Fellow Atheists....?

Question

So, we dont believe in God, but do you believe that the man Jesus actually existed?

Answer 1

yup, a man called Jesus- that I can believe, Son of God- no.

Answer 2

Possibly.  But so did a lot of other self-procaimed Messiahs.  The evidence is so poor and the history/legends so intertwined that it's probably impossible to straighten it out now.

Answer 3

There were supposed to at least at least two according to the infamous story. One Jesus was to be crucified for challenging the Roman authorities and another Jesus was to be crucified for challenging the Roman authorities. One of these Jesuses was called the son of the father and the other was called Jesus Barabbas and Barabbas means the son of the father.

What are the chances of that?  

The one who was called the son of the father was wasted and the one who was actually called the son of the father was let off for some reason that the story records but Roman history does not.

Methinks the story is only a story.

Answer 4

I believe a man named Jesus existed around the time  the bible says he did.  I don't believe he was divine in any way though.

Answer 5

Yes. I believe that there was a man named Jesus around the time that the Bible claims and that probably he was a peacemaker just as the book claims. His speaking about ideas of peace and tolerance was then radically exaggerated into the God Incarnate story.

What was it Douglas Adams wrote?

“And then, on Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change...”

Some of the fundamental ideas aren't so bad, really, but the whole shebang wasn't for me.

Answer 6

You as a atheist asked other fellow atheist for their views

and you got atheist thoughts.

Answer 7

he could well have lived and the story of his life has been passed on and changed around over the years. we atheists are open minded after all.

Answer 8

yes. i think that its at the british museum but im not sure, but somewhere there is a roman scrole of a census or birth certificate or someting, and a jesus was alive at this time. do i believe that he is the son of god? pah! of course not!

Answer 9

Nope, not as they describe him or would like him to be anyway.  As I understand, Jesus was as common a name back in day as it is in Mexico today so if you come back 2,000 years from now and ask if there once was a Mexican named Jesus, what do you think the answer would be?

Answer 10

As a man, yes, but as a son of god capable of performing miracles...well...no BUT, as with god, my mind is not closed to the possibility of such things; not believing in him is my choice, claiming he does not exist would be arrogant and illogical.

Answer 11

There could have been lots of people named Jesus and some of them could have been as good as Paul Daniels, it is all supposition. But there is the possibility he did exist but there is still no concrete evidence to support that claim. Oh yeah I can answer that he was resurrected on the 3rd day, that's why there is nothing to record him ever being here. A good cop out for the religious leaders. It all seems to be a cop out all the way.

Answer 12

maybe he did, maybe he didnt

but many men have existed

and you have to lose your grip on reality to believe this jewish carpenter was anything other than a mere mortal

Answer 13

I know a Jesus! If you mean Jesus the son of God, most Atheists have a common logical problem with this, but other men named Jesus, yup, there's lots. Even today. But none around the time you think Jesus lived, because they didn't have "J" then in Hebrew. Or at all. The more accurate translation would be something like Yeshua phonetically or Yahushua.

Answer 14

It seems quite likely there was a Jesus that the stories are based on, but there would have been many 'profits' and so forth about at the time, someone took a shine to this particular one, and ran with it:)

Answer 15

there probably was some guy named Jesus... Several guys.  

Answer 16

I believe that a controversial Jewish Rabbi named Jesus could have existed 2000yrs ago.

Answer 17

Maybe.

Although Paul, the founder of christianity, could have easily lied about it all.

Answer 18

Yes I think he did.

Answer 19

You will find out when you die then it will be too late to decide to believe that there certainly is a God that Jesus died on the Cross to save us all and that there is a heaven for righteous and h**l for the evil ones.

God bless you all

Answer 20

Yes I do.

*drink*

Answer 21

Possibly - there isn't enough evidence either way. It's immaterial at any rate, because even if he did exist, there would have been nothing supernatural about him.

Answer 22

There is no hard evidence since the gospels are not proven to be, and do not claim to be, contemporaneous accounts.

EDIT someone mentions the AD and BC aspect of the calendar- the AD was only devised in around 525AD, and only universally adopted in western Europe some time after 700AD.

Answer 23

I don't believe that Jesus was Son of God. If a man named Jesus was real, he was just a wise man (a madman, that is) that made a mark on Jewish history, leading to Christianity. There really isn't much evidence of his existence except in the Bible.

Jesus is kinda like King Arthur. We don't know the true story behind the legends. For example, we're not too certain that King Arthur really existed either, and the historians are still trying to find accurate historical accounts behind the Arthurian legends--there are chances that the person of King Arthur really existed or that King Arthur was based on a real figure during that period. Who knows. Jesus must have made such an impression that people exaggerated him in the Gospels (which were, by the way, written a few decades after Jesus' death), taking the Old Testament for granted--or Jesus may be based on someone else during that time...like on a Jewish carpenter or something like that.

That's what I think.

Answer 24

Yes I do believed a good man named Jesus did live during the time stated in the Bible.

Answer 25

I would say most probably.

Answer 26

yes i believe A jesus existed around that time but it is absurd he is the son of god.

Answer 27

There are non-religious reports of him being alive, he apparently was born in the year 6 BC, making 'Before Christ' kinda a silly name :P he was 6 years old when AD started :S Christmas my ****

Answer 28

It doesn't matter, he was neither divine nor inspiring.