Despite popular belief, Jesus of Nazareth never actually existed.
The myth of Jesus Christ in its modern form was described first by Mark after the year 70. We know that it was after the year 70 because Mark mentions the destruction of the hebrew temple which can be accurately dated by historians. All of the other gospels are clearly derived from mark. The connection between the supposed death of Jesus and the gospel of Mark is Paul the apostle (formerly Saul of Tarsus). Saul wrote over 80,000 words about Jesus christ, but his story isn't what we would traditionally call the story of Jesus. Saul doesn't mention the virgin mary, Pontius Pilate, etc...and only mentions the capture, crucifixion, and the ressurection of Jesus Christ. Additionally, Saul places Jesus in a mythical realm (rather than on earth). There are other inconsistencies in the development of the Jesus myth. For instance, in the gospel of Peter, it says that Harrod had Jesus killed (Harrod dates before the putative birth of Jesus). It seems that this could not be a matter of such diversity if Jesus was an individual who recently lived.
Additionally, the Myth of Jesus displays many elements which appear to be derived from other myths. The following is a list of 22 items which Lord Raglan (a folklorist) regards as the paragon of the "hero story":
1) The hero's mother is a royal virgin.
2) His father is a king and
3) often a near relative of the mother, but
4) the circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5) he is also reputed to be the son of a god
6) at birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or maternal grandfather, 7) to kill him, but
8) He is spirited away, and
*9) reared by foster-parents in a far country.
10) We are told nothing of his childhood, but
11) on reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future kingdom.
*12) After a victory over the king and or giant, dragon, or wild beast
*13) he marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
14) becomes king.
15) For a time he reigns uneventfully and
16) prescribes laws but
17) later loses favor with the gods and or his people and
18) is driven from from the throne and the city after which
19) He meets with a mysterious death
20) often at the top of a hill.
21) His children, if any, do not succeed him.
22) His body is not buried, but nevertheless
he has one or more holy sepulchres.
The following are scores which different heroes receive (I have taken the liberty of placing bolded asterices behind the statements which do not apply to Jesus).
Oedipus scores 21
Theseus scores 20
Moses scores 20
King Arthur scores 19
Jesus of Nazareth scores 19
Dionysus scores 19
Romulus scores 18
Perseus scores 18
Hercules scores 17
Llew Llaw Gyffes scores 17
Bellerophon scores 16
Gilgamesh scores 15
Jason scores 15
Mwindo scores 14
Robin Hood scores 13
Pelops scores 13
James T. Kirk scores 13
Sigurd scores 11.
Repeating elements are common in folklore, and although this is not a scientific study, it seems unlikely that the story of Jesus would show such strong homology to other myths if Jesus were a true historical character. There are other more specific homologies (such as the visit by magi from the east, the betrayal for 30 pieces of silver, and birth on December 25th)-though these similarities are seen in comparitively few hero stories.
Interesting, the similarity of the Jesus story to that of other Pagan gods was actually used rhetorically in proslytising:
"When we say that Jesus Christ was produced without sexual union, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended to heaven, we propound nothing new or different from what you believe regarding those whom you call the suns of Jupiter." -Justin Martyr, church father
I hope that you found my discussion interesting and apologize if any of you found my challenge to be offensive. In my opinion, it is important to have a free exchange of ideas between individuals in disagreement so that they might clash and gain wisdom from each other. I admit that theology and folklare are not within my field of expertise, and I am waiting patiently for conformation or disapproval of these ideas. Certainly, it is possible that I have misanalyzed the evidence and am completely wrong. However, I am confident that we all share the common ground of the desire to seek truth and avoid falsity...and that the best way to do this is to carefully analyse the evidence while avoiding bias. Thus, we should be able to have a calm, friendly, and informative discussion.
Much of what I have written is derived from a movie entitled "The God who wasn't there." For a more general and complete argument against the historical existence of Jesus Christ, I would encourage you to check out this link:
http://www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm
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