Why

Jesus is found missing in real History?

The Contemporary Historians, none of the historical personae who lived and wrote during Christ’s purported career-

nor the records of Roman Empire, the chroniclers who have left voluminous accounts of those times.....startlingly none make note of these grand events that are painted before our eyes in the New Testament.

They are without an exception strangely tongue tied to even so much as to mention in detail any of this Miracle worker who supposedly pulled the masses and upturned history-

The Church is hard pressed to instead scurry them and come out with passing references and hearsays, that prove nothing conclusive.

For such an earth shaking event as we are made to believe by its narratives of his ministries, the evidence on the ground do not measure up- and not quite up to the scratch.

Here we study some posts that pursue this trail of hard evidence that points rather to non-existence of any historical Christ-

Any real Christ- a person History is unable to confirm.

Aronite’s notes.

Even many non-Christians sometimes think that Jesus existed. However, the Jesus as we know him definitely did not exist, and I think it is doubtful if there was actually a historical Jesus at all.

People have doubted his existence since the very first century.

This page merely highlights some of the sensible beliefs of those who believe that Jesus is mythical. The links at the bottom of the page are, to many pages and books that go through what historical information we have and look at the various arguments throughout the last 2000 years on the existence of Jesus.

The biggest problem facing those who do not believe in a literal Jesus is to account for early Christianity, so all the theories below naturally do this in various ways.

Of all the explanations over the millennia, the one that makes least sense is that there

was a real Jesus! Throughout this page I use the term "literalist" Christian to differentiate them from "Gnostic" Christians.

1. Jesus Has No History

1.1. No Primary Source (First-Person) Accounts of Jesus Exist

No historians of the time mention Jesus. Suetonius (65-135) does not. Pliny the Younger only mentions Christians (Paulists) with no comment of Jesus himself. Tacitus mentions a Jesus, but it is likely that after a century of Christian preaching Tacitus was just reacting to these rumours, or probably talking about one of the many other Messiah's of the time. Josephus, a methodical, accurate and dedicated historian of the time mentions John the Baptist, Herod, Pilate and many aspects of Jewish life but does not mention Jesus.

(The Testimonium Flavianum has been shown to be a third century Christian fraud).

He once mentions a Jesus, but gives no information other than that he is a brother of a James.

Jesus was not an unusual name, either. Justus, another Jewish historian who lived in Tiberias (near Kapernaum, a place Jesus frequented) did not mention Jesus nor any of his miracles. It is only in the evidence of later writers, writing about earlier times, that we find a Jesus. What is more surprising (Jesus could simply have been unknown to local historians) is that academics note that the gospels themselves do not allude to first-hand historical sources, either!

“The four Gospels that

eventually made it into the New Testament, for example, are all anonymous, written in the third person about Jesus and his companions. None of them contains a first-person narrative ("One day, when Jesus and I went into

Capernaum..."), or claims to be written by an eyewitness or companion of an eyewitness. Why then do we call them Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Because sometime in the second century, when proto-orthodox Christians recognized the need for apostolic authorities, they attributed these books to apostles (Matthew and John) and close companions of apostles (Mark, the secretary of Peter; and Luke, the travelling companion of Paul). Most scholars today have abandoned these identifications, and recognize that the books were written by otherwise unknown but relatively well-educated Greek-speaking (and writing) Christians during the second half of the first

century.”

"Lost Christianities" by Bart Ehrman (2003)1

Take the Gospel of John for example:

“The name John was common [...]. Even

though the Gospel and Epistles of John do not claim to be written by someone of that name, the book of Revelations does (see Rev. 1:9). But the author does not claim to be John the son of Zebedee, one of Jesus' apostles. In fact, in one scene "John" has a vision of the throne of God surrounded by twenty-four elders who worship him forever (Rev. 4:4, 9-10). These twenty-four elders are usually taken to refer to the twelve patriarchs of Israel and the twelve apostles. But the author gives no indication that he is seeing himself. Probably, then, this was not the apostle. And so, the book is anonymous, later accepted by Christians as canonical because they believed the author was, in fact, Jesus' earthly

disciple.”

"Lost Christianities" by Bart Ehrman (2003)

1.2. There is No Evidence for the Story of the Birth of Jesus

“Mostly derived from pagan myths, Jesus'

birth stories are very dubious, and it very likely that all such beliefs were written retrospectively by the Roman gospel writers, or were assumed from the outset. There is no evidence or reason to believe that they actually occurred. Events such as King Herod's killing of every male child simply could not have gone unnoticed, these pagan myths were however assumed of all god-man saviours. Modern Christmas is a combination of pagan and ancient practices. Its eclectic nature makes it a multicultural event suitable for appropriation by nearly anyone, including staunch secularists. Jesus' existence remains a mystery, we cannot validate even the simplest facts about his birth, and this fact has

led some scholars to cast doubt on Jesus'

entire existence.”

