sometime prior to 4 BCE and is visited by wise men from the east. Those same wise men visit Herod the Great and reveal that the true king of the Jews has been born. Herod has all children under two years of age killed.

Never established he actually managed to kill them all.

In Matthew, Jesus is born sometime prior to 4 BCE.

4 B.C. is later than 6 B.C., so where is the conflict? Herod died in 4 B.C., two years after 6 B.C.
 
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