Jesus of Nazareth (a.k.a. Jesus Christ)

Did he actually exist?
All sides to the question

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Quotes offering opposing beliefs:

	"In none of these various testimonies to the fact of Christ is there any slightest hint or idea that he was not a real historical person." Roderic Dunkerley, "Beyond the Gospels."
	"Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him." Bertrand Russell, "Why I am not a Christian."

Jesus' existence: the full range of views:

Almost everyone believes that Jesus walked the land of Palestine in the 1^st century CE. Many have never considered the alternative - that Jesus was a mythical being. Most Christians would probably consider such an idea to be blasphemy:

	A conservative Christian, who believes in the inerrancy (freedom from error) of the Bible, and the inspiration by God of its authors, might cite passages from the Bible as proof of his existence. The gospels link Jesus' birth and crucifixion to historical persons and events. They describe his sayings, conversations, prayers and actions in great detail.
	Many liberal Christians view Jesus as a great Jewish prophet and innovative, itinerant teacher. Even though they do not necessarily consider him divine, few ever question his existence.
	Muslims also believe that Jesus was a great prophet. They do not believe that he died on the cross, but they definitely accept that he was born of a virgin, lived in Palestine in the early 1st century CE, and ascended to heaven without having previously died.
	Many Jewish theologians regard Jesus as an itinerant rabbi of the 1st century CE who popularized many of the beliefs of the Pharisees and of teachings of  Hillel the Elder, a first century BCE philosopher.

However, there are some individuals who disagree that the biblical accounts of Jesus are accurate:

	Some claim that Jesus is simply a mythical character, not a historical person.
	Others claim that stories about a number of Jewish prophets and teachers from that era were consolidated and attributed to one man: Jesus.
	Still others believe that the myths and legends associated with other religious leaders and founders were collected from Egypt, Persia, India, etc. They were rewritten to refer to a person in first century CE Palestine, who may or may not have existed.

Philosophers and others who have been skeptical of Jesus' existence:

The vast majority of historians and theologians have always believed in the reality of Jesus' life. The skeptical view ..."has always been held by a small minority of investigators, usually 'outsiders'." (i.e. non-theologians). ₁ It was a group of French philosophers during the French Revolution in the late 18th century who first suggested that Jesus was a mythical character. ₁ Bruno Bauer, a mid-19^th century German theologian agreed. In part of his 4 volume set "Critique of the Gospels and History of Their Origin," he claimed that Jesus did not exist. ₁₈ A subsequent next major skeptic was the English theologian John M. Robertson who wrote two books in the very early 20^th century. _{12, 20} More recent books on this topic date from 1957 to 1991 and were written by perhaps a half dozen authors. ₂₁ G.A. Wells, a former professor of German at the University of London was one of the most prominent. He wrote a series of five books on this topic, arguing that Paul and other 1^st century Christian leaders believed that Jesus had lived in their distant past, perhaps in the 2^nd or 3^rd century BCE.

Michael Martin discussed Jesus' existence in his 1991 book: "The case against Christianity,"  ₁₈ He is a professor of philosophy from Boston University who examined the major beliefs of Christianity. He concluded that there was insufficient evidence to conclude that Jesus existed.  Earl Doherty, writing in the Humanist in Canada magazine ₁ believes that early Christian leaders saw Jesus as the Son of God who was a spiritual, not human being. He writes:

"If Jesus was a 'social reformer' whose teachings began the Christian movement, as today's liberal scholars now style him, how can such a Jesus be utterly lacking in all the New Testament epistles, while only a cosmic Christ is to be found?"

He wrote a book: "The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?" ₂₂ If Doherty's assessment is true, then Christianity would have many points of similarity to other contemporary religions in the Roman Empire - particularly Mithraism who also viewed their founder Mithra as spiritual rather than as an actual historical human being.

Indicators of Jesus' existence or non-existence:

Documents written during his lifetime which mention Jesus: There are none that date from the period 7 BCE to 33 CE, an interval that covers the probable years that Jesus is believed to have lived.

