Unpopular Opinion

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Jesus was a historical person. This doesn’t mean Christianity is correct, but there is sufficient historical evidence and most mainstream scholars of the era agree on this. (lemmy.world)

submitted 4 days ago by andros_rex@lemmy.world to c/unpopularopinion@lemmy.world

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I think Lemmy has a problem with history in general, since most people on here have degrees/training in STEM. I see a lot of inaccurate “pop history” shared on here, and a lack of understanding of historiography/how historians analyze primary sources.

The rejection of Jesus’s historicity seems to be accepting C S Lewis’s argument - that if he existed, he was a “lunatic, liar, or lord,” instead of realizing that there was nothing unusual about a messianic Jewish troublemaker in Judea during the early Roman Empire.

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[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrim without his consent.

Again, the existence of a historical Jesus does not mean miracles or resurrection or God. This is childish, reactive anti-theism.

[–] can_you_change_your_username@fedia.io 6 points 4 days ago

The majority of scholars agree that while Josephus likely mentioned Jesus, the more explicit references to his divinity and resurrection are the product of later Christian interpolations, aimed at enhancing the narrative to align with Christian doctrine.

https://www.bartehrman.com/josephus/

Josephus was born shortly after a historical Jesus would have died. His mentions of Jesus in his writings was from more than sixty years later when christians were an active and growing cult in the region where he lived. I agree that Jesus was likely a historical person but Josephus is only a point of evidence for it. It's the easiest known mention of Jesus and not too much after he would have lived but Josephus's writings are far from proof of a historical Jesus.