Is there any actual proof that Jesus was a real human being?

My wife and I were discussing this the other night and we're on opposite ends of the spectrum.  She says that there are artifacts, ancient records and things like that that prove Jesus was an actual person and actually existed.

I've never really seen, read or heard of anything that does so like some type of death record, etc.  Is there any type of actual artifact (other than scriptures and the Bible) that can corroborate it?

I say no there is not. 

What do you think?

Comments

[lemonie]

No. People have made claims about things to be artefacts, but since you've been specific in using the word proof, none exists that I know of. And if your wife knew of any proof you would surely have mentioned it.

L

[Jack A Lopez]

You know one of the reasons more of these artifacts have not survived into the modern era is the Third Reich.  That's right:  Unscrupulous, grasping, power-mad Nazis.  If it weren't for them scouring the world's archeological sites pilfering every magical artifact they could get their hands on,  then the Holy Grail would probably be in the Smithsonian now, either there or some forgotten government warehouse somewhere...

[ismail200]

Is Jesus son of God or a human person? this should be the question
If Jesus Claim form the Christian that he was a son of god my next question would be why not God himself come to earth and should show us the right way or to pray for him directly ?.
That was the question of the jewish have asked Prof. Mouses we need God to see and to pray to and have made image of a cow to pray to .
Do you know what happened and what you have learned from Prof. Mouses story. please read your Bible and the story will go on as Mouses requested God to show himself to him but what happened a small light from God appeared to the Mountain . the mountain destroyed.
You all reading the bible but we do not understand. God is made from different chemistery then ourself . we are all his creation including Jesus.
Please be careful use you mind and good thinking. I hope I have help you and others.

[Prfesser]

"Proof" is for mathematics.  A collection of stories edited over a number of centuries by a number of people, some of whom are unknown or poorly documented, is poor evidence and would be unlikely to be accepted by Judge Judy or any other court. :)

For a different view of biblical stories, check out http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/

[ddanos]

right and George Washington was fake too because we can't get physical proof that he existed other than written stories. its pretty damn obvious that jesus was a man who walked the earth and claimed to be god, if you deny that than you're just being pretty damn ignorant. now man cannot prove of god or prove that jesus was a living human being of god but who is anybody to say that he wasnt? you cant prove hes not real just as much as you cant prove he is. its all a personal preference whether god is real or not. its like trying to argue whos the best band ever. who has the right to argue something like that, its an opinion

[iPodGuy]

George Washington is buried at Mount Vernon and you can buy locks of his hair on eBay.

Pretty sure he's real.

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Thousands of people saw and knew Jesus. Many atheists believe that He existed, but He was not God. Most people actually believe he was a real historical figure, just disagree with who exactly he is, and where He came from.

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

(removed by author or community request)

[bedlamcchc]

that is just about the most funny thing ive ever heard hahahhahahahahahahahaha the concept of god is man made by what i have found

[DELETED_Griffdog28jr]

Why doesn't god give us proof then? God and religion has the same amount of proof as the Grinch that Stole Christmas. A BOOK

[emkiby]

Someone should pray to God and ask him to do or give them something and reply if he dose or not

[The Dark Lord]

Yes! There is the shroud they put on his face after they placed him in his tomb. It is now at The Cathedral of saint john the baptist in noth Italy. See the link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shroud_of_Turin

[The Dark Lord]

edit: I meant NORTH Italy.

[kel247]

There is historical evidence, excluding scripture, that Jesus existed

The Jewish Historian Jospehus wrote the following in the first century AD.

"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ." (Antiquities of the Jews 18.63-64)

There is an article on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus) which lists other sources of evidence.

Personally I believe in Jesus Christ because I am Spirit Filled and I speak in tongues just as Jesus said would happen to those who believe (Mark 16 : 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; ... they shall speak with new tongues ).

[bulletproofkevlar]

wikipedia is not a source for evidence just like lopez above with his indiana jones trivia

[jtobako]

You might have to admit that there was some guy named Iusus preaching revolution just after the Romans invaded Palestine-not that any paperwork survived, but there were a lot of people running around preaching at that time, and at least one of them could have had that name ; )

Then again, there has been 2000 years of 'scholarship' dedicated to producing (notice, not FINDING) some of those artifacts with his name on them. 

[rclob]

IpodGuy:  With all due respect, I realize that you wish to toss out the Bible as a reference, but the book of Luke is full of eye witness accounts of Jesus and his life written by a man who personally interviewed the eyewitnesses.  If that is not enough proof then nothing is going to convince you one way or another.  Why is the Bible worse than any artifact?  Your question really boils down to, "Can we believe that the Bible is the word of God?"  Here's what works for me:

Start with the concept of world view...your filter that you filter all the information coming into your head with or the road-map you use to navigate through life with.  There are two basic starting points neither of which can be proven for certain.  Choose between, "Man comes from the mud and is essentially good," or "Man is created in the image of God, is fallen, and in desperate need of a Saviour."  Pick one.  Either choice leads to very different places.  Now, which one leads to the better place?  Which world view would you rather live with?  Which one explains World War 1 and if you still don't get it...World War 2?  This isn't rocket science.  Just look at the world around you and choose the world view that best fits the evidence.  After you've made your choice, why waffle on your choice?  Embrace it!  Embrace your wife too.  You've got a good one!

Jack A Lopez:  The Old Testament of the Bible is full of prophecy on "Messiah."  All of your references only partially fulfil the prophecies.  They are all counterfeits.  The biggest counterfeit is not on your list and is yet to come...You ain't seen nothin' yet!

