Historical Jesus

[tjhartinger]

does any of this prove that he was the son of god? no.

[harsectinal]

check your sources guy pliny the younger and the other greco-roman sources you mention all reference early christians not a historical jesus as a person. Just because early sources mention christians does not mean jesus existed in a historical sense. The other faiths that you mention(aside from islam) don't mention jesus the person at all and i'm sure that your not hoping to mention other myths as corroborative evidence of a real person.

[topher1184]

jancoetzer12, you are willfully ignorant, and an idiot... Grow some balls and think for yourself, creationism is proven false, the bible has been shown to be rubbish, and Jesus never really existed... Grow up

[jancoetzer12]

You don't need proof of the Lord Jesus Christ's existance. I rely entirely on faith! I am a firm beliver!

[martin2088]

smal brain

[bsmahoney]

Even if "Jesus" did exist, is their any extra biblical proof of divinity. So what if a guy who fits the description of the man in the N.T. existed. That doesn't prove he wasn't just a wandering loon saying he was the "Messiah". Lots of false assumptions have caught on and assumed the identity of truth over the years. Theres no reason Christianity didn't start in such a way. I actually met a guy like that in central park last year, and I didn't believe him anymore than I believe the bible.

[Jeanmarie63126]

Did this guy you saw have a huge following? I'm not saying this is all out and out proof of his divinity, I'm just saying it is quite interesting to say the least.

[jcwatch23]

Jesus existed period. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. You say that the history recorded about him is false. Then why isn't the history recorded about other men thousands of years ago (including the same time as Jesus) false also? You believe in some history writings that have the same amount of "proof" but not others? How does that even make sense? Not to mention Jesus's existence is physically documented in Israel. People give up the ignorance and lies they don't look good on you.

[trehansen]

Where is it physically documented? There are not writings by him, no first hand accounts. All there is is second hand accounts by people who DID NOT live during his time, compiled hundreds years after he died.

We know Julius Ceasar existed because there are actual documents we have that are written by his hand. There are first hand accounts of people who lived during the same time as Ceasar, who wrote about him. That is the difference.

Jesus may have existed, but it is not conclusive.

[oshundayo]

All religions are based on a mythos

[Ishayau]

When Jesus was crucified, there were according to the Bible hundreds of thousands of people in Jerusalem and there is no mention of Jesus Crucifixion by anyone outside the new testament when the event happened.

There are many archaeological evidences far less important from that exact period, but the Crucifixion of Jesus is not one of them, how do you explain this fact.

You claim you found at least 40. Show us 1.

I am sure the Pope in Rome will be delighted to have one solid proof.

[Philos2006]

There is evidence for the existence of a man Joshua, whom the jews rejected as their Messiah. There is NO evidence for the salvation story.

[52blades]

People who claim Jesus never existed are vastly ignorant of history. No scholarly atheist make that claim in their debates. Tell them the most influenced man is history never existed and they will laugh at you. The reason this generation is able to even have the option of saying Jesus never existed is due to their ignorance. You don't have to believe he was God but it is intellectual murder to claim he never existed. Stop watching Zeitgeist and go to primary and scholarly sources.

[poolerboy0077]

"Tell them the most influenced man is history never existed and they will laugh at you."

Bart Ehrman, a leading scholar of the New Testament, finds merit in the argument that he was not an historical person even if he himself speculates that he did exist. The reason doesn't come from scholarly consensus. The reason comes from the evidence available, which is scant.

[TheDragonShogun]

It's hard to argue with all the information out there that he never existed because there is not one shred of evidence of his existance. Only the most propaganda filled book in history sais he actually existed. You must not know what ignorant really means because your basing your opinion on one biased source.

[ManicEightBall]

Did this guy really offer up the numbering of years as evidence for Jesus living? Is that for real?

This guy sounds desperate to prove his god exists. I like to think he would give up this religion if he were shown Jesus didn't exist, but I know he'll be a Christian no matter what he finds out.

[99minerkc]

Jesus may well have existed and if he did, so what? It's the PROOF of his divinity that I want to see!! That's where the religious authorities shy away from making claims as they know it's ALL BASED ON FAITH then(this clown included)!!!!

[fingerrage]

So you dug in & found 40 external sources?

Yeah that is huge....& they would be?

The only ones you named are Josephus, Pliny the Younger & Suetonius. Pretty standard, over used examples.

[whatifgodexists]

I suggest you read 'Jesus Outside the NT' by Robert Van Voorst

[Challenger305]

Great video. Thx

[jmikejapan]

why is historical text on jesus hard to find?

