I think that a historical person that the Jesus character in the Bible is based on, probably did exist.
There were no shortage of itinerant Jewish apocalyptic preachers around at the time and place that the stories allegedly took place. The existence of one of these could have really easily had supernatural legend grow around him. To the people of the time, everything had supernatural significance.
Although, I don't think his historical existence is as much of a slam dunk as most Christians believe it is.
I will add, that the existence of a historical Jesus does not add a bit of evidence for any of the alleged supernatural claims attributed to him.
There were no shortage of itinerant Jewish apocalyptic preachers around at the time and place that the stories allegedly took place. The existence of one of these could have really easily had supernatural legend grow around him. To the people of the time, everything had supernatural significance.
Although, I don't think his historical existence is as much of a slam dunk as most Christians believe it is.
I will add, that the existence of a historical Jesus does not add a bit of evidence for any of the alleged supernatural claims attributed to him.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.