Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
I'm not convinced there was a historical Jesus, or at least I think the question may be unanswerable...
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There is certainly nothing in the way of direct evidence to conclude that there was an historical Jesus, but given what we do have, I dare suggest that the likelihood of his existence is very, very high.
Consider some of the best third-party sources:
• Josephus made brief mention of Jesus and his sect before the end of the first century (Many consider the entire
Testimonium Flavium to be a late insertion, and while I do not believe it is all genuine, After a fair bit of my own research I have come to conclude that there are original elements in the account in
Ant. 18.3.3 §§63–64.
• Several of the rabbinic tractates make mention or allude to Jesus prior to the third century.
• Greco Roman historians mention either Jesus or his followers in the late first and early second centuries.
Given the very rapid movement of the Christian phenomenon very shortly after Jesus had died, I think that it is more than plausible to believe that Jesus was a man who lived and died in Judaea. It is preposterous to think that so many were willing to commit their lives and to die for such a fabrication. Furthermore, if Jesus had been invented, I would think that those behind the rouse would have done a much better job and created a much more remarkable figure than a peasant from Galilee.