Category: philosophy/religion topics
I've been a Hellenic Polytheist for about seven years now, and before that, I had no religion but I did believe that there was some kind of higher power out there. While in college, I took a course in Theology as a requirement (it was a Catholic school) and always challenged the professor, a priest, in everything he said. He enjoyed the fact that I had my own ideas and didn't yes him to death and gave me A's. We were still on friendly terms even after my graduation via friends who would visit the school and send him my regards and vise versa. Anyway, one of the problems that I have when it comes to Jesus is that there are no outside resources on him. Now if there's one thing that I know about followers of Religio Romana, it's that they are, and were, great scholars. Their ancients wrote down everything in the minutest detail to make sure it was preserved. Surely, if such a man existed, they would've written something about him. If he was just a crazed Jewish profit, they might've written that he was stirring up trouble and claiming to be a king of some kind. If he was a gifted healer, then they would've written about his works and may have even called on him. Surely, physicians could benefit from his knowledge. If he demonstrated sufficient evidence to prove he was indeed divine, either as a demigod (which is the only possible way that I could personally accept his divinity) or as a full god, they definitely would've written about that. But the fact is, I know of no ancient sources, Roman or otherwise, that come from outside the Bible that describe him. Converts to Christianity who wrote after their conversion don't count. If such works did exist, it would doubtlessly be very beneficial to the Christians to keep them, so they could use them to convert pagans. So the argument that they were purposely destroyed would make no sense.
So my questions are these. Firstly, to the Christians, how do you explain this? I'm interested in the conservative and the more liberal view. To the nonChristians, if you believe that he was an actual historical figure, why did no one mention him? If you don't believe that he existed, then how, when and where do you think the myths about him originated?
In some parts of the world, people wrote everything down, and in others, people didn't write as much. Jesus was an oral teacher. That may be why he didn't write anything. It is probable that he could write, considering he studdied in England, but had he written anything, most of his followers wouldn't have been able to read it.
The gospels only tell us about a short time in Jesus' life. There are disagreements about the length of time. Governments of the land where Jesus preached oppressed Christians, so it is likely that some were killed to prevent them spreading his message, and the stories that they memorised never got to the people who were writing the gospels.
The Christians who spread to the East would eventually be governed by Muslims, who believed that their faith was the right one. They may have destroyed some important Christian documents.
Christianity was manipulated in its early days to suit the governments of Christian countries and empires. The politicisation of the religion meant that there were several conflicting interpretations of Christianity, and over time it became more difficult to know which interpretation was correct. With over 30000 denominations of Christianity now in existence, we will never know the correct interpretation of Christianity. They may all be wrong.
At the time Jesus existed, so did other figures about whom little or nothing is known. The most documented information seems to relate to government. Jesus was never part of any country's government, so it is not surprising to me that so little was documented while he was alive. That includes his healings. We can't say for definite that Jesus wasn't called upon by physicians, but if he wasn't, that wouldn't be surprising as many people refused to accept Jesus at the time.
I find it hard to believe that somebody could have made something up, that people would follow and spread in all directions at great risk to their personal safety. As people have been able to trace the spreading of Christianity sometimes centries later, they have found things that the versions of Christianity that were spread in separate directions have in common.
I wasn't necessarily referring to the fact that Jesus himself didn't write anything. Neither did Sokrates, though he was a very wise man and surely knew how to do so. Still, that's a very interesting point. I also acknowledge that he may have actually existed. I just find it odd that nothing was written about him by those who were educated. But perhaps, you're right, and those documents were destroyed.