Verified answer

no, most scholars and historians, at least the credible ones, agree Jesus of Nazareth walked the earth

The bible is what is called "Faction" A fictional story set in a factual time and place. Thus the time, place and real historical characters are all correct but the fictional characters and stories are not!

There is not one single mention of Jesus in the entire Roman record - that is right - not one! At the same time as he was supposed to have been around there were a number of Jews claiming to be the messiah - all of whom are well recorded!

There is not a single contemporary record from any source and even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death!

He was supposed to have been a huge problem to the Romans and produced wonderful miracles but still not one contemporary record?

Even the bible mentions of him like all other references were not written until many years after his supposed death!

Pilate is recorded in the Roman record as a somewhat lack luster man but no mention of a Jesus, a trial or crucifixion that would surely have been used to make him look brighter!

At best he was an amalgam of those others but almost certainly never existed!

Sorry for all of you guys who think that Jesus was a myth, but you are wrong. Jesus appears clearly in the writing of of Jewish/Roman historian Josephus, and First Century records of his disciples clearly exist. The letters of Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) were written in the First century, by a first Century Jew who was a contemporary of Jesus, even though they never met. There are more than enough non-Biblical sources that establish that a man named Jesus lived in Nazareth in the First Century CE.

There is no need to believe in Jesus' divinity, or any Christian tenets or principles. But, guys, history is history. The existence of Jesus, and his effects on First Century Palestinian society is studied just as widely by Jewish, Agnostic and Atheist historians today. You shouldn't let your fear and loathing of Christianity block intelligent study of history. Whether or not the Canonical stores of jesus are true or not is a matter of theological debate. The existence of Jesus of Nazareth is history.

Its quite obvious several of these answerers pick and choose their "reliable" resources. There is plenty of recorded (non-Biblical) evidence that a man named Jesus of Nazareth lived around the time Christians say He did (some even non-Christian writers). This type of question has been asked before and there has been many proofs given of these non-Biblical writings talking about a man named Jesus whom became popular with the people.

Atleast do some honest research

It seems likely that many of the stories attributed to Jesus are either apocryphal or simply of unknown origin. That some person named Jesus of Nazareth lived seems likely, but probably not in the manner described (even ignoring the mysticism).

I doubt it...

I mean Horus, and other gods were all born of a virgin. What about the Jesus story makes it more credible? I'm being dead serious here. Seriously what, about the biblical versions of Jesus make him any more real than any other 'savior' out there?

He died young, had no family tomb, not really any physical evidence he ever existed. Just rumor, hearsay, and a set of books written YEARS after his death.

I think the story might be based on a real person, but I doubt that person would even recognize it.

There is no reason to think the crucifixion ever happened.

If he was a real person, it could well be that we know almost nothing about him - the Gospel stories could be nearly 100% fabrication. The reasons for that are enough for a moderate-length essay. So even if he was an actual person, I'm not sure how much that matters.

Numerous people, including biblical scholars, say there is zero evidence for his existence. So, yes, many intelligent, educated, respected people do not believe "he" was a singular person who did all the stuff, even just the non-miraculous stuff, he is credited with. (People like to parrot that "no serious, respected scholar doubts that he lived", but it simply isn't true.)

Watch for Richard Carrier's book on the subject due to come out soon. (I hope.) There are other books already published.

The biblical character obviously belongs to the realm of myth, regardless of whether that character was inspired by some actual person about whom absolutely nothing is known, including how he died.

It is probable that many Greek gods, particularly the deified heroes, were based upon real people, but do we then say that they actually lived?

No.

I couldn't give 2 sh!ts, because it's obvious he wasn't a God. All ancient God myths are blatant fairy tales. If he did exist as a person you would think there would be plenty of records (outside of the fairy tale Bible) of his existence, but in fact there isn't any reliable records. The Romans were meticulous with keeping records and they never mentioned Jesus.