I've heard people argue that the Jesus Christ of the bible never actually existed and was just a story. I always figured that he and the other characters in the New Testament were just as real as any in the Old.
I always figured that the Jesus of the New Testament was just too unique to have been somebodies creation. He wasn't as hardcore as the Old Testament. He was much more forgiving and showed much more compassion than the prophets in the Old Testament.
And "Jesus" was much more "conservative" -- of the Jewish religion and the rules such as the Ten Commandments -- than anybody to come after him (Paul and the other apostles).
So it seems to me that he could have been real since a fictitious character would probably not have been so controversial. I am just reasoning on the basis that he could have been real -- and the "miracles" could have been added to the stories to make them better.
What are the arguments that he never existed based upon? Is there something that would indicate that he had not lived? The parallels with older mythology could just be that people added their favorite mythology to the stories of Jesus to make the stories even better?
I always figured that the Jesus of the New Testament was just too unique to have been somebodies creation. He wasn't as hardcore as the Old Testament. He was much more forgiving and showed much more compassion than the prophets in the Old Testament.
And "Jesus" was much more "conservative" -- of the Jewish religion and the rules such as the Ten Commandments -- than anybody to come after him (Paul and the other apostles).
So it seems to me that he could have been real since a fictitious character would probably not have been so controversial. I am just reasoning on the basis that he could have been real -- and the "miracles" could have been added to the stories to make them better.
What are the arguments that he never existed based upon? Is there something that would indicate that he had not lived? The parallels with older mythology could just be that people added their favorite mythology to the stories of Jesus to make the stories even better?