"The Birth of Jesus and the Christmas Story from the Bible Are Pagan and

Unhistorical" by Vexen Crabtree (2000)

1.3. There is No Evidence for the Story of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus

“

The crucifixion story of Jesus Christ is mythical, based on pagan religions, and makes no sense:

1.There is a complete absence of evidence for the events described - no authors mention the phenomenal events that supposedly occurred at the time of Jesus' resurrection, and, there are no records of Jesus being crucified in the first place. This is despite there being multiple

historians of the time who kept extensive records of events in that era, especially of unusual events and the misdeeds of rulers. The only records we have are those written by Christians themselves, the Gospels. And within each of those gospels nearly all details of the crucifixion and resurrection are different. Very important details, such as Jesus' last words, are so different that it appears they are simply being made up by the authors. The earliest Christians did not know simple details such as where Jesus was buried.

2.Most the details of Jesus' death and rebirth are similar to the existing myths surrounding god-men in that era. The similarities to the Christs of other pagan religions are shockingly detailed, so much so that early Church fathers had to defend themselves against pagan critics who said that the stories of Jesus were simply pagan stories with new names.

3.[...]

”

"The Crucifixion Facade" by Vexen Crabtree (2002)

2. Where did the Stories About Jesus Come From?

2.1. Jesus was a Jewish Messianic Cult Leader

A very common belief, accepted (in part if not in full) by Christian liberals is that someone who claimed to be a prophet and messiah (there were many such people appearing amongst the Jews) is the historical Jesus. His life story has been intermingled with older pagan myths, and it is very hard for us to see his true life or message to the extent that we have little or no information about him, he is effectively without historical basis because the real figure is obscured by the mythical one.

God-Man myths were very popular and pre-dated the God-Man of Jesus by thousands of years. They all shared a common format which (or "vegetation myths") is that the Son of God has 12 disciples, and is betrayed and killed by a traitor. Popular myths such as the virgin birth, miracles, curing the blind and ill are also familiar and common aspects of these myths. As such, such events were assumed to be true of the historical Jesus. These myths became interwoven amongst the stories of someone who might have been real. Many Jewish sayings became attributed to this character, and sayings of John the Baptist too. Stories about the disciples were assumed to be true and not simply symbolic stories as the original gnostic Christians believed. Once people wrote pseudipigraphically under the names of the disciples people accepted them as true too. The rest is history, but initially is based on mistaken pseudo-historical accounts.

2.2. The Jesus Mysteries Hypothesis: Jesus was Another Mystery Religion God-Man

"Jesus Mysteries" by Freke & Gandy [Book Review] (1999)

Perhaps the most historically correct of all the theories is that Christianity started out as much more Gnostic than it became from the 2nd century onwards, and the stories of Jesus and the disciples match those of other Mystery religions and Pagan religions precisely because Christianity was another Mystery Religion. Literalist Christianity as we know it was the Outer Mysteries of this spiritual religion. It explains why the historical centres of Christianity were all gnostic when literalist Christians went back to research the past, and why so many Pagan god-man elements are part of Christianity. It also explains why none of the scholars of the time mention Jesus or the miracles around his life, because even the Christians themselves knew that they were symbolic stories, not actual events. Later Christians had to defend their 'new' religion against critics who knew it was yet-another copy of the typical son-of-god saviour religions of the time:

“The Jesus story sure looks like you

would expect it to look if it were patterned after other god-men. Early Christian Church fathers such as Justin Martyr (d. 165), Tertullian (d. 225), and Irenaeus (d. 202) felt compelled to answer the pagan critics of the time who claimed the Jesus story was based on earlier traditions. The fathers claimed that the similarities were the work of the devil, who copied the Jesus story ahead of time to

mislead the gullible.”

"God, the Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist"

by Prof. Victor J. Stenger (2007)2

2.3. History Led up to Christianity

“Elements that were common in Pagan mystery

of religions include much of the religious content of Christianity. All elements of Jesus' life such as the events around his birth and death and ministry were also said of other god-men of the time.

Peripheral elements such as there being twelve disciples were similarly present in other more ancient religions and sometimes with an astonishing amount of duplication. First century critics of Christianity voiced these accusations that Christianity was nothing but another copy of common religions, they are not new accusations.