[MahavishnuMan]

Don't you know?  The lack of hard physical evidence is part of God's plan to test your faith.  You fail.

By that token, so do I.

Granted, as Doctor What says, the evidence we seek may have just vanished in the sands of time.  But what survives are many accounts of other mythical entities (as Jack A Lopez pointed out) that predate Jesus' appearance in history, some by so much as over a thousand years.

Personally, I have faith in quantum mechanics.  It offers scientific and verifiable explanations for everything from the moment of creation to miraculous New Testament manifestations such as word of knowledge (telepathy, perhaps through quantum entanglement).  While many of its precepts defy common logic and even, in some cases, must be taken on faith, their behavior is evident throughout nature and seems irrefutable - plus, since these miracles can be (somewhat) understood and reproduced, they can be applied to make our world a better place.

That's not to say that the concepts of Christianity cannot be applied to better society, it's just evident to me that most self-professing Christians choose not to, opting instead to use salvation as "fire insurance".  It's a good thing for them that the grace of God forgives all that sin.

[Jack A Lopez]

This might seem like kind of a dumb question, but how does one consider the question of a "historical Jesus" in the context of all the other Jesus-like legends that pre-date Jesus?

E.g.

Horus of Egypt:
Born on December 25th of the virgin Isis-Meri.His birth was accompanied by a star in the east, which in turn, three kings followed to locate and adorn the new-born savior. At the age of 12, he was a prodigal child teacher, and at the age of 30 he was baptized by a figure known as Anup, and thus began his ministry. Horus had 12 disciples he traveled about with, performing miracles such as healing the sick and walking on water. Horus was known by many gestural names such as The Truth, The Light, God's Annointed Son, The Good Shepherd, The Lamb of God, and many others. After being betrayed by Typhon, Horus was crucified, buried for 3 days, and subsequently resurrected.

Attis of Phyrigia:
Born of the virgin Nana on December 25th, crucified, placed in a tomb and after 3 days, was resurrected.

Krishna of India:
Born of the virgin Devaki with a star in the east signaling his coming, performed miracles with his disciples, and upon his death was resurrected.

Dionysus of Greece:
Born of a virgin on December 25th, was a traveling teacher who performed miracles such as turning water into wine, he was referred to as the "King of Kings," "God's Only Begotten Son," "The Alpha and Omega," and many others, and upon his death, he was resurrected.

Mithra of Persia:
Born of a virgin on December 25th, he had 12 disciples and performed miracles, and upon his death was buried for 3 days and thus resurrected, he was also referred to as "The Truth," "The Light," and many others. Interestingly, the sacred day of worship of Mithra was Sunday.

That is to say even if there was a person named Jesus living in the middle east circa 0 AD, all the stories attributed to Him are much older, and besides it's the story that's the important part. 

BTW, I'm not a student of ancient folklore.  All the legendary winter-solstice-messiahs in the blockquote above were mentioned in the Zeitgeist Movie. Notes here:
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/transcript.htm
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/sources.htm

[Ted_lens]

No

If there would, everyone would be religious and of the same religion. And how can someone quote the bible as proof? that someone wrote it down doesn't mean its true.

[Re-design]

Even if you could prove that Jesus was real, that wouln't make everyone the same religion.  There are lots of things that are proven and people still don't believe or respect them.

[seandogue]

There are peripheral sources that indicate he *may have been, but afaik, no concrete proof that the person portrayed in the New Testament was a singular, real person.

Bottom line is, who cares? Isn't the philosophy more important than the face? (And I'm not speaking religion, just the positive philosophical concepts that "he" represents.)

[Jack A Lopez]

A lot of people seem to be confused by this point.

You see the reason why they never found Jesus's body is because He ascended bodily into the sky, and presumably Heaven, which lies somewhere beyond the sky.  He took His body with Him... into Heaven.  Seriously, like 11, maybe 13 people saw Him do it. It says so right in the scripture, um here:
http://net.bible.org/bible.php?book=Act&chapter=1#n12

Acts 1:9

After He had said this, while they were watching, He was lifted up and a cloud hid Him from their sight. 1:10 As they were still staring into the sky while He was going, suddenly two men in white clothing stood near them 1:11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way you saw Him go into heaven.”

Your wife probabaly already told you that part.

BTW, if you need more proof than this,  then Christianity might not be for you.
;-)

Regarding arguments with your wife.  Just let her win.  You'll both be happier that way.

[orksecurity]

What I think is that the whole point of "faith" is that it is something believed without proof, so no matter which way your question breaks it will ultimately not change any minds. In either direction.

[steveastrouk]

I think there ARE contemporaneous Roman records of someone with that name, with followers, but no references to "miracles"

[Doctor What]

 I know this sounds weird, but bear with me.  While there is no physical evidence that I have heard of, but the lack of evidence could be associated with the extreme time difference.

It is entirely possible that he did exist, as a man roaming around the lands, spewing absolute nonsense.  

Like tall tales of today, people take real life examples (people who actually existed) and glorify them with supernatural powers (think John Henry, Blackbeard, Johnny Appleseed, etc.).  This could very well be the case with "Jesus Christ".

[NachoMahma]

.  Not that I know of. Some anecdotal evidence, but no proof.

[Re-design]

Well, I've never seen anything that proves that you are real.

[omnivaal]

If you're excluding the Bible and scriptures than nothing I've ever seen or heard of. There's about as much fact in the Bible as in an average supermarket gossip magazine, probably less. What will be interesting though is the "facts" that will be posted here by believers.