Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kenneth Montville D.D. on February 28, 2011 at 6:55am

It is nearly impossible to prove ANYTHING from history ever existed/happened. That is the major problem with history. While there are some pretty damning arguments against Jesus ever existing trying to prove it is like trying to prove God doesn't exist. Impossible. You can't prove something doesn't (or in this case, didn't) exist.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Carrollton on March 31, 2011 at 5:25pm

True. I can't prove something didn't happen based solely on the written word.  But I can ask questions concerning the event.

 

If Homer tells me there was a real man named Jason who sailed the Mediterranean, I don't have any reason to disbelieve that.  If he tells me that a race of one eyed Cyclops existed, I might ask to see a fossil with a big hole where the eye should be.

 

If someone tells me that Jesus appeared in the midst of the disciples, but one disciple was missing, so he visited that disciple a week later, I can ask what Jesus did for the week in between.  Who was he seen by?  Why aren't the bible writers telling me all about it?  Is Jesus evangelizing? healing people? teaching the disciples? This is a dead man walking.  The people should be dancing in the streets (or maybe kneeling in prayer). They should be shouting it from the rooftops.

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Permalink Reply by Adrian Quantum on February 28, 2011 at 10:27am

I think that Jesus could be an invention.

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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on February 28, 2011 at 2:28pm

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Permalink Reply by Kenneth Montville D.D. on March 1, 2011 at 1:06pm

I do like that documentary but there are a few things wrong. For example; John was not based on Mark and Hebrews was not authored by Paul.

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Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on February 28, 2011 at 2:30pm

Also I posted a discussion on the same topic in September...
It seems to be a popular thing among atheists.
http://www.thinkatheist.com/forum/topics/new-debate-topic-the

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Permalink Reply by Thomas Raymond on February 28, 2011 at 3:08pm

PERHAPS JESUS LIKE but that'd be it.

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Permalink Reply by JD Stockman on March 1, 2011 at 12:08pm

Actually... a vast amount of evidence concludes that Jesus of Nazareth (as I prefer to call him) DID exist. The problem is that the evidence historically has clearly been tampered with. The amount of evidence, however, indicates it was a result of someone named "Jesus" being there. 

When I "fell from grace", as all the myths and concepts of Christianity melted away, Jesus (now just a man without the supernatural template) was still holding water as a reliable person to listen to. I did some research on him and realized that he was a teacher and generally decent guy with great ideas on how to be a decent person yourself. 

The church really messed up what could have been a perfect poster boy for their beliefs... unfortunately their agenda of making money and having power would be corrupted if they didn't "God" him up a little. 

Recently a friend (Heather) gave me a documentary to watch. It makes a lot of sense that Jesus was JUST a buddhist philosopher and the church rewrote or twisted history to join him to their faith. I invite you to watch this same documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YbUEZfJJaQ&feature=autofb

as far as I am aware of, Jesus's birth was recorded in Roman census records: the midwife, Mary, and one of Jesus's sisters were witness to his birth. :D (wish I still had source material for it)

He was just a man. A good man in my opinion. The church did what it's good at doing and obscured the facts by templating him with Mithra's mystical qualities to make him a 'hot property' and crush another faith by outdoing it. Its is the way of God. Just in this case, they found someone that was already impressive in real life and stole him.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Carrollton on March 31, 2011 at 5:31pm

I agree.  Many of the teachings of Jesus are profound.  The world would be a better place if people took his teachings to heart.

 

But did Jesus rise from the dead?  Based upon the story told and the time they took to write it (30 years), no way!

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Permalink Reply by Ethan Levy on March 6, 2011 at 4:42am

The way i see it is; A schizophrenic man born of a mother who slept with another man not her husband, created this guy who possibly helped a lady after a fall by rubbing her leg & simple nice acts through out time his story of kindness is deformed into the lies that is the bible, everyone here is aware of the children's game telephone now imagine hundred of thousands of people telling this story through 2000 years, that's what i think happened but again with out prove of the man we can't say for sure & come on a white man with green eyes we know what people around that time & area looked like through science, seems to me the white men created jesus

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Permalink Reply by Heather Spoonheim on March 30, 2011 at 10:04pm

I actually think there was an historical Jesus because if the Gospels were pure fiction then they would have likely been much better written. It's the little inconsistencies that suggest to me they needed to grab the actual rumours and then fit them into a particular context - which wouldn't have been necessary if they were just making it up from scratch.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Carrollton on March 30, 2011 at 10:13pm

I agree completely.  The gospel writers tell all about what Jesus said, places he went to, how he acted and reacted, and it's all very plausible (minus the miracles).

 

However, the tone changes completely when they write of the resurrection.  Almost no details.  Jesus only spoke to disciples, never to crowds, and most of the 40 days of the resurrection are unaccounted for. This is the very time that Jesus should have been followed by thousands.

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