All the actual sayings and teachings of Jesus were also not new, and much of the time speeches attributed to Jesus are more like collections of Jewish and Pagan sayings. Even distinctive texts like the Sermon on the Mount are not unique. If we remove all the content that Jesus could not have heard and repeated himself, there is nothing else left. If we remove the supernatural elements of Christianity that are copies of already existing thought and religion, there is nothing left which is unique! Even much of the sayings of subsequent Christians is not unique; Jesus appears to not have taught anyone anything that was not already present in the common culture of the time. This shows us that not only did Christianity follow on, as expected, from previous thought in history but that we do not even need to believe in God or supernatural events in order to account for the history of Christianity. Stephen Hodge very usefully lists many of the similarities found in the Dead Sea Scrolls to the teachings and

organisation of Jewish Christianity. He also concludes that these Jewish documents make the teachings and appearance of Jewish Christianity

less revolutionary.”

"Types of Christianity in History: Who Were the First Christians?" by Vexen

Crabtree (2003)

“The [Dead Sea Scrolls] collection is

really an invaluable cross-section of religious material that reveals for the first time just how rich and varied Jewish spiritual life was at that time. The scrolls offer an intellectual and devotional landscape into which Jesus and his movement can be placed. No longer does Jewish Christianity seem an inexplicable, isolated occurrence. [...] In other words, the true value of the Dead Sea Scrolls is that they help provide a genuine context for what was to become Christianity. For example, they tell us just how widespread was the expectation and longing for a saving Messiah among Jews at that time, and that there were a

number of competing theories about the expected role of this Messiah in the world of Judaism. The scrolls also reveal that the expectation found in the Gospels that the end of the world was imminent was a dominant belief in many quarters in Judaea.

All biblical scholars agree that, apart from their intrinsic value, the sectarian scrolls are of tremendous importance as background information to the social and religious conditions in Judaea that led to the rise of Christianity. [... There are] subtle implications that can be derived from the Qumran texts, for they not only provide interesting parallels to Christian concepts and practice but tend to reduce the uniqueness of the

Yeshua movement.”

"Dead Sea Scrolls" by Stephen Hodge (2001)3

“The only pre-Christian man to be buried and

resurrected and deified in his own lifetime, that I know of, is the Thracian god Zalmoxis (also called Salmoxis or Gebele'izis), who is described in the mid-5th-century B.C.E. by Herodotus (4.94-96), and also mentioned in Plato's Charmides (156d-158b) in the early-4th-century B.C.E. According to

the hostile account of Greek informants, Zalmoxis buried himself alive, telling his followers he would be resurrected in three years, but he merely resided in a hidden dwelling all that time. His inevitable "resurrection" led to his deification, and a religion surrounding him, which preached heavenly immortality for believers, persisted for centuries.

The only case, that I know, of a pre-Christian god actually being crucified and then resurrected is Inanna (also known as Ishtar), a Sumerian goddess whose crucifixion, resurrection and escape from the underworld is told in cuneiform tablets inscribed c. 1500 B.C.E., attesting to a very

old tradition.”

Richard Carrier on infidels.org4

2.4. Jesus and Other God-Men are Personifications of the Sun

“The reason why all these narratives are so

similar, with a godman who is crucified and resurrected, who does miracles and has 12 disciples, is that these stories were based on the movements of the sun through the heavens, an astrotheological development that can be found

throughout the planet because the sun and the 12 zodiac signs can be observed around the globe. In other words, Jesus Christ and all the others upon whom this character is predicated are personifications of the sun, and the Gospel fable is merely a rehash of a mythological formula (the "Mythos," as mentioned above) revolving around the movements of the sun through the heavens.

For instance, many of the world's crucified godmen have their traditional birthday on December 25th. This is because the ancients recognized that (from an earthcentric perspective) the sun makes an annual descent southward until December 21st or 22nd, the winter solstice, when it stops moving southerly for three days and then starts to move northward again. During this time, the ancients declared that "God's sun" had "died" for three days and was "born again" on December 25th. The ancients realized quite abundantly that they needed the sun to return every day and that they would be in big trouble if the sun continued to move southward and did not stop and reverse its direction. Thus, these many different cultures celebrated the "sun of God's" birthday on December 25th. The following are the characteristics of the "sun of God":

The sun "dies" for three days on December 22nd, the winter solstice, when it stops in its movement south, to be born again or resurrected on December 25th, when it resumes its movement north.

In some areas, the calendar originally began in the constellation of Virgo, and the sun would therefore be "born of a Virgin."

The sun is the "Light of the World." The sun "cometh on clouds, and every eye

shall see him." The sun rising in the morning is the "Savior of

mankind." The sun wears a corona, "crown of thorns" or

halo. The sun "walks on water." The sun's "followers," "helpers" or "disciples"

are the 12 months and the 12 signs of the zodiac or constellations, through which the sun must pass.

The sun at 12 noon is in the house or temple of the "Most High"; thus, "he" begins "his Father's work" at "age" 12.

