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Jesus was a historical person. This doesn’t mean Christianity is correct, but there is sufficient historical evidence and most mainstream scholars of the era agree on this. (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/unpopularopinion@lemmy.world
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I think Lemmy has a problem with history in general, since most people on here have degrees/training in STEM. I see a lot of inaccurate “pop history” shared on here, and a lack of understanding of historiography/how historians analyze primary sources.

The rejection of Jesus’s historicity seems to be accepting C S Lewis’s argument - that if he existed, he was a “lunatic, liar, or lord,” instead of realizing that there was nothing unusual about a messianic Jewish troublemaker in Judea during the early Roman Empire.

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[–] [S] 1 point 10 months ago (1 child)

I think the difference between doubting Pythagoras and doubting Jesus is that no one is claiming g Pythagoras existed to bolster their claims on holding a moral superiority.

Pythagoras literally ran a mystery cult, and was associated for centuries with magical/divine powers after. Look at what probably happened to Hippasus.

Modern Bible scholars disconnect any ideas about moral superiority. The goal is to understand Jesus as a man, to the point where you can find polemics by modern Christian scholars about how godless the field is.

It’s good to question things, but there needs to be reasoning behind your question. There needs to be some sort of explanation of how a conspiracy developed to make a guy up who was crucified (Jewish conceptions of the Messiah at the time were more a kingly type ordained to overthrow the Roman yoke, and crucifixion is a pretty humiliating death…) Where is the motive, means and opportunity for a bunch of people to simultaneously decide this guy existed?

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    No one alive today cares. At the time, sure. No one is a part of his cult today, unlike Jesus's cult.

    Modern Bible scholars disconnect any ideas about moral superiority.

    Like I said, it's based on knowledge from people who didn't. I feel like you're purposefully ignoring parts of what I said.

    It’s good to question things, but there needs to be reasoning behind your question.

    There does not need to be reasoning to not believe something. There needs to be reasoning to believe something. I don't believe Jesus existed in the same way I don't believe any other person who we don't know about existed. I just don't hold a belief. It doesn't matter to me, and I haven't seen enough evidence to actively hold a belief, and I don't care enough to try. It's not important to me.

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