Maybe because is Aramaic name is Yesuha. And in Latin american countries call him Cristos Jesus. So can you see now that his name has been changed in all most every language that his teachings encounter?

We could probably find more stories about a man LIKE Jesus in history,than ON a man named Jesus.Besides,it's his teachings that are important,not his godlike statius!He taught good nature,who cares if he was a god?Follow teachings not a man!

[SuperHeroKyle]

Well think about it: It matters a GREAT deal if He was God or not. If He was God, than His teachings are the most important words ever spoken. If He was God than Heaven and Hell are both real, and that He is the only way of salvation. I don't understand how it couldn't matter whether He was divine or not.

[SethVincent]

Any contemporaneous writings? Nope...forgive me but born of a virgin, magically generated food, healings, walking on water, turning water into wine, rising from the dead?

[HeReformedMe]

"...born of a virgin, magically generated food, healings, walking on water, turning water into wine, rising from the dead?"

Yeah these are extraordinary claims are they not? But what if God, really wanted to put sort of a "stamp" on a certain period of time in history so as to let everyone know that He has acted directly? Would we not expect to see events that are indeed extraordinary? In fact, what reasons do we have to think that God would use some less extraordinary, natural means?

[colonelkentucky81]

This guy CANNOT be serious. Josephus? Pliny the Younger? Come on now....

[1illtown]

There's even a couple ancient text by people who wrote about the darkness that enveloped the earth when Jesus was on the cross. Non Christian greek historians wrote about "this man named Jesus who has started a new cult that call themselves Christians". Tons of irrefutable historical documents about Jesus. Its just up to people to put away their presuppositions.

[Mrlyonus]

I have just googled pliny the younger, and read a couple of different sites on him, and the only mention of him in relation to christianity is his role in the persecution of chrisitians. His birth date is estimated to have been 60-62 C.E which is clearly well after the time of Jesus.

Do you have any sorces that support the case for a historical jesus that are from his time period? I am struggling to come up with one...

[reflect7]

Hey Johny --

Thanks again for the post -- See my other response below. Curious, why do you trust Wikipedia's version of Philo, but reject the surviving accounts of Josephus, Tacitus, Seutonius, etc.? Just curious...

[johnycannuk]

What about Philo of Alexandria? He didn't mention any thing and he was contemporaneous. And a historian. And the originator of 'Logos' that was co-opted in the book of John?

Sorry, none of you sources hold up to scrutiny - either hte passages were faked (Josephus, Tacticus, Suetonius and possibly Pliny) or not contemporaneous - Lucian et al.

Sorry, not evidence.

[reflect7]

Thanks Johny --

Where did you get that notion that Philo originated the concept of Logos contemporaneous with John? Logos was circulating through Greek thought for centuries prior to Philo -- He just adopted the concept in his writings related to Judaism -- Actually, Philo makes my point -- Heraclitus probably established the term in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos. The sophists, stoics, and Hellenists used the term. Even Aristotle.

[migkillertwo]

none of those sources were faked dude.

[cmdrchristof]

Hi, I'd really like to find out more about the historical accounts for Jesus, I'm not opposed to doing my own research, but if you could help me out in anyway I'd appreciate it, I've found the obvious 3 but the more the better.

Thanks for the video very interesting

[reflect7]

The non-Christian historical accounts of Cornelius Tacitus, Flavius Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Suetonius, Mara Bar-Serapion, Lucan of Samosata, and even the writings of the extremely biased Jewish Sanhedrin all vindicate the Biblical accounts of the life and death of Jesus Christ in the first century AD.

[reflect7]

In addition to the nine New Testament authors who wrote about Jesus in separate accounts, I found at least twenty additional early Christian authors, four heretical writings, and seven non-Christian sources that make explicit mention of Jesus in their writings within 150 years of his life. This amounts to a minimum of 40 authors, all of whom explicitly mention Jesus and the expansion of a spiritual movement in his name.

[Bigone5555J]

What are all these sources of information outside of the Bible? These guys keep saying there are 40 sources but then they can only name 3 or 4 of them. Is there proof or not?

[braino2000]

I agree that there are 20 good ones, but where are the rest? I'm a Christian, just curious a little.

[LifesaGardenDigit1]

I know of about 30 to 40. Most are writings which have been "shoved out of site" or cleared from the bookshelves of mainstream bookstores. Do a little digging and you will find them.

[TimeEffect]

Some people even say that the holocaust didn't happen.

Thanks for this video

[dovad16]

You analogy regarding potentially adversarial historians adding credence was excellent.