Do you believe Jesus existed?

[Sea]

What an interesting thread.
Yes I believe Jesus existed and yes I believe in God. It's quite an old fashioned opinion amongst my peer group these days tbh so I rarely voice it. It brings me deep comfort and happiness though I'm not a church goer.

Everyone seems to share their opinions on every thing, and just as they feel entitled to do it, so should you! I get annoyed how Christianity is allowed to be berated (and I'm not Christian)

To the answer the original question, I think man called Jesus existed but absolutely don't believe he was the son of God nor born of a Virgin.
But all religions have fantastical stories

 

[Jadejones9596]

Id like to preface my comments with a bit of background. I am a staunch atheist however I am entirely fascinated by religion and adore that people have belief systems and do believe in a higher power, if that belief helps them through life I totally endorse that! I’ll spend ages learning about people’s faith and beliefs.

I do believe the man represented in the bible, as Jesus, existed. However, I believe he was almost a cult leader and had an extreme and loyal following who believed he was a saint. I think this was then documented and developed into the bible. His disciples were his closest followers.

 

[Islawight]

Yes, his birth was recorded by the Romans when Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem for a census. The Romans also recorded his death along with everyone else they crucified.

 

[Perspicacia Tick]

I do think he existed, in that he was a real man, with a real following. A bit different, a bit of a rebel etc etc who gained a following and was essentially given mythic status because of the nature of his death.

I don't believe he was the son of God. He might have, the 'virgin' birth could be explained in modern times as we know it is possible (unusual certainly) without having full penetrative sex - would a young girl 2000 years ago have known that? Unlikely, so he might have even been raised to think he was a 'miracle' baby, despite actually having a normal human dad.

I would be interested to know if the historical Jesus had siblings? A wife? Children?
Siblings especially interest me, there's no mention obviously but it seems unlikely that his parents wouldn't have had 'their own' kids. Imagine growing up being told your brother was the son of God. I bet they hid his dreidel.

 

[Shannon51]

I believe in Jesus Christ ‍

 

[Run 101]

No i dont think Jesus existed - nor does god for that matter

 

[Shannon51]

I believe in Jesus Christ and God the creator
I believe he died for us,was resurrected and will return in the second coming.Its something I think about everyday and the more i learn and feel the more I believe, its an internal knowing.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend

 

[HelloStereo]

Maybe in history there was a guy called Jesus who believed he was the son of god and went around preaching, and then was executed. I don't believe there was anything more to it than that. I am not religious and think it was created to soothe people from the fear of death. I think we have an innate belief of self importance as a species, thinking we were put on this earth for a "higher purpose" and there must be more to life than this. But I don't think there is. I think we live and we die and that's it.

 

[thegirlscout]

I just don't understand if there was someone that cared for everyone then why do wars happen? Why do children die all the time why does cancer exist?

To answer the first part about wars, I think (from my religious studies) it’s because God gave human’s free will?

 

[Notorious PIG]

Yes. I’d never really given it much thought til recently (I was raised Buddhist, though grew up in a Christian country and primary school Christian-teachings leaning but not an actual religious school).

A couple of years ago I randomly realized there is nothing to disbelieve about Jesus’s existence. If I believe Lord Buddha, Henry the 8th and Julius Caesar existed, there’s no reason I shouldn’t believe Jesus existed.

Whether or not he rose from the dead, or that an omnipotent God is real, I’m not convinced of one way or another.

 

[Jelly Bean]

I read “Heresy: Jesus Christ and the Other Sons of God” by Catherine Nixey recently and it is such a good book

Highly recommend

Ooh interesting. I've just ordered 'Who Moved the Stone' by Frank Morison. He was an atheist who researched the theories around Jesus disappearing from the tomb - if he was moved by friends/enemies or did rise again. Anyway apparently halfway through his research he became a committed believer. I interested to find out his thought process and what changed his mind.

 

[Emsie]

I had a Catholic upbringing (belting out absolute bangers in primary school assembly). I think Jesus existed in human form and today he would be recognised as some sort of cult leader perhaps.
I don't believe that people turned into pillars of salt or flounced around in amazing technicolour dreamcoats though.

 

[LittleMy]

Agree with those saying he probably did exist in some capacity. Always took the bible stories to be parables and never actually believed he performed “miracles.” I think he was a preacher who was murdered for his beliefs and died a martyr and that’s the gist of it for me. I don’t believe in god and am not a religious person but if it’s what makes other people feel better then I don’t have any problems with it. As long as it’s not being forced upon others I don’t care what people believe in.

 

[Ashlgr]

Yes... and Brian.

He's a very naughty boy.

 

[Jelly Bean]

I believe in Jesus Christ and God the creator
I believe he died for us,was resurrected and will return in the second coming.Its something I think about everyday and the more i learn and feel the more I believe, its an internal knowing.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend

It is an internal knowing isn't it? It's hard to describe as it does seem highly illogical and I can't even explain faith myself. It's just there. Like air. And it has brought me tremendous solace and comfort when horrible out of control things have happened like bereavement.
I completely understand and respect people not getting it. I don't know why I believe in God I just do.

 

[mee43]

Interesting thread
Lately I’ve felt more and more that if there’s not something else then what’s the point of this.
So I’m trying very hard to find some kind of spirituality, if that makes sense.

But it seems to me that many religions have a Jesus type figure at the heart of them.
I don’t know - maybe there was a Jesus, and he was a type of cult leader for what became an organised religion.
Weren’t the books of the Bible written many years after his death? So not really reliable as a source.
I’d be interested to know the truth of his history if he did exist.

 

[Michi]

I vaguely remember talking about this in a class at uni (history major). There is proof someone called Jesus/Jeshua existed and majorly pissed off the Romans with his teachings. He might have been crucified as, like others have said, it was a common punishment back then. As a Muslim I'm not supposed to believe he was crucified but as a historian I think it's possible. I do not believe he is the son of God any more than we all are (because God created us all, I believe). I do believe he was a prophet (pbuh) though.

 

[thegirlscout]

I would like to be religious because I like the idea of believing in something bigger than me and having a community in the area you live in. But I just don’t believe, no matter how hard I try. I find it all interesting but maybe I just like it from an academic point of view than being an actual believer. Plus I find the stories in the Bible often contradict themselves and don’t really align with what Jesus and God is meant to be?

 

[thegirlscout]

some sort of event happen to him to make him think he was the son of God. Maybe voices in his head (like Joan of Arc).

may have been in a coma / presumed dead after being on the cross, and did indeed 'rise from the dead' when his supposed dead body was being attended too/ washed. I think there might be something in that - we've all heard the stories of scratch marks being found on the inside of coffins because the person was actually still alive, just probably comatose

These are really good points! I’ve never thought of it like this before.

 

[MaineCoonMama]

As a believer in Jesus and God I find comparative religion fascinating.
How a lot of religions have the same basic ideas at heart. Even the ones that at first glance seem different. It is interesting to think how these ideas started, thousands of miles apart.

It's fascinating, isn't it? The Indigenous population of Australia all have very similar creation legends despite being mostly cut off from one another, sometimes separated by sea.
As for the topic I'm a former Atheistic Satanist turned agnostic. I believe Jesus was a real person but I do struggle with belief in a Creator as such.