[Zhavric]

Quote by: Heehoos It is still not a proved fact that Jesus did not exist. There is evidence to both theories.

I'm also baffled by this odd argument. You've effectively invalidated your own argument by admitting there isn't enough evidence to conclude Jesus existed and at the same time insinuated that it's perfectly natural & normal to believe nonsensical stories simply because evidence to the contrary isn't obviously available. i.e. You cannot prove that I flew to the moon and back today, nor can you prove that I DIDN'T fly to the moon and back today, thus... what? We should believe I flew there and back?

Claims require proof. Claims which contradict existing established claims are false until proven true.

There are historical figures and historical documents that refer to a Jesus that died and whom the Christians revered.

Which prove that there were myths about Jesus. You seem to be attacking the argument "No one was telling stories about Jesus". This has NEVER been my argument.

There are two categories of historical documents: those written by individuals with direct knowledge and those written by individuals with indirect knowledge.

The individuals claiming to have direct knowledge all have extreme doctinal axes to grind, don't agree with one another, and are full of events which are very obviously impossible. This isn't like arguing over which river Alexander the Great crossed in which year: this is 12 people saw Jesus allegedly "come back from the dead" versus say... 500 witnesses (Paul). The people with direct knowledge had no coroboration whatsoever.

Christians often treat indirect sources as though they were direct sources. Tacitus & others are simply the first in a long line to ASSUME (without evidence) that because there are Christians there must be a Christ. There's simply no evidence for this. Tacitus doesn't even list his source.

There is evidence from three Roman officials, from Jewish Rabbinical writings, and a Samaritan-born historian all wrote about a single man named Jesus.

I've already explained why these sources (who I see you are reluctant to name specifically) are impotent. As a Christian it's YOUR burden to explain WHY these individuals should be considered evidence.

I don't consider proof a theory that just because there were a lot of wise people named Jesus that there wasn't one Jesus of Nazareth.

This is a straw-man argument. You have attacked a mischaracterization of my argument. Josephus (in a passage NOT altered by the church...) tells us of individuals who performed deeds like the gospel Jesus. They are the basis of the Jesus mythology.

In addition, there are many text, written at different times, with different perceptions of the man by different sects of a religion by people that saw him, and most of which have similar experiences documented. As of 1949, we now even have the original texts.

As of 1949 you have absolutely NOTHING where the gospels are concerned. Also, accurate copies of a myth are still works of fiction, not history.

The burden of proof still lies on the disbelief.

Really? Invisibly Flying Monkeys are real. Prove they aren't or retract your statement.