Do we have non-Biblical evidence that Jesus Christ existed?

by Inquisitor 64 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • gumby
    gumby

    You'd think if Jesus was up there watchin right now.....lookin at everybody tryin to find out if he's real or not......the fella would give some kinda sign doncha think? Why doesn't he? Give me one good reason WHY Jesus or his pa, doesn't provide authenticity of Jesus existence other than ancient writing that are held with question marks behind them? Why would he want us to demonstrate faith on weak evidence?

    Gumby

  • XJW4EVR
    XJW4EVR

    You'd think if Jesus was up there watchin right now.....lookin at everybody tryin to find out if he's real or not......the fella would give some kinda sign doncha think? Why doesn't he? Give me one good reason WHY Jesus or his pa, doesn't provide authenticity of Jesus existence other than ancient writing that are held with question marks behind them? Why would he want us to demonstrate faith on weak evidence?

    Gumby

    I guess, that if I knew that question I would be God. If I was God and people didn't believe in me, then I would snuff them out of existence at the moment of their lack of faith.

    But again, perhaps, just perhaps he gave us enough evidence that requires an element of faith for the process.

  • gumby
    gumby

    XJW

    I guess, that if I knew that question I would be God. If I was God and people didn't believe in me, then I would snuff them out of existence at the moment of their lack of faith.

    Well I'm damn glad your not god then.

    That's about the same as witnesses saying apostates should be dead or killed if the law allowed for it. So, you think if people have honest doubts about god, he should kill them when they are not CONVINCED he really exists? How special

    Gumby

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    There was Mamma-god, Daddy-god, and lil Baby-god, and they all lived together in the woods until some broad with gold hair stole their porridge.

    Then lil Baby-god grew up and hunted down the biatch, and the end result was lots of lil baby-gods all over the place...

    You have seen me, you have seen the Father also.

    LT, of the "having a substance-free psychadelic moment" class

  • gumby
    gumby

    There's the little bastard right now goin after that little biatch

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    Run, Forrest, run!!!

    Not a wonder people can't see the woody for the trees

  • XJW4EVR
    XJW4EVR


    XJW
    I guess, that if I knew that question I would be God. If I was God and people didn't believe in me, then I would snuff them out of existence at the moment of their lack of faith.

    Well I'm damn glad your not god then.

    That's about the same as witnesses saying apostates should be dead or killed if the law allowed for it. So, you think if people have honest doubts about god, he should kill them when they are not CONVINCED he really exists? How special

    Gumby

    No, Gumby, that is not what I said. I said that if I was God I would do such & so. I too am glad that I am not God. You see, I had a time where I doubted the existence of God. Fortunately, God had mercy on me, and graciously revealed Himself to me inspite of my unbelief.

  • peacefulpete
    peacefulpete

    Believe it or not I really don't enjoy this topic, its just too emotionally charged. But for what its worth, the leading scholars that question the existance of an historical don't simply lean that way because of a lack of positive evidence but because of the literary nature of the NT and other writings that many insist are historical documents. You would be hard pressed to find a single story that can't be found to be sourced from the OT, intertestamental legends or paralled in other contemporaraneous religious myth. The countless attempts to isolate historical kernals from the legends have never resulted in anything tangible. I have 4 books on the "historical jeuss" not one of them makes a very good case for their selected texts being more reliably historical than those they disregard as legend.

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos

    What, if understood, might take the heat out of the debate is the following:

    Most scholars who do believe in a historical Jesus behind the Gospel stories definitely do not think of him as born of a virgin, raising the dead, walking on the sea, claiming heavenly origin, resurrected on the third day etc.

    Which means that much if not most of our "Jesus Christ" belongs to myth legend literature rather than history, whether there is some history behind the story or not.

    Which means that the question of the historical Jesus is far from essential to the Christian faith. Should one discover an early 1st-century titulus with "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum" on it that would not bring us much closer to the "Jesus Christ" of the Christian creed.

  • gumby
    gumby
    You would be hard pressed to find a single story that can't be found to be sourced from the OT, intertestamental legends or paralled in other contemporaraneous religious myth.

    Pete....although I'm not a big Jesus fan, I don't feel this is the best argument. With so many people living on this planet since man began and with all the belief systems that have existed/exists...your going to find parallels in many types of beliefs. All of them have gods. All gods are super human. All gods can do great things.

    I do however realise the Jesus stories are too close to myth stories to be by accident, but this point your making is not one that sells well to a christian.

    Gumsmokem-peace-pipe-with-pete

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