The Character of Jesus:
Who is Jesus? He's a character in a storybook. Jesus does not really exist.
Why do people say he exists or existed? Because it's a main factor in their religion, and they've been told over and over again that he must be "real".
Are there any evidences to the existence of Jesus? No, there is none. Many times we hear lame-ass xians attempt to make the argument that "other sources mention Jesus outside of the bible"... but we kind of know as fact by now that there is nothing contemporary that gives evidence of Jesus. The bible was written well after Jesus supposedly existed. Other sources, like Josephus, who was born 37CE, is not contemporary. His mentions of Jesus are out of context, show a blatant interpolation pattern, is missing from earlier copies of the works of Josephus, Josephus wouldn't have referred to Jesus as "the Christ" or "the truth". I could go on. Basically any source you heard that theists/xians attempt to bring forth are stories written well after the story supposedly took place. Many of the stories are just that - stories written from people's beliefs. Like Tacitus for example (sometime after 117CE) - he could have just been repeating the then-believed stories of xianity - he offers us no new information - yet xians attempt to assert that just because a story is written about Jesus - that that must add to Jesus' validity. I'm sorry, you're wrong.
Was Jesus really a child molester? I took a poll from roughly 50 catholic priests. They swear to it. I'm doing nothing but reporting the news. =) *grin*
What do we know about the character Jesus? Well, his birthday is unknown. In fact, his birthday cannot be known. The writers of Mattew say he was born "in the days of Herod the king"... heh, Herod died in 4BCE. But here we have Luke reporting that Jesus was born "when Cyrenius was governor of Syria".. That Cyrenius guy became governor of Syria in 6CE. We got a lag of about 10 years there. I could go on but... must I?
So how did the Jesus myth originate? Welp, there are a number of different ideas. Some say the character of Jesus was patterned after in the Jewish Talmudic literature about the illegitimate son of a woman named Miriam (Mary). Another view is that the Jesus myth grew out of a pre-xian cult of Joshua. Others say that Jesus story could simply be a fanciful patchwork of pieces borrowed from other religions. There are plenty of other ideas. The hypothetical scenario that Jesus actually existed, or someone like him of which it was based off of, is just another wild guess. We can't know that. Besides if Jesus wasn't really believed to be a real person by the earliest xians, if he was said to be real later, I guess that that casts doubt on that idea anyhow.
"There is nothing more negative than the result of the critical study of the life of Jesus... The historical Jesus will be to our time a stranger and an enigma..." -Albert Schweitzer
The Claims of Jesus
More than twenty claims of this kind -- claims of beings invested with divine honor (deified) -- have come forward and presented themselves at the bar of the world with their credentials, to contest the verdict of Christendom, in having proclaimed Jesus Christ, "the only son, and sent of God:" twenty Messiahs, Saviors, and Sons of God, according to history or tradition, have, in past times, descended from heaven, and taken upon themselves the form of men, clothing themselves with human flesh, and furnishing incontestable evidence of a divine origin, by various miracles, marvelous works, and superlative virtues; and finally these twenty Jesus Christs (accepting their character for the name) laid the foundation for the salvation of the world, and ascended back to heaven.
1. Chrishna of Hindostan.
2. Budha Sakia of India.
3. Salivahana of Bermuda.
4. Zulis, or Zhule, also Osiris and Orus, of Egypt.
5. Odin of the Scaudinavians.
6. Crite of Chaldea.
7. Zoroaster and Mithra of Persia.
8. Baal and Taut, "the only Begotten of God," of Phenicia.
9. Indra of Thibet.
10. Bali of Afghanistan.
11. Jao of Nepaul.
12. Wittoba of the Bilingonese.
13. Thammuz of Syria.
14. Atys of Phrygia.
15. Xaniolxis of Thrace.
16. Zoar of the Bonzes.
17. Adad of Assyria.
18. Deva Tat, and Sammonocadam of Siam.
19. Alcides of Thebes.
20. Mikado of the Sintoos.
21. Beddru of Japan.
22. Hesus or Eros, and Bremrillah, of the Druids.
23. Thor, son of Odin, of the Gauls.
24. Cadmus of Greece.
25. Hil and Feta of the Mandaites.
26. Gentaut and Quexalcote of Mexico.
27. Universal Monarch of the Sibyls.
28. Ischy of the Island of Formosa.
29. Divine Teacher of Plato.
30. Holy One of Xaca.
31. Fohi and Tien of China.
32. Adonis, son of the virgin Io of Greece.
33. IxiOn and Quirinus of Rome.
34. Prometheus of Caucasus.
35. Mohamud, or Mahomet, of Arabia.
Credits for info on this page