Honestly, we could get off on this tangent of Jesus vs Caesar, but I think that most likely (certainly in Caesars case) they were both alive in their attributed times. I am more interested in this: Given that Jesus did exist, how do you account for almost all of the stories surrounding his birth, life and death had been previously attributed to characters at least hundreds of years earlier. Including being of divine father and mortal mother, known as the savior of the world, Prophets foretold his birth and claimed he would be a king, which started a search by a leader who wanted to kill him, walked on water, called "son of god", born of a virgin mother, healed the sick and turned water to wine, he was killed but was resurrected and became immortal, reatest accomplishment was his own death, which delivers humanity itself, known as light of the world and The good shepherd and Lamb and refereed to as The way, the truth, and the life. birth was witnessed by local shepherds who brought him gifts, had 12 disciples, when he was done on earth he had a final meal before going up to heaven. On judgment day he’ll return to pass judgment on the living and the dead, The good will go to heaven, and the evil will die in a giant fire. miraculous conception that wise men were able to come to because they were guided by a star, After he was born an area ruler tried to have him found and killed. His parents were warned by a divine messenger, however, and they escaped and was met by shepherds.He healed the sick, cured the blind and deaf, and he walked on water. And more.
There was already comments about that. Also some of the stories were revised after Christ; even though the characters are older. Meaning; the pagan stories evolved long after Christianity existed.
I know that there were writings of many of them from centuries before Jesus. Do you have a way that you reconcile tales of walking on water and turning water into wine existing before Jesus? Or, do you just not contemplate this issue?
Well what ever! I do know that after careful study, I prefer to live among the Christians, the Jews and Buddhists are ok too. The atheists are just too unpredictable and the Moslem's are just plain intolerant, they call me Infidel. Worse yet, they have a plethora of unspeakables they prescribe in their good book as to what to do with the likes of me.
I guess I've never really understood the zeal with which atheists spend their time telling anyone who will listen exactly what they don't believe in. Seems like rather odd behavior to me. Not that I expect it will change many minds, but here's a pretty decent presentation of some of the secular historical evidence for Jesus: http://www.probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4223639/k.567/Ancient_Evidence_for_Jesus_from_NonChristian_Sources.htm
Like I said, Jesus could manifest himself in front of these people and they would still not believe. Hell he was alive back then, performing miracles and people still didn't believe. They will believe one day. That I'm sure of.
no idea what you mean by that. I was just saying most atheists would actually be fairly easy to convert to believers if a god existed and had any interest in their belief.
Most atheists just follow the evidence. If there is tangible evidence, we believe. I'm willing to believe in the strange and bizarre if there is evidence, I believe in quantum entanglement, and what's more spooky than that?
