Shit. What The Hell. Jesus Never Existed

[Aractus]

I don't know why you keep calling him "my boy". But I will go through this.

Luke gives the year that Jesus is baptised by John as 28-29AD . If his ministry lasted about a year (which is what most scholars think) then he would have been killed in 29-31AD at the latest.

Luke 3:1-2: In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

Everything in that verse is accurate to 28-29AD (the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar's reign). Importantly it's also consistent with the given ages of John and Jesus in the gospel accounts, noting that although the nativity is not a historical fact in any sense it does give the time-frame, and even if it didn't under Jewish law neither of them could have began their ministries before their 30th year.

Tiberius Caesar ruled from 14-37 AD. There is some debate about where the fifteenth year falls in particular, but it appears that the Roman's counted from the first year of succession not from the inaugural year, which makes it 29 AD.

Pontius Pilate was governor from 26-36 AD.

Herod's reign as tetrarch of Galilee and Perea was from 6-39 AD.

Philip's reign as tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis was from 4 BC - 34 AD.

Not much is known about the "younger" Lysanias and his reign.

Annas had been high priest from AD 6 to 15, but he still wielded power during Caiaphas's priesthood hence Luke including his name.

Caiaphas was high priest from 18-36 AD.

The April date of the crucifixion (Nisan 14th on the Jewish calendar) is therefore most likely to be in 30 or 31 AD.

This means that John the Baptist either died before that time (which isn't particularly likely but is what the gospel accounts imply) or after the death of Philip in 34 AD (which is what Josephus implies). I don't think that detail is particularly meaningful, changing the date of John's death to fit into the gospel-narrative time-frame is a very minor point. Likewise, Josephus wrote considerably later than Luke and his information may not be correct either.

As I've cited many many times, the only things that scholars are near unanimously agreed upon are that: a. Jesus was a historical person, b. He died by Roman crucifixion, c. He was baptised in the Jordan by John, d. He called disciples, e. He preached sermons. That's about it - I might have forgotten something, but everything else is up for debate. And that includes whether Jesus's ministry was only 1 year or whether it was longer. If it was longer than a date as late as AD 35 is possible for the crucifixion.