The Gospel of Q: This is believed by many theologians to be a collection of sayings, "which included moral teachings, prophetic admonitions and controversy stories, plus a few miracles and anecdotes." 1 These had been transmitted orally and are generally believed to have been first written down by his followers circa 50 CE, about two decades after his execution by the Roman occupying army. Many theologians believe that the Gospel of Q was used extensively by the authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The latter gospels have many passages that are identical word-for-word -- or almost so. Yet there is no indication that the two authors communicated with each other or even knew each other. This provides a strong case for Q having existing as a written document. Theologians have attempted to reconstruct Q from the shared passages in Matthew and Luke. Unfortunately, the gospel does not include any dates for Jesus' life, or any references that can be tied to known events. If Jesus had been executed circa 30 CE, then many who saw and heard him preach would still have been alive and could have verified that the gospel was accurate. But a case can be made that the gospel was assembled out of sayings from the 1st or 2nd century BCE.

	Epistles from the Christian Scriptures (New Testament): Liberal theologians believe that some of these were written as late as 150 CE, up to 4 generations after Jesus' death, by authors who were not eye witnesses of his ministry. Those writers could have based their letters on traditional sayings attributed to Jesus which dated from an earlier era. An analysis by G.A. Wells showed to his satisfaction that the authors definitely believed in the existence of Jesus, but did not cite any evidence that he lived in the 1st century. 17 They were vague about the location, timing and nature of his birth. Paul does not describe Jesus as a miracle worker, healer or teacher. Paul blames Jesus' death on Satan and demons, rather than the Roman government. (2 Timothy does blame Pilate and "the Jews" for his death. It thus ties the execution of Jesus to a person known to be alive in the 1st century CE. However, this epistles was written long after Paul's death, and may have picked up the concept from the synoptic gospels which had been widely circulated by that time.)   Conservative Christians believe that all of the books which state that they were written by Paul were actually authored by him prior to his death in the mid 60's CE. Although there is no evidence that he was an eye witness to Jesus' ministry, Paul wrote that he received personal revelations directly from Jesus, presumably in the form of visions. Paul mentioned that a fellow Christian, James, the brother of Jesus, headed up the Jerusalem Church. That would be a strong indicator that Jesus had lived in the early 1st century CE.
	The canonical Gospels: Liberal and mainline theologians generally believe that Mark was the first gospel written, and that it was composed about 70 CE. Matthew and Luke were written perhaps about 80 and 90 CE. John was written after Luke in the late 90's. None of the authors identities are known. If these dates are correct, then it is unlikely that any of the authors were eyewitnesses to Jesus' ministry. In spite of their claims, they were relying on secondary or tertiary sources, accumulated church tradition and folklore.   Conservative theologians date the gospels much earlier. The Scofield Bible asserts that Matthew was written by a tax collector by that name who was mentioned in Matthew 10:13. Dr. Scofield accepted what he referred to as the traditional date of 37 CE. If the authorship and date are correct, then the gospel represents convincing support that the author was a disciple of Jesus and an eyewitness to his 1st century CE ministry.
	The Christian Scriptures (New Testament) overall: Many liberal theologians view the Christian Scriptures as being composed of some accurate material said and done by Jesus, mixed in with a many descriptions of Jesus' sayings and acts that never happened. The latter came from a variety of sources: Religious propaganda directed at enemies of the author's religious group. (Anti-Judaic passages in John which imply that "The Jews" are responsible for Jesus' execution is one example.)   Events that never happened, but were added to satisfy prophecy from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). (The identification of Bethlehem as the birth place of Jesus is one example.)   Other acts and sayings that were either distorted versions of Jesus life, or which were created out of thin air. These were added in order to bolster the traditions that had arisen within the author's faith group. (Jesus instructing his apostles to baptize in the name of the Trinity is one example.)   Material copied from other religions in the Mediterranean area in order to make Jesus' claim to be the God-man. (e.g. the virgin birth, resurrection, ascension, status of Jesus as savior are some examples.)   Stories of miracles that never happened but were added to bolster the importance of Jesus. (e.g. raising the dead, or healing people of leprosy, blindness, hemorrhaging, indwelling demonic spirits, etc. are some examples).   Probably some other components that the author has missed. Some liberal theologians believe that there is little or no accurate information about Jesus that has survived to the present time. As Bertrand Russell wrote in  "Why I am not a Christian.": "Historically, it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about Him."
