what are peoples thoughts on Jesus?

[chrome]

Hey,

Just wondering what people here generally believe about Jesus.

Did he exist, was he a real man, if so who was he? Did he perform miracles or was he just a clever magician... was the story of his life just Chinese whispers...  :pop:

[PoopShoot]

What would Jesus do?
He’d give drunken men more wine. (John Chapter 2)
He’d spit on a blind guy. (John 9:6)
He’d get intimate with a hooker. (Luke chapter 7)
He’d ask to be alone with children. (Mark 10:14)
He’d beat up people for having a church fundraiser. (Matt chapter 21)
He’d steal a little boy’s lunch and give it to strangers. (John Chapter 6)

What a guy, Jesus.

But seriously.

Did he exist, was he a real man, if so who was he? Did he perform miracles or was he just a clever magician... was the story of his life just Chinese whispers...

I doubt he existed and more likely was a figure made up decades after his supposed death in order to give credence to a fledgling cult, but me might have been a charlatan himself.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I think that if he was real, he was a political rebel who was later deified.

[Velma]

It would not be a surprise to me to find out that there was an itinerant preacher or some sort of wanna-be political "savior" around that time with that name - I don't think the name was that uncommon.  

However, for the rest of it, the miracles were probably one of the following:  made up later to pad Jesus' resume, corruptions of some mundane event that actually happened, clever magic tricks taken for miracles.  By the time the gospels were written down, decades had passed, and I'm sure the stories had only gotten better with time.

There were many such preachers with their followers around that area during that time.  If it hadn't been for Paul of Tarsus, christianty probably would have died out as just another jewish splinter group of the era.  He was the one who opened christianty to nonjews, widening both it's appeal and the pool of possible adherents.

[The Magic Pudding]

He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!

[Asmodean]

A dead jew with insanity issues, would be my guess

[Har]

It would not be a surprise to me to find out that there was an itinerant preacher or some sort of wanna-be political "savior" around that time with that name - I don't think the name was that uncommon.  

However, for the rest of it, the miracles were probably one of the following:  made up later to pad Jesus' resume, corruptions of some mundane event that actually happened, clever magic tricks taken for miracles.  By the time the gospels were written down, decades had passed, and I'm sure the stories had only gotten better with time.

There were many such preachers with their followers around that area during that time.  If it hadn't been for Paul of Tarsus, christianty probably would have died out as just another jewish splinter group of the era.  He was the one who opened christianty to nonjews, widening both it's appeal and the pool of possible adherents.

^ This ^

[tymygy]

The Bin Laden of the day.

Remember, this is the dude (God) who told his people to kill tens of thousands of innocent people including children.

Wha tha fa? And people worship this guy?  

[Dretlin]

I have not seen much evidence that Jesus or a similar man existed at all.

[Martin TK]

All the above kind of sum it up for me.  I wrote a rather extensive post on this a while back, but boiling it down:

There is NO evidence to support a Jesus like the one in the New Testament, outside the NT, and we know that IF someone had done the things attributed to him it would have been written down by someone, somewhere.  IF there were a man named Jesus, he was most likely little more than a Rabbi with an attitude who sought to make some local changes to his religion, but certainly did NOT see himself as the "son of god."  If he did, then I go with the one who called him insane.

I can tell you that those who WANT, NEED, and DESIRE to make him real, will fight you to the death to convince you that he did all the things in the NT.  Modern Theologians argue this all the time, but the ones who are most learned on the subject will agree that the Jesus of the NT couldn't have performed the miracles he is supposed to have done in the NT.  He's just a guy who became a poster child for one of the most powerful religions of the past 2000 years, if not the MOST powerful.

[philosoraptor]

I think there is a chance that a historical figure existed who was the basis for the Jesus of religious texts.  However, I think his "resume", to borrow the term, was greatly exaggerated.  If someone bothered to fact check those credentials, he'd so be fired from his position as Messiah.

[The Magic Pudding]

I think there is a chance that a historical figure existed who was the basis for the Jesus of religious texts.  However, I think his "resume", to borrow the term, was greatly exaggerated.  If someone bothered to fact check those credentials, he'd so be fired from his position as Messiah.

Still having trouble with your  resume?
We mortals are held to a higher standard.

[Gawen]

Hey,

Just wondering what people here generally believe about Jesus.Did he exist...

Never existed as the Bible explains. Of course, "Jesus" was a popular name back in the day, so there were lots of Jesuses.

...was he a real man, if so who was he?

Real men love Jesus. *slappin' me forehead*...sorry. Just popped into my head.
To answer your question, no one will ever know. And he hasn't really popped in to explain any of it lately either.

Did he perform miracles...

Miracles are contrary to laws of nature. So I reckon not.

...or was he just a clever magician

Well, you have to remember that your questions presumes/presupposes a bible Jesus. All we have is what is written. David Copperfield is a clever magician, but I don't see him able to make pigs run into the water and drown.

... was the story of his life just Chinese whispers...  :pop:

You're welcome

[Bediddle]

I like the Jesus in South Park.

That's the thing about Jesus. He can be as cool or as assholish as you want him to be.

[Whitney]

I think there is enough evidence that a lot of self proclaimed messiahs used to wonder about the area and that other real people have been deified too that it is not unreasonable to think that Jesus was a real man who was a good storyteller that people later told tall tales about; thus creating the Christ Myth.