5 Reasons to Believe that Jesus Never Existed
Studying the sources of religious texts should undoubtedly be one of the fascinating activities in the field of scientific knowledge. In this case, we will dive into one of the most important stories in Western history: Jesus of Nazareth.
Philosophy has taught us to question everything and when it comes to religious narratives, seduction is even greater. Is it possible that the myth of Jesus Christ is based on fallacies? In fact, is it possible that Jesus of Nazareth did not even exist?
Know these 5 Reasons to Believe that Jesus Never Existed.
5. There is no Mention of Jesus in the Pagan Texts
J4RED-LETO / TUMBLR
Perhaps the most obvious of reasons minimized for centuries by Christians, but important enough to take it into account. This argument indicates that there is no evidence of the life of Jesus of Nazareth in texts of his time.
This means that no document of the time, from a non-Christian source, mentions Jesus of Nazareth, nor are there any allusions to his figure in rumors. It is worth clarifying that despite the millennia that separate us from that time, we have great historical documentation of the time, made by government officials, historians, and poets. No mention of Jesus.
4. Jesus according to Modernity
Many Christian historians have abandoned the idea of a “Magical” Jesus and have gone to look for a symbolic meaning based on a historical character. Thus Jesus went from being the Messiah to a Pharisee, philosopher, Hasida and even shaman of the time.
However, not only is there no tangible evidence that Jesus has performed any of these trades, but historians seem to contradict each other, leaving the matter in a nebula of uncertainty.
3. The Pauline Epistles do not talk about the Life of Jesus
LEONARDO DAVINCI / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The Pauline epistles were a series of letters whose authorship is attributed to St. Paul (Paul of Tarsus) and which confirm the principles of the Christian canon. The purpose of these letters was to instruct Christians about how to behave as well as to spread their doctrine.
The most interesting thing is that even in these texts, written around the first century, there is no mention of Jesus as a historical figure. Yes, it is mentioned in a statement, as a verse throughout the length of the text, but of course, this does not yield any evidence about its physical existence.
2. Even the Gospels are Contradictory
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The four Gospels, charged with narrating the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth, present severe contradictions among themselves. Perhaps the most notorious example is that of the day of the resurrection, where different sources give different data.
Depending on the gospel that is read, the data that we are going to obtain. If the Gospel of John says that “a woman” visited the tomb of Christ on Sunday, the Gospel of Matthew will say that it was two women and Mark three. In turn, the Gospels of Matthew and John say that it was still dark while that of Mark will say that the sun had hardly come out.
But the contradictions get worse when we come to the resurrection, this will also vary according to the author. For Matthew, Jesus appeared somewhere between the tomb and Jerusalem, for John was simply out of his grave, for Mark appeared in Galilee; 130 km from Jerusalem, and for Lucas it was on the way to Emmaus, 11 km from that city.
1. Jesus fits perfectly with the concept of Mitema Levi Straussiano
For the ethnologist Claude Levi Strauss, the mythic story is composed of small fractions of irreducible stories that orchestrate in their entirety a larger narrative and that is often repeated in different cultures.
We can not fail to point out that the story of Jesus, as we know it, corresponds to the same myths (irreducible portions of the myth) that other religious stories such as death and resurrection use, as well as several characters that find their parallel.
