Jesus Christ was a Historical Person

Jesus is not a historical person because we have no historical record of his life. He was the exact opposite, a legendary person. The record of his life is so muddled by heresay and religious dogma that it’s impossible to get an accurate record of the man’s life beyond a few details. Santa clause is a historical person. We have an accurate record of his life in addition to the legend ascribed to him after the fact [1]. With Jesus we only have the legend and we can’t even establish that he existed. Historical vs existence Note that pro’s resolution argues that Jesus is a certain type of person, a historical person. He does not mention historicity or existence. He is trying to attach the biblical account to history somehow when the record of Jesus that we do have is unequivocally fiction. I’m sure there have been many rabbis named Jesus (a few were probably crucified in the first century) but they were irreconcilably different from the biblical account. They were not God, did not produce miracles and most certainly were not raised from the dead. Jesus is most definitely a myth or a legend as opposed to a historical person. Legendary vs historical religious leaders John Frum & Cargo cults: John frum is a religious legend and Illustrates how difficult it is to distinguish fact from fiction with religious figures. In World War II many cargo cults sprang up in the South pacific. To those unfamiliar native tribes watched a constant stream of ‘cargo’ or supplies, food technology etc., flown in for GIs to support the war effort [4]. They reasoned that by recreating the rituals of the American soldiers they would also receive supplies. They built fake airports and planes out of bamboo and carried stick rifles to emulate the soldiers. Their religious leader, an American John Frum, is said to have promised to return one day with food, clothing, housing, transport and other supplies. He taught that the locales should reject European culture, that one Day the missionaries, soldiers and immigrants would all leave them alone and leave their wealth with the cargo cultists. Less than one century later no one knows If John Frum existed or of if anything about the record of his involvement is accurate, he’s a legend not a historical figure. We have no accurate account of him or his life and the same is true of Jesus. Joseph Smith and Mormonism: Joseph smith, however, we know a lot about. When he found the golden tablets containing the book of Morman or the other miraculous aspects of his life and the book we can say that is part of the legend of his life and religion. We also have a historical record and timeline of his life [5]. For him we can observe and distinguish between the two. We have a historical Joseph Smith along side of the legendary account. With Jesus all we have is the legend. Jesus is most certainly a religious legend as opposed to a historical person. Problem of miracles According to the bible Jesus fed 5,000 people with two loafs and fish,( John 6:1-14; Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17) he heals the blind and deaf, (John 9:1-41, Mark 7:31-37) raises the dead, (John 11:1-46) and was raised from the dead to fly to heaven (Matthew 28:6). When he was raised himself many saints were also raised from their graves and wandered around town appearing to many people (Matthew 27:52-54). Today we understand that miracles do not occur. Since the majority of Jesus’ life is surrounded by miracles, and that this was a major proof for his Messianic persona, we understand that his life is a fiction. Since the majority of his life is a fiction Jesus is accurately described as a legend as opposed to a historical person. No contemporary historical documents even mention Jesus (there is no historical record of Jesus). If Jesus had in fact produced miracles and followed with apocalyptic warnings its strange that no historian documented anything about his life. There is not one contemporary historical source that even mentions his existence much less his miraculous evidence and apocalyptic warnings and solution to the one grave problem of hell [2]. Something truly historical was happening but no historian was even interested. From the classic work “The Christ” the author lists 40 famous historians who documented Jewish history at the time of Jesus’ supposed miraculous life. One example, “Philo was born before the beginning of the Christian era, and lived until long after the reputed death of Christ. He wrote an account of the Jews covering the entire time that Christ is said to have existed on earth. He was living in or near Jerusalem when Christ's miraculous birth and the Herodian massacre occurred. He was there when Christ made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He was there when the crucifixion with its attendant earthquake, supernatural darkness, and resurrection of the dead took place -- when Christ himself rose from the dead, and in the presence of many witnesses ascended into heaven.” We have 40 well known historians that would have had knowledge of the amazing supernatural events of the gospels that mention nothing of the life of Jesus. They don’t mention the slaughter of thousands of baby boys in Bethlaham [3], the resurrection of the dead saints in Jerusalem or the many miracles of Jesus. The bible is a book full of religious legends not confirmed by history. This makes all of the gospels nothing more than heresay. Jesus is not a historical person because history does not mention him. Did he exist? That’s another question but we have a religious/legendary account of Jesus, not a historical account. It’s more likely that Jesus did not exist. Let’s say I’d like to argue that batman existed in the 1950s but he really didn’t have a cape or a mask. He didn’t really fight crime, didn’t call himself batman and most certainly wasn’t a hero. Virtually all information about him was fabricated. Bruce Wayne was middle class and got in a fight with a guy named Joker who wore eyeliner at a bar once. This is about the situation Jesus is in. We can’t confirm he lived or died because there is no historical record. All we have about him is unreliable fantastical religious texts we classify as fiction. Everything that makes him Jesus is an obvious fabrication. We have no evidence that God’s can exist much less that Jesus was part of a god trio. No evidence that he rose from the dead, produced miracles or even taught the things the bible says he did. We have no historical confirmation to verify anything about Jesus. In fact, all evidence we have collected suggests that miracles are impossible and gods do not exist. Was there a rabbi named Jesus? I’m sure there were a few, but virtually everything related to the biblical Jesus mythos is false. He is most certainly more a religious/legendary figure than he is a historical person. The gospels (only record of Jesus) are based on heresay The earliest gospel was written around 70 AD , almost 40 years after the supposed crucifixion, and we have no idea who the authors were. They are full of miracles, inaccurate historical accounts (such as the slaughter of all baby boys in Bethlehem) and prophetic pronouncements. Nothing significant about the life of Jesus is confirmed by history. Jesus is a religious legend as opposed to a historical figure. The accounts of Jesus life are wildly different There are many accounts of Jesus’ life (roughly 30) and they are very different [6]. There is no reason so expect that the biblical accounts of his life are more accurate. If the gospels were based on one Jesus, that is a big if, we have no idea which record is accurate. - Several Rabbis named Jesus undoubtedly existed in the first century AD. None of them had the iconic features ascribed to the biblical Jesus. They were not Messiahs, did not produce miracles, were not gods, did not rise from the dead and were in no way supernatural. The biblical Jesus is most accurately described as a religious legend as opposed to a historical person. [1] http://www.stnicholascenter.org... [2] http://www.positiveatheism.org... [3] https://www.christiancourier.com... [4] http://www.smithsonianmag.com... [5] http://www.pbs.org... [6] http://matthewlbecker.blogspot.com...