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Current time: July 2, 2024, 7:48 am

Poll: Did Jesus of Nazareth exist as an historical person?
This poll is closed.
Yes, absolutely; like Julius Caesar.
18.03%
11 18.03%
Probably.
19.67%
12 19.67%
Unknown.
24.59%
15 24.59%
Not probably.
19.67%
12 19.67%
Definitively not.
18.03%
11 18.03%
Total 61 vote(s) 100%
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Did Jesus exist?
#91
RE: Did Jesus exist?
(January 28, 2016 at 9:44 pm)Cephus Wrote:
(January 28, 2016 at 9:17 pm)Jehanne Wrote: I'm an atheist.  That a religious loon named Jesus of Nazareth existed is an historical fact.  Do you believe that George Washington existed?

Actually, it isn't, there are a lot of experts who doubt the existence of Jesus.

Other than Robert Price and Richard Carrier, can you name one?
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#92
RE: Did Jesus exist?
(January 28, 2016 at 9:21 pm)Jehanne Wrote:
(January 28, 2016 at 10:56 am)dyresand Wrote: There is no historical fact that a guy named jesus lived and the damning fact of the matter is no one has the birth date of the guy 
no has evidence of mary.

Tacitus was a careful Roman historian.  Considering the synoptic sources, Q, the Gospel of John, the writings of Paul and the other New Testament authors (most of whom are unknown), it is an extraordinary "leap of faith" to say that there was not a certain personage, an epileptic preacher with delusions of grandeur, Jesus of Nazareth.

Then you had best go read Tacitus again.  Even if the passage is not a forgery ( doubtful ) he knows nothing about any "jesus."  All that he mentions is someone named Christos but there are bigger problems than that with the only manuscript we have of the Annales.

As for the rest of that gibberish you note, I can read the script of the original Star Wars and see that Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star.  Says it right there on the page.  Guess what.  It is still fiction.
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#93
RE: Did Jesus exist?
(January 28, 2016 at 10:24 pm)Jehanne Wrote:
(January 28, 2016 at 9:44 pm)Cephus Wrote: Actually, it isn't, there are a lot of experts who doubt the existence of Jesus.

Other than Robert Price and Richard Carrier, can you name one?

What would name dropping tell us, at all, in this conversation?  If someone names ten scholars is it more or less true?  Twenty, one-hundred?
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#94
RE: Did Jesus exist?
(January 28, 2016 at 9:44 pm)Cephus Wrote:
(January 28, 2016 at 9:17 pm)Jehanne Wrote: I'm an atheist.  That a religious loon named Jesus of Nazareth existed is an historical fact.  Do you believe that George Washington existed?

Actually, it isn't, there are a lot of experts who doubt the existence of Jesus.

I don't know about a lot. Also depends on what you mean here by experts.
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#95
RE: Did Jesus exist?
(January 28, 2016 at 10:24 pm)Minimalist Wrote:
(January 28, 2016 at 9:21 pm)Jehanne Wrote: Tacitus was a careful Roman historian.  Considering the synoptic sources, Q, the Gospel of John, the writings of Paul and the other New Testament authors (most of whom are unknown), it is an extraordinary "leap of faith" to say that there was not a certain personage, an epileptic preacher with delusions of grandeur, Jesus of Nazareth.

Then you had best go read Tacitus again.  Even if the passage is not a forgery ( doubtful ) he knows nothing about any "jesus."  All that he mentions is someone named Christos but there are bigger problems than that with the only manuscript we have of the Annales.

As for the rest of that gibberish you note, I can read the script of the original Star Wars and see that Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star.  Says it right there on the page.  Guess what.  It is still fiction.

Are you saying that Tacitus did not exist:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus
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#96
RE: Did Jesus exist?
Quote:Do you believe that George Washington existed?

We do not have to "believe" that George Washington existed.  The evidence is overwhelming.

Even his enemies talked about him.

Quote: “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

Said King George III about George Washington:
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#97
RE: Did Jesus exist?
(January 28, 2016 at 10:57 pm)Minimalist Wrote:
Quote:Do you believe that George Washington existed?

We do not have to "believe" that George Washington existed.  The evidence is overwhelming.

Even his enemies talked about him.

Quote: “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

Said King George III about George Washington:

And, that's the point -- when does the "critical mass" get reached?  After all, if twice the evidence for George Washington were to be discovered tomorrow, would that make it twice as likely that he truly existed?  Of course, not; that would be absurd.  George Washington existed, no doubt whatsoever about it.  Jesus of Nazareth existed, also; what's wrong with atheists saying that he was just some 1st-century nut-job who got himself executed by the Romans?  And, in the process, a World religion was started, kind of like Islam?
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#98
RE: Did Jesus exist?
I think Jesus was a person who helped innocent people and tried to make the world a better place. and because he was too good, people worshiped him, the roman government or the law saw this as a threat and made arrangements.
"No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path" - Gautama Buddha
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#99
RE: Did Jesus exist?
Quote:And, that's the point -- when does the "critical mass" get reached?

I would settle for any non-canonical source which indicated there was even the rumor that some people in the early first century believed that a dead jew came back to life.  We do not have that.  At all.

All we have is the blathering of later believers and we have no idea how much even that has been edited because all we have are copies of copies of copies of copies etc.

Elsewhere on this site I have posted a thread about the Doctrina Jacobi.  This is a Byzantine reference from c 536 AD to a "prophet having arisen among the Saracens."  It is hearsay to the third degree by its own admission and you would think that muslims would seize upon it as a reference to mohammed but they don't for a couple of reasons.  One, it states that the prophet is still alive whereas islamic legend has him dead several years earlier.  Two, and probably worst, it calls him one who proclaims the coming of christ.  So no muslim is going to trot that out.

Still, it does suggest to us that however faulty the story and/or transmission there were some people who believed that there was a religious basis to what we now think of as the muslim conquest of the Levant.  As piss poor as the DJ is, we have nothing remotely like it for jesus in the first century.
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RE: Did Jesus exist?
Has anyone found any angel feathers?

Jesus said that a third of the stars will fall to Earth. Is that that something you think is possible?
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