	The Gnostics: The early Christian movement was composed of Gnostic Christians, Jewish Christians, and Pauline Christians. Gnostics in particular maintained that God could never take human form. Some denied Jesus' existence as a historical person.
	Flavius Josephus: He was a Jewish historian who was born in 37 CE. He wrote a book, Antiquities of the Jews circa 93 CE, probably between the times when Luke and John were written. He described Jesus' as a wise man who was crucified by Pilate. The passage appears below. [Enclosed colored sections in small print are believed to have been added by a later Christian forger and probably do not form part of Josephus original writing]: ?About this time arose Jesus, a wise man, [if indeed it be lawful to call him a man. For he was a doer of wonderful deeds, and a teacher of men who gladly receive the truth.] He drew to himself many [both of the Jews and of the Gentiles. He was the Christ]; and when Pilate, on the indictment of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him at the first did not cease to do so, [for he appeared to them again alive on the third day, the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things about him.] And even to this day the race of Christians, who are named from him, has not died out.? 24 Origen, published a book Contra Celsum circa 254 CE, over 150 years after Josephus' book Antiquities of the Jews. In it, Origen wrote that Josephus did not believe that Jesus was the Christ: "For in the 18th book of his Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus bears witness to John as having been a Baptist, and as promising purification to those who underwent the rite. Now this writer [Josephus], although not believing in Jesus as the Christ, in seeking after the cause of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple ..." Origin also published a book Commentary on Matthew which also contained a reference to Josephus rejecting Jesus as Christ. He wrote: "And the wonderful thing is, that, though he [Josephus] did not accept Jesus as Christ, he yet gave testimony that the righteousness of James was so great; and ..." Both of these references confirm that Josephus' writing in Antiquities of the Jews did not include a reference to Jesus being the Christ, at least in the middle of the 3rd century CE. It is probable that the Christian forgery was done after that time. Modern-day historians' and theologians' opinions about Josephus' passage: Most religious historians believe that the paragraph in which he describes Jesus is partly or completely a forgery that was inserted into the text by an unknown Christian. The passage "appears out of context, thereby breaking the flow of the narrative." 18 Josh McDowell, Don Stewart and other fundamentalist and other evangelical Christians accept the entire passage as Josephus' actual text. 8 There exists no consensus on a second passage in Antiquities which refers to Jesus' brother James, having being tried and stoned to death. Some consider it legitimate; others assess it to be a forgery.
	Cornelius Tacitus: He was a Roman historian who lived from 55 to 120 CE and wrote a book Annals, circa 112 CE. McDowell and Stewart accept his writings as a strong indicator of Jesus' existence in the early 1st century CE. 8 However, the information could have been derived from Christian material circulating in the early 2nd century.
	Suetonius: He was the author of The Lives of the Caesars circa 120 CE. He wrote to "Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, [Emperor Claudius in 49 CE] expelled them from Rome." This passage is often used to support the historicity of Jesus, assuming that Jesus' title was misspelled. But Chrestus was in fact a common Greek name. It is likely that the reference is to a Jewish agitator in Rome by that name.
	Other ancient Roman historians: There were about 40 historians who wrote during the first two centuries. 5 With the exception of the above, none stated that Jesus existed in the 1st century.
	Jewish literature: The Talmud states that Jesus lived in the 2nd century BCE. However, this passage itself dates from the early 2nd century CE. The authors were probably basing their writings on a reaction to some of the dozens of Christian gospels circulating by that time.
	Pope Leo X (1513-1521): Some believe that he considered Jesus to be a mere legend. Barbara Walker in her Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, Page 471, quotes him as as having said "What profit has not that fable of Christ brought us!" Rev. Taylor, in The Diegesis, Page 35, has a slightly different quote "It was well known how profitable this fable of Christ has been to us." The Catholic Encyclopedia refers to a widely circulated remark: "How much we and our family have profited by the legend of Christ, is sufficiently evident to all ages." The first two quotes appear fictional, and unrelated to any actual statement by Pope Leo X. They have the flavor of folktales. One reason is than they have appeared in so many different wordings. Their origin appears to be in a fictional work by John Bale. The Catholic Encyclopedia refers to him as an: "...apostate English Carmelite, the first to give currency to these words in the time of Queen Elizabeth" (1533 - 1603). 23 Even if Leo X said something like one of these "quotes" the meaning is not clear. He may have been referring to legends and fables arising about the life of Jesus which accumulated after his death.
	Present-day theologians: The assertion that Jesus is not a historical figure or that he did not live in the early 1st century CE is held by a small number of academics.

