What Is The Point Of Prayer?

[Sword of Christ]

This bit rather clashes with the next bit...

Not really, there are many historical figures for which we don't have 100% entirely complete information of their life, like Socrates or Hannibal of Carthage. Jesus would be more akin to them than to King Arthur, who probably did exist as well though we know practically nothing about him.

First of all, twenty years hardly makes those accounts contemporary, and furthermore, if he was a real person why don't we have any writings from when he was alive, or things he wrote himself?

20 years was well within living memory even back then so if Jesus hadn't existed someone would have just said. But no-one argued about Jesus existence only his divinity.

Second of all, you're severely overestimating the culture at the time; it isn't like today, where every little thing is recorded, and with permanence at that. In a less than scientifically grounded culture already given to accepting supernatural claims, accepting things like this isn't as hard going as you seem to think.

1st century Jews wouldn't have been easily willing to accept God as a man or physical resurrections from the dead before the end times. They weren't necessarily any more gullible than people living today these were intelligent civilised people.

Right, so why no contemporary accounts?

The gospel accounts had their original source in people who had known Jesus and put his teachings to memory. This was then written down by the first Jewish Christian communities. Within 20 years of Christs crucifixion there were people who believed in Christ so passionately that they were prepared top martyr themselves for it. No-one ever did this over Zeus, Mithras or some mythical figure. Again this was well within living memory of Jesus himself so close enough to contemporary not hundreds of years later.

I'm willing to do some research if you'll kindly mention some names. I'm sure there are others here well versed enough to determine how much of this is true, too.

Here we go.

http://carm.org/non-biblical-accounts-ne...dor-people

Now these being non-Christians if there was any real doubt as to Jesus actual historical existence they would have been keen to have mentioned this. Or if Jesus did exist and was put to death and remained dead and rotted away they would have been keen to point out the tomb with Jesus corpse still inside. No-one did this as they didn't have the body so what they did was claim that Jesus followers stole his body to perpetuate the myth.