Archaeologists believe they've found cross of Jesus of Nazareth

[Glassunion]

138. You should not have apologized.

Your OP was fine on its face.

I think that the biggest problem is that folks are having a really hard time separating the historical figure: Yeshua (Aramaic) --> Iesous (Greek) --> Jesus (English), from the religious figure the Christ.

Here is how I see it. Whether you believe in a Creator or not, be you Atheist, Agnostic, Theist, Deist, or any of the other multitudes of non-belief\belief, and just simply look at the evidence that is available, which is quite sparse, yet still there. One can come to the conclusion that the figure Yeshua ben Yosef existed. The problem as I see it with dismissing the very existence of the figure based solely on the amount of what little evidence exists is not a logical approach. It ignores the evidence that does exist.

That said… How easy would it be to prove the existence of a figure, who lived almost two thousand years ago? How easy would it be if that figure lived a Spartan lifestyle, owning only what he carried on his back? How easy would it be if that person also never took root and moved from place to place? How easy would it be to find documents of that person’s life if the culture and time he lived in, was mostly illiterate, and relied heavily on oral tradition and teachings? Damn near impossible if you ask me. Now how about if in Jerusalem (where he was executed), there was a siege, the city sacked and eventually destroyed a short 40 years after this figure’s death. Then, pile onto that the Roman Empire quite diligently worked to exterminate that figures followers for they were a threat to the empire. Here is a man history tried to erase.

But, let’s look at another character who lived at the same time: Pontius Pilatus, the prefect of the Roman Province of Judea. He lived during the same time, in the same area and in the same culture. What evidence is there that he even existed? Well, there are the Gospels, but to appease I will ignore those completely. Josephus (37AD – 100AD), a scholar who’s works were focused mainly on the Roman-Jewish war, Jewish history and a philosophy of Judaism. Now this man was alive during the period and had firsthand knowledge of the culture, and its leadership. His works, mention Pilatus, however he also mentions Jesus’ crucifixion, the stoning of James his brother, and imprisonment and execution of John the Baptist. There is also Tacitus, a roman senator and historian who mentions Pilatus, but in the same passage he mentions Christ. Then there is the last little bit of evidence… A stone with the inscription of Pilatus’ name and title as prefect. That’s it. Now, did Pontius exist?

Not all evidence of Jesus is from the gospels, but the way I see it is that Christianity had to start somewhere, and for its centerpiece (Jesus) to have been a completely fictional figure, I personally find it hard to believe. I feel that you have an oppressed culture, with the boot of an empire on everyone’s neck. All the while that oppressed culture’s leadership is far more interested in Rome’s money than the care of its people. Imagine to suddenly have a revolutionary figure. A man who was one of the oppressed people, who changed and shook the foundations of their culture, who went into the heart of their hallowed temple and started tossing the banker’s tables, was not playing by their rules, a man who was a direct threat to their entire system. The leadership of course would want to erase this man completely. But that man’s ideas struck a nerve at the right time and the right place.