In interests of full disclosure....:

The personal hunch of B.A. Robinson, this website's main author, is that there were many Jewish teachers wandering in Galilee during the interval 20 to 30 CE. At least one may have been called Yeshua (Hebrew for Joshua). One developed a devoted following of fellow Jews, committed aggravated assault in the Jerusalem temple, and was arrested by the occupying Roman Army. He was crucified as an insurrectionist as one of perhaps ten thousand other Jews who suffered the same fate during the first century CE.

The beliefs of two or three of these Galilean teachers were subsequently amalgamated and recorded in the early gospels that explained the life of a single individual: Yeshua of Nazareth as a single individual:

	One was an itinerant Greek cynic philosopher who lived a life of poverty and challenged the public on philosophic, ethical and religious matters. The closest example to a cynic philosopher today would be a combination of stand-up comic and political cartoonist.
	A second was a apocalyptic teacher who preached about the imminent end of the world in his immediate future -- much like John the Baptizer.
	There might even have been a third teacher who was a follower of Hillel. The latter was a 1st century CE Jewish liberal theologian and one-time president of the Sanhedrin.

There is some evidence of this merger. The Gospel of Q, appears to be the oldest surviving gospel. It was written in sections over time. The first section describes the sayings of a Greek cynic philosopher; the second section describes sayings of an apocalyptic teacher. Meanwhile, many of Yeshua's teachings, as found in the synoptic Gospels, closely match those of Hillel except on matters of divorce where Hillel was more liberal.

Between 30 CE and 100 CE, when the Gospel of Q, the three synoptic canonic Gospels, and the Gospel of Thomas were first written, the teachings of these multiple teachers were merged and attributed to a single individual: Yeshua of Nazareth. The rest is history.

I stress that these are my personal hunches. They are shared by few if any theologians. They are certainly heretical when compared to modern-day Christian beliefs. The heresy may be unique to me.

Possible source of material about Jesus' life:

Robert M Price ₄ writes:

"In broad outline and in detail, the life of Jesus as portrayed in the gospels corresponds to the worldwide Mythic Hero Archetype in which a divine hero's birth is supernaturally predicted and conceived, the infant hero escapes attempts to kill him, demonstrates his precocious wisdom already as a child, receives a divine commission, defeats demons, wins acclaim, is hailed as king, then betrayed, losing popular favor, executed, often on a hilltop, and is vindicated and taken up to heaven."

He asserts that there are a number of historical and mythical figures whose life stories contain these elements, including Jesus. But just as we do not regard Hercules as a historical figure, a case can be made that Jesus was also a mythical character.

Some theologians and historians believe that many of the details of Jesus' life were "borrowed" from a competing, contemporary religion, Mithraism. The religion was founded in Persia before the birth of Christianity.

