Ariticle of Faith: Did Jesus Really Exist?
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There is no doubt that Jesus is one of the most popular religious figures in the world today. We were told, especially by John, that He was God himself in the likeness of man. He was the only begotten son, the lamb that was slain for the remission of sins. But, did Jesus really exist or perhaps he was just one of the legends of oral history?
Can We Really Trust the Synoptic Gospels?
Much of what is known about the life of Jesus is contained in the first three books of the New Testament. Unfortunately, however, the earliest of these books (usually believed to be Mark) was written some fifty years after the death of Jesus by men who did not have any personal relationship with him. These men wrote with pseudonyms which suggest they were one of Jesus' disciples. Of course, the authors had to do this to make their accounts more believable.
Furthermore, the other gospels were written some thirty to fifty years after the first (Mark) by early Christians who probably lived in different cities, speaking different tongues. This makes it scholarly impractical to validate the existence of Jesus relying solely on the accounts of the Synoptic gospels.
What Does History From Non-Christian Sources Say About Jesus?
A more reliable way of ascertaining whether Jesus really existed or not is to consider what pagan historians say about him. And, sincerely, not much was really reported about Jesus from these sources. There are neither official records of Jesus' birth, his death, nor his trials. Nevertheless, scholars found two pagan references about Jesus.
The first time Jesus was mentioned in a pagan source was in the year 112 CE. In a letter written by Pliny the Younger, who was then the governor of a Roman province, he asked his emperor, Trajan, how to handle some groups of Christians who were meeting illegally. These people, he tells the emperor, worship Christ as God.
A second reference to Jesus came in the year 115 when, in writing the history of Rome, Tacitus, a renowned Roman historian, blamed Christians for a fire outbreak which occurred in the year 67. He explained that the Christians got their names from Christus....who was executed in the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius.(Annals 15.44).
Although Tacitus' testimony, surely, confirms the story we already know about Jesus' trial before Pilate, it did not provide further details about the life of Jesus.
There is no denial that Jesus, indeed, existed following the references from non-Christian sources. However, the scanty details provided about the life of Jesus raises further questions as to whether he was actually as popular as the synoptic gospels wanted us to believe. While the latter question may be probed on another day, Jesus is not a fiction. He did exist.
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Luke didn't know Jesus either but look at what he says:
(Luke 1:1-4 NIV) Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, {2} just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. {3} Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, {4} so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
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We also have this testimony from Paul:
(1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV) For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, {4} that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, {5} and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. {6} After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. {7} Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, {8} and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
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There are data and events that have elapsed and are also written in the holy scriptures that give truth about the existence of Jesus as for example:
Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
He had a confrontation in the Temple.
He was crucified by the Romans.
After his death his disciples continued to exist and some were persecuted for reproducing his message.
los no cristianos . siempre buscaran la manera de decir que jesus o dios no existen. por qué negar a jesús es negar a dios. pero dios es tan grande y poderoso que ya a echo que la misma nasa diera je de que el existe.
Entonces josué hablo a jehová el día en que jehová entrego al amorreo delante de los hijos de israel. y dijo en presencia de los israelitas:
sol, detente en gabaón y tu luna, en el valle de ajalón. y el sol se detuvo y la luna se paro. josue 10.12