Jesus is a Fictional Character

[Colt]

Countless men were burned, hung, martyred for the name of Christ Jesus, and these men were either contemporaneous to Jesus (had time to investigate the lie), or within the very early centuries after his death, and centuries after. Both the Gregorian and Julian calendar systems were based on his birth. He is mentioned in extra-Biblical literature, by those who lived in his era. Jesus is not a fictional name, it means Joshua in Hebrew, and others had forms of his name 'Bar-Jesus' or 'Jesus Barabbas'.

He didn't write anything, but what he spoke had so much impact that at least 8 other men wrote about him, and their works were copied by the tens of thousands, in multiple languages, in various geographical locations.
By the 3rd century AD, countless Christians were persecuted and tortured to death, and the movement never relented but grew to be one of the largest religions in the world. Millions of dollars, and millions of lives invested in the growth and sustainment of Jesus' legacy.

It would be much harder to substantiate how such a fallacy persisted at such a rate and intensity, than to concede his historicity.

I know right? It’s tempting to go to the mall and preach faith in Harry Potter.

 

[RestlessSoul]

It's just one of those things that nobody knows, and some people just like to remind some people of that.

You like to remind us of how little you know? No need…

 

[blü 2]

That's show biz, or should I say, that's theology?

Whatever happened to, "You leave 'em laughing when you go"?

 

[blü 2]

I know right? It’s tempting to go to the mall and preach faith in Harry Potter.

Why not?

Harry saw his duty, went willingly to his death, and emerged from the experience alive and cleansed (as it were).

And he had a very powerful friend, and was able to rely on his team when the chips were down.

Though he wasn't a noted drinker.

 

[blü 2]

If he really came back to life, going to " Pilate" or whoever to ask, " Want to try again?" seems a lost opportunity but oh well

Just so.

'Well, do ya, punk?' comes to mind.

 

[Heyo]

Whatever happened to, "You leave 'em laughing when you go"?

I have a very dark kind of humour.

 

[Colt]

My guess is that with their guy dead in the
most thoroughly degrading way available, they managed to snatch victory by later spreading
a rumour that he not merely survived but
went to heaven, promising to come right back
and show the badguys a thing or two.

Its been done elsewhere, the god/man who
will be back. Lono, say.

Tacking on that it had been necessary for
remission of sin was, I guess, necessary to
explain how and why it happened.

If he really came back to life, going
to " Pilate" or whoever to ask, " Want to
try again?" seems a lost opportunity but oh well

But then you would have Pilate to mock and disbelieve in. Jesus returned to believers not the enemies of God.

 

[Kooky]

Actually no. There are much more archeological evidences available that these people existed more than Jesus.

There is no archeological evidence for any of these people.
What there is, are writings about them, or writings that were attributed to them.

Socrates is the only one of these four that had actual contemporaries write about him, and their accounts differ so greatly from Plato's that they may as well have depicted a completely different person.

 

[Colt]

The existence of Jesus leaves some people uncomfortable. Of corse, they have a vested interest in erasing him.

 

[Nakosis]

Sounds like you have a problem with people being Christian.

Jesus didn’t leave any writings on purpose and spirit is still doing its own work.

Sure, so folks could create their own fictional representation of him.

I’m trying to think of other supposedly fictional characters that Jews left their religion for to persecution and death?

UM... Moses.

 

[Augustus]

That's fair but what do you feel is the difference?

Fiction implies a more directly crafted story by an author who decided to create a character to help tell the author's story.

Myth is a story that has purpose and value for a community and tends to have been influenced by multiple people without anyone having overall control. Myth may contain things that are true, things that didn't happen but explain a general or moral 'truth', didn't happen but portray idealised behaviours, etc.

 

[Audie]

Just so.

'Well, do ya, punk?' comes to mind.

Jesus as Crint.

 

[oldbadger]

I think regardless of whether there existed a Jew/Rabbi at the source of the Biblical account. Jesus did not write anything. Can't even be sure, if he existed, what he looked like.

What we have is a fictional character, not a real character. There is simply not enough information about Jesus for Jesus to be real character. Even the name Jesus is a fictional creation.

Are you ok with Jesus as fictional or do you feel a need to insist that Jesus existed as a real person?

Hi....
Jesus existed as a real person ......
Enemies wrote about him.
Neutral historians of the time wrote about him.
The author of G-Mark was a partial witness to him and his incidents.

But if you don't think that's true, then you don't.

 

[Wandering Monk]

And why is that? If you're going to make a claim like this, then please back it up with specific details. I don't immediately believe something someone else tells me on the internet just because they believe it and say it's true. I'd like to see some evidence.

Slavonic Josephus:

“About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.”
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Arabic Josephus:

“At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.”
​

https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfs/978-1-5275-5527-3-sample.pdf

​

 

[Colt]

Sure, so folks could create their own fictional representation of him.


UM... Moses.

The common laborer's that left Judaism to follow a myth they created which resulted in their persecution and deaths? Thats not a very wise theory.

So you want Moses to vanish as well. Now that is a fiction of your own creation.

 

[Audie]

Hi....
Jesus existed as a real person ......
Enemies wrote about him.
Neutral historians of the time wrote about him.
The author of G-Mark was a partial witness to him and his incidents.

But if you don't think that's true, then you don't.

Someone actually named " Jesus" who was born in a manger under a star...?

How " real" is someone if most of what is
said of them is not real?

 

[Colt]

Can you make the IRS in America disappear? I would really like to make them a myth created for some reason.

 

[Wandering Monk]

George Washington was a historical figure, yet only a few decades after his death, stories were being created about him (the cherry tree, tossing a coin across the Potomac, the vision at Valley Forge.) Myth can spring up quickly about a figure who is important to them, usually to teach some kind of moral lesson or ideal characterization of that person.

 

[Wildswanderer]

Kind of what I am saying is that we know nothing about a real person except stories told by other people. So the only "Jesus" we know is one created from these stories. It is impossible to know the real person even if they did exist.

We know he wasn't a fictional character. And we have the first hand accounts of his followers.

 

[Wildswanderer]

There is more than enough debate regarding these dubious Josephus quotes. They are late just for one, and there are no first century non Christian writings for him to draw from, there are no eyewitness accounts, no contemporaries of a so called Jesus. It's safe not to assume anything about Jesus, historical or otherwise, all we have is religious texts.

There's more manuscript evidence for the Bible than any other ancient history book. And yes the gospels are eyewitness accounts.