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Originally Posted by martinguerre
Well...not quite.
There is evidence outside of the NT. Josephus writes of Jesus in his work Antiquities.
Paul writes 1 Thessalonians in the late 40's, early 50's. That's about 20 years after Gogoltha. Granted, it's a hearsay account, but he does create a working record of there being a Christian community at that time for whom it is meaningful to talk of a man named Jesus.
We can argue over whether or not any of the Gospel writers knew Jesus directly. Mark is written shortly after the revolt in 70-2 AD. Frankly, i think its quite likely that the author knew Jesus directly...
Simply, i don't think that it's a very tenable position to deny that Jesus existed. beyond that, it's certainly more contested. but it seems to me to be a pretty thin argument to claim that he did not exist at all.
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josephus wasn't born until a few years after jesus's death. to my knowledge, there are <b>zero</b> contemporary references to jesus. during the time he supposidly lived there were others (with contemporary documentation of their lives) who claimed to be the messiah, rise from the dead, perform miracles, etc.
considering what the world was like back then, it doesn't surprise me that people would be able to be convinced that jesus was real and did what he did. i think to believe in him based on teh current references we have is a pretty thin argument. i see no reason to believe in him just as you see no reason to believe that hercules once lived on earth.
my current personal belief is that he may or may not have existed. if he did, he was a normal man, maybe preached a bit. but that what was written about him is about as true as the harry potter books are.