Hobbes' Choice wrote:
No one is negating ANY facts. The fact is that there is ZERO contemporary evidence for a person called Jesus of Nazareth. So no historian can agree with your statement.
It is a fact that there was a man named Pilate. But as the existence of George VI as king of England in 1938 the year Superman first appeared in comics, does not validate the existence of Superman; The existence of Pilate does not validate the existence of Jesus.
I imagine there was a rabbi called Jesus around that time, as Jesus was a common enough name. It might even be the case that such a person was nailed to a cross by Pilate - crucifixions was also very commonplace. Is is likely that his exploits might have been somewhat exaggerated - definitely. Does this amount to the Bible being reliable _ no fucking way.
But the person Jesus as he appears in the Bible - written generations later - does not exist. Pretty much the same thing goes for Homer's heros. Was there a guy called Agamemnon, Achilles, etc... Maybe - did they have talking horses and deities appearing in front of them? Did Odysseus really meet a woman called Kirkes? Another called Calypso. Did he really enter the underworld to meet his old pals?
I think not.
Did any of these 'people' forge a way of life with with such reverence that billions of people pay homage to them on a daily basis?
No because they are only people.
And whoever the fuck the historical Jesus was - he was also just a person.