General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: do you believe there was a historical figure the Jesus story was built on? [View all]BlueCheese
(2,522 posts)By historians' usual standards of evidence, it is very likely the man we know as Jesus lived and died as outlined in the New Testament. Obviously whether he was or is divine is a matter of faith. But as Ehrman says, the multiple, somewhat independent accounts of his life, and the inclusion of details that are contrary to what early Christians would like to believe, lead almost all scholars to believe he existed. (As an example of the latter, the Jews at the time believed the messiah would be a great leader--a king, a judge, a warrior-- who would do great things, such as expel the Romans from the Holy Land. He was certainly not supposed to be arrested, tried, and executed by the Romans. That accounts of his life say that this happened make it more likely that it did-- who would want to say that their messiah was squashed so easily?)