Did Jesus exist?

[athrock]

That's nice.  And?  Would -you- care to take a crack at how that's done in the case of jesus?

What specifically are you looking for? I've read a few pages in this thread now of how embarrassment is very present in the documents discussed and in the story of Jesus. What is it you want instead? Also...

Let me suggest that this, just like arguing the position by invalid inferences, falls well below the standards of history.

They do not. I've been saying this since the beginning. Standard of evidence for ancient historians is lower than you and everyone else supporting you realize. And when I finally beat that into someone's head, that person (I forgot who, may have been Min) then said, "Great, we don't know if [fabricated facetous name] may or may not have existed. Who cares!" But it matters, it matters a lot. Comparing Historical Jesus to other accepted historical figures without contemporary sources (Hannibal springs to mind) is crucial. I understand where that person is coming from; they think that the historicity of Jesus is more important than these other people I've spoken about so it demands more evidence. But that's not true. From an historical point of view it's a level playing field.  

I still have a lot to learn as a person. I'm still a student. But it's worth nothing that my undergraduate degree will be in History and I interact with historians every day, and I'm working on my undergraduate thesis with an historian. I've been taught how to think like an historian. That's why it's so frustrating to me to see people have these double standards with evidence. You're approaching it wrong. I have no desire to repeat why, because I've written longer posts earlier in the thread and I have no reason to try and say it all again. 

In the end, does it really matter? Would him existing versus him not existing make a lick of difference in the grand scheme of things? No. Christians would still believe, atheists would continue not believing, and the world will continue spinning. But for historians whose concentration is in the Ancient Near East, yes, it matters quite a bit. And over the course of hundreds of years, the best scholars to come out of that area have gone on record saying that it adds up: there was most likely a preacher named Jesus who was executed. The details about him do not match any mythology concerning the Jewish Messiah. This is evidence from an historian's point of view and that's how history should be approached. This argument hasn't ever really been "Does Jesus exist?" but rather "Should we accept the prevailing theory concerning the historical Jesus?" And the evidence accepted by the scholarly community says: yes! But you and a few others disagree.

I will again compare historiography with scientific study. Historians have their practices and their standards of evidence. Scientists have their practices and their standards of evidence. Those two things are fundamentally different, but the irony is if you decide to look at the dissenting opinions in the scientific community about man-made global warming, funny enough you'll find arguments very similar to the ones presented in this thread against Historical Jesus. A couple of arguments such as...

-Even if there is a scientific consensus, questions are not decided by "consensus." (Argumentum ad Populum?)

-95 percent of climate change models proving global warming have been false* (your historical sources are bullshit?)

*http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/11/report-95-percent-of-global-warming-models-are-wrong/#ixzz2t4gPo8iJ

So realize that you sound to me like climate change deniers sound to you.

With all that being said, I think I'm done with this topic. Please respond though, I will read your response and consider it, but I have no interest in posting on this topic any longer.

Outstanding. Well said.