Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure.

Pro position is that Jesus was a physical, historical figure. Con position is that Jesus never existed as a historical person. The nature of Jesus' divinity is not up for discussion. Neither position is allowed to deviate from the premises he or she has chosen from the start. For example, the pro position may not discuss gospel accounts in round one and later introduce extrabiblical examples. All arguments must develop from material introduced in round one. Jesus was a historical figure because of the information revealed in 1) the gospel accounts, 2) the events in the book of Acts, 3) the writings of Paul, and 4) the several contemporary sources outside of the bible. 1) The gospels are the most comprehensive source we have about Jesus. The central character of the gospels selects twelve close disciples and minsters to thousands of other people over the course of 3 years. At the end of his ministry, he is subjected to the most brutal, humiliating, disgusting torture and execution that existed in that time: crucifixion. Many awkward details, such as the crucifixion itself, the women finding the empty tomb, the future leader of the church (Peter) denying Christ, and Jesus spending time with social outcasts like cripples, prostitutes, and worst of all, an adulterous Samaritan woman, suggest that these things actually happened. If Jesus was purely fictional, surely they would've made up a more glamorous death than the crucifixion. Truth is stranger than fiction. 2) The events in Acts detail what happened immediately after Jesus was crucified. One valuable example is in Acts 2. On Pentecost, the disciples were waiting in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. This was just 2 months after Jesus was crucified, and just a week and a half after Jesus ascended into heaven (though not before appearing to several hundred people). Peter simply could not make anything up to lie to this audience in Jerusalem; many of those present were probably witnesses to the crucifixion, or at least had heard the news. People didn't travel a lot, and again, this is only two months after the crucifixion. Yet we find Peter saying this: "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hand of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." "This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses." "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit." Here we have three very clear statements about what happened to Jesus, and Peter even mentions that they were witnesses to the crucifixion and that the disciples were witnesses to Jesus' bodily appearance after his death. This is impossible to make up only two months after the events, in a discussion with people who were there to witness the events. Impossible. 3) Paul was a Pharisee who grew up hating and persecuting Christians. He famously hunted down Christians in neighboring cities, brought them back to Jerusalem, and facilitated their trials and executions. However, Paul was converted to Christianity perhaps later the same year that Jesus was crucified, after seeing a vision. Quite soon after, Paul began about 13 years of study and ministry in Damascus, Jerusalem, and Syria before making his famous missionary journeys. On one of these journeys, he writes to the Corinthian church. This may have been about 20 years after the death of Jesus. In this letter, he writes: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep [physically died]. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles." This passage is usually understood to be a creed, or a statement of faith that a church uses in order to stay focused on the truth. We know this is a creed because of the language that Paul uses,fact after fact after fact, and because he says he also received it, presumably during his studies in Jerusalem. The ability to confirm these events is simple: one must only ask any of the people that Paul named, and they in turn could introduce them to hundreds more. Paul even says they're still alive. He's basically saying, "these things are true. And if you don't believe me, ask these people! They were all there!" To make these events up and then give the people all the information they need to prove these events false would be foolish. 4) There are several references to Jesus in contemporary sources. Before we go there, let's discuss some facts about ancient historians. In ancient times, people only wrote history if they thought it was important. Unlike today, where reporters give news on anything and everything, ancient historians simply would not have written about something just because it happened. They only write about important, interesting things. Combine that with the fact that it hard to preserve ancient materials, especially paper, and we begin to understand what looking at ancient history is like. I'll illustrate with an example. Hannibal was one of the most famous military figures of the Roman Empire. He was the Napoleon of his time. Everyone knew his name. Yet, as of right now, there are absolutely zero contemporary accounts that discuss Hannibal! With this perspective, it would hardly be surprising if no one wrote about a peasant preacher leading a ragtag bunch of fishermen and social misfits from an insignificant town in an insignificant province of the Empire. Yet some people did write about him! Tacitus and Josephus are among the most famous of these, and these accounts combined with other contemporary sources reveal that Jesus, or Yeshua, was a man about whom this group of people called Christians was centralized. This man was crucified during the reign of Pilate. There are other conclusions that we can draw from these sources, but since I don't have the information right in front of me, I won't trust my memory. Based on the gospel accounts, the events in Acts, the writings of Paul, an the extrabiblical accounts, we can conclude that Jesus definitely did exist.