To Atheists: Who, in your opinion, was Jesus Christ?

[Silver]

A person? I always figured it was a fun phrase to use out of frustration

[Nay_Sayer]

I'm almost 90-ish percent sure Jesus is the guy who trims my neighbor's bushes.


Cool guy.

[Angrboda]

Hoo boy.  You sure have swallowed a lot of misinformation.

I think that, given the available evidence, it is impossible to know who or what Jesus Christ was.  That being the case, we likely must look to guides outside the evidence to decide what to believe.

Then IMHO you have not truly examined the evidence. Personally on AF, I myself do not engage in discussions about historical accuracy because I go, generally, with the scholarly concensus, that Jesus was cruxified by Pontious Pilate and that the disciples believed they witnessed him alive after 3 days. It is perhaps the most thoughouly documented ancient biographical accounts created within living memory of the reported events. Those are just basic facts. People who think Jesus was a mythological creation are ignorant beyond words.

You're welcome to mistake your inferences for facts, I just hope that you will acknowledge that this is what you've done.

[Astreja]

Based on the Gospel stories etc, who do you think Jesus Christ was?

A fringe eschatological rabbi, or one of several such rabbis, upon whom the heavily mythologized Gospel stories were based.  He didn't say anything that hadn't been said before.  A relative nobody, barely a blip on the radar of the Roman occupiers, he may or may not have been executed as a troublemaker.  If he was a real person, he died and stayed dead.

[Astreja]

Almost all Christians agree Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Not surprising.  As a non-believer, I don't think there ever was a "Son of God" because that would require a god.

[arewethereyet]

Almost all Christians agree Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 

Do you suppose the name 'Christian' has anything to do with a belief in Christ?

Funny how that works.

[The Valkyrie]

Jesus was, at best, an amalgam of several people who actually existed.

At worse, a fictional character invented to gain control over the masses

Before we go playing the numbers game, remember that while, perhsps 2.5 billion people may believe he was the son of the Abrahamic Deity *Christian Edition™* 5.5 billion people don't believe he was the son of that being.

Remember that christianity was pushed on the people of Europe, Asia, the Americas, and elsewhere at the point of a sword.

Missionaries are just Crusaders without the cutlery.

And since the bible you're quoting and citing was written by people who wanted the push their agenda on everyone else, of course it agrees with the basic tenets of the belief system.

It's no point the basic tenet of the belief system being, "Cyril was the first man and there were no others, and he had super powers" while the holy book of the faith states, "Well, he was the first man, apart from the others, and he was just REALLY good at gardening".

And, don't forget while quoting books and scriptures from the bible, that a group of MEN got together and decided what was and wasn't going to be included.

They're called the "lost gospels" - look them up.

Finally, capitalising 'truth" constantly doesn't make it so.

I could claim to be the God-Empress of the Cosmos, and put "TRUTH" after every sentence.

But it wouldn't mean I am.

[Pat Mustard]

Based on the Gospel stories etc, who do you think Jesus Christ was?

E.g.

A. Someone who claimed to be the Son of God but was not.
B. A Great Humanist with Moral Teachings like Love Thy Neighbor.
C. A Nice Person who (allegedly) did not intend to found a Religion. 

etc.

It'll be interesting to hear what Atheists about the most successful Founder of a Religion in Human History.

Mohammed is a close second of course, but anyone who knows history sees Christ and Mohammed lived dramatically different lives.

Mohammed married a girl of 6 for e.g. and did many other wrong things. Whereas there is no such sin or scandal in Jesus Christ's Holy Life.

A witch. And I have proof.

PS Yeshua bar Yosef didn't actually found christianity, Saul of Tarsus did. All Yeshua was, if he existed, was the leader of a minor cult of ultra zealous followers of the pharisaic school of judaism

[Pat Mustard]

Almost all Christians agree Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Probably 2.5+ BN out of 2.6 BN agree about it. That's nearly 100% consensus.

The Apostles' Creed confesses that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Gospel of Mark begins with the declaration that Christ is God's Son.

And near the end of Saint John's Gospel, what does the Apostle write? "These are written that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing [this], you might have Life in His Name". Never be it said that the Apostles didn't know what they were writing nor agree in their Testimony.

They believed they lived with the Son of God, Who came down from Heaven to be our Savior, and they lived and died confessing/witnessing to this Truth.

Not only on paper or on ink, but etched as so great a Truth in some sense needed to be etched, in their own blood - for almost all the Apostles died as Martyrs - and in the history of many nations. Whoever honestly and passionately examines the Great Life of Jesus Christ, and His Lofty Moral Teachings, will find great value there, contrasted for e.g. with some of the vile precepts in the carnal law of Mohammed. For Mohammed claims and believes and acts as if 50+ y.o. men can marry 6 y.o girls etc.

The claim does not amount to evidence. For something to be evidence, it has to be independent of the claim. Oh and it would be best too if it weren't invented at least 70 years after the death of its attributed writer (the earliest date for the gospel of "John" is c110CE, and quite possibly didn't get actually written down until well into the second century)

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Hoo boy.  You sure have swallowed a lot of misinformation.

I think that, given the available evidence, it is impossible to know who or what Jesus Christ was.  That being the case, we likely must look to guides outside the evidence to decide what to believe.

Then IMHO you have not truly examined the evidence. Personally on AF, I myself do not engage in discussions about historical accuracy because I go, generally, with the scholarly concensus, that Jesus was cruxified by Pontious Pilate and that the disciples believed they witnessed him alive after 3 days. It is perhaps the most thoughouly documented ancient biographical accounts created within living memory of the reported events. Those are just basic facts. People who think Jesus was a mythological creation are ignorant beyond words.

Really? More thoroughly documented than the life of Julius Caesar or Xenophon? More than Phillip or Alexander of Macedon? More than Cattalus, Lucian, Ptolemy…

‘Ignorant beyond words’ indeed.

Boru