Mithra was a fictional character who was worshipped as a Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth and the Light, the Redeemer, the Savior, and the Messiah. A religion in his name was founded in the 6th century BCE. ₅ Mithraism one of the most popular of religions in the Roman Empire, particularly among its soldiers and civil servants. It was Christianity's leading rival. ₁₉ Mithra was also believed to have been born of a virgin. Like Jesus, their births were celebrated yearly on DEC-25. Mithra was also visited by shepherds and by Magi. He traveled through the countryside, taught, and performed miracles with his 12 disciples. He cast out devils, returned sight to the blind, healed the lame, etc. Symbols associated with Mithra were a Lion and a Lamb. He held a last supper, was killed, buried in a rock tomb. He rose again after three days, at the time of the spring equinox, circa MAR-21. He later ascended into heaven. Mithraism celebrated the anniversary of his resurrection, similar to the Christian Easter. They held services on Sunday. Rituals included a Eucharist and six other sacraments that corresponded to the rituals of the Catholic church. Some individuals who are skeptical about stories of Jesus' life suspect that Christianity may have appropriated many details of Mithraism in order to make their religion more acceptable to Pagans. St. Augustine even stated that the priests of Mithra worshipped the same God as he did. ₁₉ Other early Christians believed that Satan invented Mithraism and that he made Mithra's life and the practices of the religion identical to what Christianity would become centuries later. They felt that Satan's purpose was to confuse believers.

Many religious historians have noted the many parallels between events in the life of Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) and God-men from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc.

References used:

The first draft of this essay was written in 1998 using the books and web sites listed below. Unfortunately, most of the latter are no longer online.

1. Earl Doherty, "The Jesus Puzzle: Was there no historical Jesus?" Journal of Higher Criticism at:http://pages.ca.inter.net/
2. Rae West, "Existence of Jesus Controversy," at: "http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/ *
3. Apostle James, First Apostle to the Antichrist, "The Jesus Myth," at: http://www.antichrist.net/ *
4. R.M. Price, "Christ a Fiction (1997)," at: http://www.infidels.org/
5. Acharya S, "The origins of Christianity and the quest for the historical Jesus Christ," at: http://www.truthbeknown.com/
6. Historicus, "Did Jesus ever live or is Christianity funded upon a myth?," United Secularists of America at: http://www.infidels.org/
7. Ross Clifford, "Leading lawyers look at the resurrection" Albatross, Australia, (1991)
8. J. McDowell & D. Stewart, "Did Jesus really exist?," from "Answers to Tough Questions," at: http://members.aol.com/ *
9. R.A. Eyre, "Did Jesus Christ exist?" at: http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/ *
10. Bible Alive, "Did Jesus Exist?" at: http://www.biblealive.org.nz/
11.  "Answers to tough questions: Did Jesus really exist?," Emmanus Evangelistic Ministries, at:     http://home.sprynet.com/ *
12. J.M. Robertson, "Christianity and Mythology," 2^nd edition, (1910)
13. John Romer "Testament: The Bible and History," videotape, Video Education Australasia, 3 cassettes
14. George Fletcher, "Did Jesus Christ exist?," at: http://pages.prodigy.com/ *
15. Cathy ?, "Did Jesus really exist?," http://www.geocities.com/  *
16. M.A. Copeland, "Christian Apologetics: The Historical Jesus," at: http://ccel.edu/
17. G.A. Wells, "Historicity of Jesus" in "Encyclopedia of Unbelief," Prometheus, (1985). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
18. Michael Martin, "The case against Christianity," Temple University Press, (1993) Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
19. B.G. Walker, "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets," Harper & Row, (1983), Page 663-664.
20. J.M. Robertson, "Pagan Christs," 2^nd edition, Barns & Noble, (1911; reprinted) Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
21. Michael Martin ₁₈ lists the following books which are skeptical of Jesus' existence:

    	W.B. Smith, "The Birth of the Gospels," (1957)
    	Prosper Alfaric, "Origines Social du Christianisme," (1959)
    	Guy Fau, "Le Fable de Jesus Christ," 3rd edition (1967)
    	John Allegro, "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross," (1970)
    	G.A. Wells, "The Historical Evidence for Jesus," Prometheus, (1982)
    	G.A. Wells, "Did Jesus Exist?", Revised edition, (1986)

22. Earl Doherty, "The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?: Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus," Canadian Humanist Publications, (1999). Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
23. "Pope Leo X," Catholic Encyclopedia, at: http://www.newadvent.org/
24. "Josephus on Jesus," California Baptist University, at: http://www.calbaptist.edu/ This is a PDF file.

* These essays are no longer online.

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Latest update: 2002-APR-22
Author: B.A. Robinson

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