Jesus Christ the Man: Does the Physical Evidence Hold Up?

[Ali Infree]

If you think cleaning out cabernet in the shower is a problem, what about the lunch special of all-you-can-eat fish sandwiches? A little variety, please!

[crocoduck_hunter]

No kidding. I wanted tuna, but all they had was holy mackerel.

[E. Q. Taft]

Ridiculous. Those nails were melted down and the metal used in forging the swords used by the three Knights of the Cross. Doesn't anyone read the Harry Dresden books?

(Of course, Harry himself has some doubts they were made from the actual nails, but as the power actually comes from the faith of the weilder, it doesn't really matter; as long as people believe in the power, it becomes literal fact. So, if these guys have the real nails, we have to suppress that info or the Knights might lose their power for good. Hmm.)

[E. Q. Taft]

Originally Posted by snopes

Jesus Christ may be the most famous man who ever lived. But how do we know he did?

The article doesn't mention my favorite relic, the Holy Prepuce. Now, if that one could be authenticated, you'd have something. (Unfortuately the one longest venerated was stolen in 1983.)

[Jay Temple]

Originally Posted by Cervus

Depends -- did he get a lot of Hispanic men passing through town?

That reminds me of a conversation I had about Latino players in baseball. I said I'd love for there to be a closer with the first name Jesús. When they interviewed the winning pitcher, he could say, "First of all, I want to thank Jesus for saving me. No, he's right here. You can talk to him!" Not long after that (2003), I actually did see a player named Jesús record a save.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by RobDBlackwolf

How do they know they were Jesus' nails though, and not Brian's?

DNA testing. God donated a sample.

[Mickey Blue]

I'll (rephrase) what a snopester of yore said (sorry don't recall who, it was about the shroud of Turin). Lets say that we learn that there is a 100% chance that these nails were used to crucify Jesus.. How again does that prove that Jesus was the son of God.. Or anything else?

-MB

[fitz1980]

The same way that we prove that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. Church doctrine says that the committee who chose what books to include in the bible was guided by the holy spirit so clearly the bible was the work of God. Hence anything that proves that there was a real Jesus imediatly validates all of what has been said about him.

[dungeondragon18]

Originally Posted by E. Q. Taft

Ridiculous. Those nails were melted down and the metal used in forging the swords used by the three Knights of the Cross. Doesn't anyone read the Harry Dresden books?

Hooray, another Dresden Files fan!

[DesertRat]

I love religious dogmatic circular logic. "My inspired book is true because the deity of my choice says it is. And I know the deity of my choice exists because my inspired book says so."

[fitz1980]

Originally Posted by dungeondragon18

Hooray, another Dresden Files fan!

My GF loves those books.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by DesertRat

I love religious dogmatic circular logic. "My inspired book is true because the deity of my choice says it is. And I know the deity of my choice exists because my inspired book says so."

I was taught an even tighter circle: We know the Bible is the inspired word of God because this scripture in the Bible says so.

[Aimee Evilpixie]

Originally Posted by E. Q. Taft

Ridiculous. Those nails were melted down and the metal used in forging the swords used by the three Knights of the Cross. Doesn't anyone read the Harry Dresden books?

Clearly you didn't read them very well. The nails are forged into the swords, not melted down and used in the blade metal. Micheal's has the nail worked into the crossbrace. #SuperNerd

[zman977]

Originally Posted by Lainie

I was taught an even tighter circle: We know the Bible is the inspired word of God because this scripture in the Bible says so.

I was tough the same thing. My mom still tires to use the same 'logic" when trying to prove to me that there really is a god.

[crocoduck_hunter]

That's one of the most common "proofs" for God I've seen. Only "it must be designed" comes close.

[Jaime Vargas]

I prefer the proofs of St. Thomas Aquinas. At least they're wordier and you have to work harder to find the fallacy.

(Miguel de Unamuno described the fallacy under most of St. Thomas' proofs thus: "I can't understand this with any other explanation; I have to understand it; ergo that must be the explanation")

[Buckle Up]

I was told that there is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than there is evidence for the existence of George Washington. The second time I heard someone say that, I believed it.

I once saw an article with a CGI depiction of what Jesus Christ most likely would have looked like, based on anthropological evidence of the region's inhabitants at that time. It struck me as ironic that Christ probably more closely resembled most Americans' mental image of a Middle Eastern terrorist than of a peaceful white guy.

[Steve Eisenberg]

Originally Posted by Buckle Up

I was told that there is more evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ than there is evidence for the existence of George Washington.

No, but it seems to me highly implausible that Christians would make him up.

Jesus makes a number of quoted statements, in the Gospels, that probably do not correspond to words early Christians would have put in his mouth if they had the choice. For example, Matthew 5:17-18:

Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. . . . Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.

Presumably this includes dietary laws which the new religion didn't observe. Sure, the Christians had ways to explain this Jesus quotation away. But if Jesus was just made up, first century Gospel writers wouldn't have felt a need to preserve his actual words, and instead would have changed them to reflect more closely their own views.

[Buckle Up]

Originally Posted by Steve Eisenberg

But if Jesus was just made up, first century Gospel writers wouldn't have felt a need to preserve his actual words, and instead would have changed them to reflect more closely their own views.

Do we know who the writers were, whom they were affiliated with? Maybe it was people who just wanted to bring down the present religion. I don't really believe that, but just theorizing.

[diddy]

My understanding of the Jewish religion back in the time of Christ was that there were a lot of radical people living in the region coming up with some revolutionary things (for the times). We have records of several of these figures. While I don’t have any doubt that Christ the man walked the earth (I have no reason to doubt that), I don’t think he was any more special than other prophets of the era - he was just more popular with the masses. I don’t attribute any divinity to him at all. I think that he got real popular after he died and people have been trying to piece together things about him that they may or may not really know.

That and they tie him to the Son of God thing, something that will inevitably make people pay more attention to him and allow people to draw a narrative that is difficult to disprove or prove.