Question 46 – Did Jesus really exist?

Jesus Christ is, for many, a highly controversial figure. He makes claims upon our lives, speaks of things unheard of, performs many astounding wonders, and claims equality with God. He himself embodies a multitude of provocative realities that necessitate a stance. Therefore, it is no surprise that many choose to deal with this phenomenon in their own way—by denying his existence. We hear it daily: "Who knows what really happened with Jesus...", "Who knows if Jesus ever existed at all...", "Jesus is just a fiction of the Church to control people..." and so on.

These are very significant assertions for the hundreds of millions of human beings throughout the history of our planet. Yet, I am convinced that these are mere speculations by the uninformed or those with a hostile disposition. I find it very sad that this occurs despite the fact that historical scholarship has definitively put an end to such conjectures. Yes, you read that correctly. Jesus Christ existed as a real and historical person. This is not merely the statement of religious fanatics, but rather an undeniable historical fact. The existence of Jesus Christ is not doubted by nearly any serious historian, including non-believing historians.

Mentions of Jesus are found not just in biblical sources or the writings of the so-called "Church Fathers," but also from ancient non-Christian authors [1]. The Jewish historian Josephus Flavius, the Jewish Talmud, the eminent Roman historians Tacitus, Suetonius, and Thallus, the Roman politician Pliny the Younger, the ancient satirist Lucian of Samosata, the Syrian philosopher Mara Bar Serapion, Emperor Trajan, Phlegon, Hadrian, and others all write about Jesus Christ in some context.

Historian Dr. Edwin Yamauchi unequivocally addresses this topic: 

"From time to time some people have tried to deny the existence of Jesus, but this is really a lost cause... There is overwhelming evidence that Jesus did exist, and these hypothetical questions are really very vacuous and fallacious." [2]

Summation

The existence of Jesus Christ is a historically indisputable fact, not merely a religious dogma. No serious historian denies this reality. This alone does not prove that he was who he claimed to be. However, it is a necessary starting point for further exploration and seeking the truth about His identity.