Did Jesus really exist?

[ZEGH8578]

some guy in this other forum tried to convince the living daylight out of me, by stating "Jesus' existence is not even a discussion among leading scholars. He existed."

now, if all the religious bombardment around us didnt convince me allready, "He existed." isnt gonna change that.

in my opinion, he never existed as a real person.
sure, he exists, as in, there are tons of latinos named "Jesus", and probably there were tons of middle easterners back then named it. maybe even coinciding with a carpenter. but the story of the el saviour as we know it, is fiction.

Your opinion?
Im looking for consensus, not a debate. if you wanna elaborate on your opinion, and debate others, fair enough, but keep me out of it. just click on my poll

[Queen Victoria]

I'm pretty sure someone named Joshua existed who was crucified, but I'm not convinced he was the Messiah.  Joshua would have been his Hebrew name. 

[The_Chosen_One]

I think he existed, but not as the son of a deity. He was born of physical means to a man (Joseph) and a woman (Mary) in a town called Bethlehem sometime around March 6 BCE. He became a great scholar and teacher, but was no 'son of god'. The stories of 'water into wine' and other 'miracles' are jus that - stories. He was crucified for being a enemy against the Roman empire, end treated as a treasonous subject. As for the resurrection, he may have survived long enough on the cross to have been taken down and tended to. When Mary Magdelene went to Joseph of Aramathea's tomb and found it empty, the answer is simple enough - either the 'body' had recovered enough and was taken in by a Jewish family (or even one of the apostles themselves hence the sightings later on) or the body was taken to a common grave and buried as a common criminal. Mary's vision may have been imagination and seeing what she wanted to see.

Anything written in the 4 gospels cannot be taken as fact, because they were written years after the event.

So stick that in yer ear, razortwunt.

[Frolic_Fun]

I don't see why he couldn't have existed, although I don't consider him as some godly being. More like an early cult leader.

[ProfessorFarnsworth]

Christ could have been an eccentric visionary ahead of his time. It's likely Christ was trying to introduce a new ideology to the masses to combat growing problems in society, but he found himself a victim of ignorant people sensationalising his 'miracles' and typical gossip distorting his stories. I'm sure if Christ wrote everything down instead of others by word of mouth years later, the history of Christianity would have been vastly different.

[The_Chosen_One]

Exactly! I've been told that if Jesus had seen what his movement had become, he'd have just said one big 'WTF?'

['Butterflies']

I think he probably existed, and that his disciples probably existed as well. I just don't believe any of the Son of God, or miracles stuff.

[Parts]

Of course he existed he is the one true god duh

[Loupgarou]

I think he existed, but not as the son of a deity. He was born of physical means to a man (Joseph) and a woman (Mary) in a town called Bethlehem sometime around March 6 BCE. He became a great scholar and teacher, but was no 'son of god'. The stories of 'water into wine' and other 'miracles' are jus that - stories. He was crucified for being a enemy against the Roman empire, end treated as a treasonous subject. As for the resurrection, he may have survived long enough on the cross to have been taken down and tended to. When Mary Magdelene went to Joseph of Aramathea's tomb and found it empty, the answer is simple enough - either the 'body' had recovered enough and was taken in by a Jewish family (or even one of the apostles themselves hence the sightings later on) or the body was taken to a common grave and buried as a common criminal. Mary's vision may have been imagination and seeing what she wanted to see.

Anything written in the 4 gospels cannot be taken as fact, because they were written years after the event.

So stick that in yer ear, razortwunt.

Same consensus here. But I imagine that he was quite a humanitarian and philosopher. Most likely not the messiah, but close enough to it, maybe, in terms of how OTHERS saw him.

If he existed today, I imagine he would be comparable to..........

God knows I am a misanthropist, but I LOVE Sir David Attenborough Yes, Jesus would be like him.

Loup

[The_Chosen_One]

I think he existed, but not as the son of a deity. He was born of physical means to a man (Joseph) and a woman (Mary) in a town called Bethlehem sometime around March 6 BCE. He became a great scholar and teacher, but was no 'son of god'. The stories of 'water into wine' and other 'miracles' are jus that - stories. He was crucified for being a enemy against the Roman empire, end treated as a treasonous subject. As for the resurrection, he may have survived long enough on the cross to have been taken down and tended to. When Mary Magdelene went to Joseph of Aramathea's tomb and found it empty, the answer is simple enough - either the 'body' had recovered enough and was taken in by a Jewish family (or even one of the apostles themselves hence the sightings later on) or the body was taken to a common grave and buried as a common criminal. Mary's vision may have been imagination and seeing what she wanted to see.

Anything written in the 4 gospels cannot be taken as fact, because they were written years after the event.

So stick that in yer ear, razortwunt.

Same consensus here. But I imagine that he was quite a humanitarian and philosopher. Most likely not the messiah, but close enough to it, maybe, in terms of how OTHERS saw him.

If he existed today, I imagine he would be comparable to..........

God knows I am a misanthropist, but I LOVE Sir David Attenborough Yes, Jesus would be like him.

Loup

Actually, if Jesus was here today, he'd be more like Mohandas Gandhi (even though they were different faiths). Gandhi was the type of person who would walk amongst everyone and do what he could for everyone as a whole, even though his ideas really pissed off a lot of people. So much so that he was assassinated for them.

Oh, we now get to call Mary McKillop Saint Mary. And did you notice the emblem she had on her robes was the same as the ABC logo? It'll kepp the Catholics happy to have an Australian saint.

[Queen Victoria]

On an aside

I heard that the Vatican has decided that Homer Simpson is Catholic.  Since I've never seen the show it's immaterial to me, but the fact that the Pope thinks a cartoon is Catholic is more than a little disturbing.

[Scrapheap]

I'm pretty sure someone named Joshua existed who was crucified, but I'm not convinced he was the Messiah.  Joshua would have been his Hebrew name. 

Joshua is certianly a better translation but the hebrew name is Yeshua.

[Squidusa]

On an aside

I heard that the Vatican has decided that Homer Simpson is Catholic.  Since I've never seen the show it's immaterial to me, but the fact that the Pope thinks a cartoon is Catholic is more than a little disturbing.

I think the pope needs to lay off the communion wine for a while.........

[The_Chosen_One]

On an aside

I heard that the Vatican has decided that Homer Simpson is Catholic.  Since I've never seen the show it's immaterial to me, but the fact that the Pope thinks a cartoon is Catholic is more than a little disturbing.

I think the pope needs to lay off the communion wine for a while.........

Yeah, that Dom Benedictine has gone to Benedict's head.

[Squidusa]

On an aside

I heard that the Vatican has decided that Homer Simpson is Catholic.  Since I've never seen the show it's immaterial to me, but the fact that the Pope thinks a cartoon is Catholic is more than a little disturbing.

I think the pope needs to lay off the communion wine for a while.........

Yeah, that Dom Benedictine has gone to Benedict's head.

Although lets face it , even sober he still talks utter bollocks.