The Jesus Never Existed Myth
May 28, 2019 19:36:13 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on May 28, 2019 19:36:13 GMT -5
The Christ Myth Theory
Ever hear the following statements?
“Jesus never existed! It was all made up! There is absolutely no historical evidence to support the existence of this Jesus character.”
Well, it’s called the Christ Myth Theory which is very popular among those who harbor animosity towards religion in general, and more specifically, against Christianity itself.
The usual response to this is to present secular historians such as Tacitus and Josephus which mention jesus. That in itself is a good method. However, showing how illogical the accusation itself is adds force to the counterargument.
What makes the accusation illogical is that nobody used that argument during a time in which that argument would have been used. It was a time of in which both Jews and Gentiles hated the Christians intensely.
The Jews because they considered them heretics. The gentiles because they considered them disrespectful of the gods and haters of mankind.This intense hatred motivated both groups to persecute the Christians and resulted in imprisonment, and even in death.
This situation not short-lived. It lasted for approx three full centuries after Jesus was crucified and only subsided when Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion.
Those are the circumstances in which we are supposed to believe that their persecutors never questioned Jesus existence even though he never existed? That the Jews knew it bu refrained and so did the Romans?
Why? They didn't refrain from accusing him of other things such as being a false messiagh and performing great wonders by means of magic the help of Satan.
Neither did the Romans do so before empire was Christianized nor ever deny the shamful accusation that they had been the ones who executed Jesus in one of the cruelest ways possibe. Instead, we have the testimony of Tacitus acknowledging that execution and the testimony of Josephus the Jew admitting that Jesus indeed existed.
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.
- Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63
(Based on the translation of Louis H. Feldman, The Loeb Classical Library
- Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63
(Based on the translation of Louis H. Feldman, The Loeb Classical Library
Tacitus
Beginnings of Christian Martyrdom
"Therefore, to stop the rumor [that he had set Rome on fire], he [Emperor Nero] falsely charged with guilt, and punished with the most fearful tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were [generally] hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius, but the pernicious superstition - repressed for a time, broke out yet again, not only through Judea, - where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also, whither all things horrible and disgraceful flow from all quarters, as to a common receptacle, and where they are encouraged. Accordingly first those were arrested who confessed they were Christians;
Neither have the Jews ever denied that they instigated the Roman authorities to execute Jesus. They merely challenge his Messiaship and nothing more. Is it rational to imagine his enemies ignoring such a thing for centuries? That's similar to saying that a boxer could have used a devastating hook to knock out his opponent but never used it.
Such a detail would have been leveled immediately against the fledging church. Birth documentation and death documentation would have been demanded. The Jews who heard the message would have laughed in the faces of those talking about a man who never existed and would have told them so.
Does that silence make any sense? Of course it doesn’t. Instead it offers evidence that Jesus did exist and that even though he and his followers were deeply hated, his existence could not be challenged because his existence was a fact beyond all reasonable doubt
www.josephus.org/testimonium.htm
Obviously enemies of christianity never used that accusation and that in itself speaks volumes. In conclusion, the Jesus Myth idea is seriously flawed because it is obviously illogical.