Is there a debate among atheists as to whether or not Jesus really existed?

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David R

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To me it is common knowledge that Jesus was a man who really existed, but who died. Are there some atheists out there who do not believe that Jesus and his friends existed, or that the places mentioned in the bible are all mythical?
 
Well, the areas he visited are real; we can see them. However, the documentation of a jesus of nazareth is scanty at best, seeing as there is no first hand writings on his existence and that the gospels were written 30 years after his death. He probably did exist, but I can't be sure.
 
There is archeological evidence to show that certain places in the bible really existed, but there is surprisingly no contemporary evidence for a man named Jesus christ.
 
I assure you there is no Atheist Central Authority dictating doctrine to the congregation. Of course there is debate. Personally, I don't find it nearly as difficult to believe that a man named Jesus lived, as I do the whole rest of the story. On-the-other-hand, since so much of that story seems so far fetched ....even glaringly self-contradictory and, frankly, insulting, there doesn't seem to be any compelling reason to buy any of it.
 
I assure you there is no Atheist Central Authority dictating doctrine to the congregation. Of course there is debate. Personally, I don't find it nearly as difficult to believe that a man named Jesus lived, as I do the whole rest of the story. On-the-other-hand, since so much of that story seems so far fetched ....even glaringly self-contradictory and, frankly, insulting, there doesn't seem to be any compelling reason to buy any of it.
 
Most but not all biblical scholars believe he really did exist. However they also believe he was an apocalyptic prophet who was of course not divine, was obsessed with eschatology and the imminent end of history in his own lifetime.
 
Most but not all biblical scholars believe he really did exist. However they also believe he was an apocalyptic prophet who was of course not divine, was obsessed with eschatology and the imminent end of history in his own lifetime.
 
some atheists think that Jesus was a total fabrication while others think the myth is very loosely based around an actual person, but there isn't really much of a debate as most of us consider it to be a moot point.
 
I don't dispute that places in the Bible existed. Their is enough evidence to show that most of them did (though, there are a few towns that historians can't seem to locate).

But there is a debate about Jesus. There is exactly ZERO contemporary evidence to suggest Jesus existed. The earliest writings about him were produced 40+ years after his alleged crucifixion. All accounts of him are completely hearsay, not one historian, philosopher, scribe, or follower alive DURING Jesus' life wrote one single thing down about him.

So, there is a debate. I find it very possible he was a great teacher who led a "cult" (as it would be called today), and after he died his followers began spreading tales and eventually he becomes deified. It's not hard to see how it would happen . . . but that doesn't change the fact that there is nothing to suggest he actually existed.
 
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