The sun enters into each sign of the zodiac at 30°; hence, the "Sun of God" begins his ministry at "age" 30.

The sun is hung on a cross or "crucified," which represents its passing through the equinoxes, the vernal equinox being Easter, at which time it is then resurrected.

”

"Origins of Christianity" by Acharya S

Paradoxically, the faithful interpret the disparities, puzzling omissions and flat contradictions in the life of their saviour as "evidence of its truth." That it is actually an eclectic assemblage of various prototypes never enters their consciousness. No wonder there are a thousand different Jesuses – only a void can support simultaneously such a plethora of speculation. The truth is simpler: Jesus never existed.

That Scripture Might Be Fulfilled"

Jesus? No, Leviticus 19.18.

The micro-stories (pericopes) of the gospels had a life of their own. Thus the fig tree of Jewish scripture, symbolic of the abundance of the Torah itself (Mishlei 27.18), becomes in Luke (13.6,9) a Jesus parable in which a fig tree does not bear fruit, though patience is urged (Come on Jews!). Then in Matthew (21.19) the parable is finessed into a Jesus miracle in which he summarily curses a fig tree (Too late, Jews!). The wisdom statements, parables and miracles, all have their origin other than in a walking, talking guru/Son of God.Nowhere in the Gospels is there a genuine two-way dialogue in which the Jesus character actually responds in an authentic

manner to his audience. Their comments serve merely as entrees for his obtuse parables, epithets of wisdom and sage advice.He walks, he talks, he moves on. He does not solicit genuine questions, he makes no asides or humorous quips. He never greets anyone in a friendly or familiar fashion. He refers nowhere to contemporary events (the death and deification of Emperor Augustus was surely worth a mention?) nor does he recall incidents from his own life. The fabricated hero has all the personality of a vending machine dispensing pre-packed gems of divine erudition.

Histrionics"Cleansing of the Temple"? Nothing more than a midrashic revamp of Zechariah's "in that day there shall be no more a trafficker in the house of the Lord" (14.21) and Hosea's "for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house"

(9.15). "Feeding of the Multitude"? The source is 2 Kings 4.42,44, a yarn in which the new man Elisha, with double strength holy spirit, improves upon Elijah, his mentor's miraculous feeding of a mere one hundred men. The structure of this story is identical to the feeding of the 4000 (and the 5000!), from Julius Caesar on how to feed a legion consisting of yes 5000 men.In the supposed "trial" of the godman, the exchange between the high priest Caiaphas and Jesus(Matthew 26.63,64; Mark 14.61,62) is clearly a contrived juxtapositioning, cross-associating "Messiah", "Son of God", "Son of Man" and Daniel's "coming in the clouds of heaven” (7:13) into one pithy mission statement. Miracle Making

Paul's epistles and Mark 8 indicate that no Jesus miracles were circulating in the earliest Christian preaching. The miracles that pepper the Gospels, and helped elevate a Jesus figure into a deity, are nowhere to be found in Paul’s letters. But competition in the sanctity business soon made "signs and wonders" a necessary ingredient.

Midrashic revision of Jewish scripture and the adaptation of Hellenistic legends rapidly made good the inadequacy. The Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain top of Mark 9.1,13 actually forged a link between

the spurious Christian hero and Israel's two earlier myth prophets, Moses and Elijah (Elias). They appear and "talk with Jesus" (what about, one wonders?). The purpose of this bizarre episode? It serves to make clear who is top dog in this assemblage of all-time greats. God himself booms out "This is my beloved Son. Hear him!" The whole incident is staged before conveniently present "human witnesses" Peter, James, and John. On the way down from the mountain top Jesus tells his adoring groupies that "Elias is indeed come", a cryptic but rather nice way of belittling both Elias and his supposed alter ego, John the Baptist. When the author of Matthew comes to copy Mark's little story he actually inserts an extra line at this point, just to make the message crystal clear: The Baptist, of course, is dead by this point (he died in Mark 6) but the authors of the gospels at the time of writing are contending with the continuing Baptist movement, which

they will never entirely eradicate (it metamorphosed into the Mandaean sect and indeed still exists). Where did they get their ideas from?

Joseph and "Mary"?

The little known book Joseph and Aseneth was composed in Egypt sometime in the early 1st century. Orthodox Jews had no time for it but early Christians found the tale inspiring.

Why? Its heroine is an Egyptian priestess, a model of virginity and chastity, who is secluded in the temple serving the goddess Neith and rejecting all suitors.

Until, that is, a Jew called Joseph turns up. Smitten by this righteous guy, she rejects the old

gods and is "reborn into the Elect of Israel." It just so happens the girl also looks like a Jewess:

The Egyptian Isis and immaculately conceived son of God-Horus.