Evidence for Jesus outside the Bible?

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Well, I have been away for about a month and I suppose it is about time that I get back to bashing those Christians... Anyway, I am currently debating online with a friend of mine about the existence of Jesus. He claims there is evidence outside the Bible but I can't seem to find any and he won't give me any. God damn typical.

I tried to look some up, but they just ended up quoting the Bible.

Anyone got evidence?

Actually,he's right,there IS a bit of evidence outside the bible, just no CREDIBLE evidence.

I'm not being difficult, simply applying the same standards historians apply to everything else, beginning with the of lack of ANY contemporary evidence

Christian apologists like to cite Tacitus,I guess because he's a famous ancient historian.Have a look at WHEN he wrote and WHAT he wrote

.Josephus is also often quoted, again not contemporary,and despite the fact that one of the most commonly quoted passages."TheTestimonium" being long seriously questioned as a forgery.

I'm unaware of ANY evidence provided by apologist which meets the standards of evidence demanded by modern historians.


TACITUS, writing circa 116CE:

Here is a full quote of the cite of our concern, from Annals 15.44. Jesus and the Christians are mentioned in an account of how the Emperor Nero went after Christians in order to draw attention away from himself after Rome's fire of 64 AD:

But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.

http://www.tektonics.org/jesusexist/tacitus.html



JOSEPHUS

Josephus writes of a Jewish sect led by James the Just, whom he calls the brother of Jesus. Josephus' history includes sections on John the Baptist, the High Priest Annas, Pontius Pilate, and Jesus called the Messiah.

A third passage, the famous Testimonium Flavianum found in the Antiquities of the Jews 18.63-64, in its current form summarizes the ministry and death of Jesus; but the authenticity of this passage remains contested by many scholars, and has been the topic of ongoing debate since the 17th century. The most widely held current scholarly opinion is that the Testimonium Flavianum is partially authentic; but that those words and phrases that correspond with standard Christian formulae are additions from a Christian copyist.[3][4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus