Jesus is not fictional.

I get why people say that. Most of us grew up hearing casual claims that he never existed, or that the whole thing is a myth. But the evidence for his historical existence is solid. You do not need to believe in the miracles to accept that a real person named Jesus lived, taught, and was executed.

And if the story were invented, the mind that created those teachings would be just as remarkable as the man himself. Reading the accounts directly is what convinced me. I started from a skeptical place and changed my mind only after going through it.

PS: If you think my first four points make sense, it's possible the fifth one does too, maybe it just hasn't clicked for you yet.

> Jesus is not fictional.

There is apparently evidence that there was a Jesus¹ who preached and was crucified for causing a pain for those in power. But the version of Jesus in the bible is likely no more real than the Abraham in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012).

--------

[1] or someone going by another name which became Jesus over time, many names in the new testament are suspiciously unlike those likely to be found in the middle east in the first century CE.

It is great that Jesus works for you, but you have to separate real-Jesus versus storybook-Jesus. No doubt he lived, but written stories can be elaborated on.

For all I know, Jesus could have been the world's first great magician. The world has seen quite a few people in it, some quite remarkable - for which stories have been written. No deity or supernatural abilities need to apply.

Words in a book/internet aren't always the truth.

> Jesus is not fictional.

Strong claims require strong evidence. Some book written by many, some properly delusional or crazy folks, claiming various outlandish things not physically possible these days (staying away from word "lies" but not too far, basic physics laws worked the same 2000 years ago).

Or preaching behavior absolutely unacceptable these days (Old testament would force you to be murderer pretty quickly nowadays, and I haven't heard a single Christian rejecting all of it... they can't so just they ignore most of it like it doesn't exist). All this decades and centuries after claimed facts, that ain't a proof in any sense. You can believe it for sure, I can choose to believe in Great Spaghetti Monster and its holy teachings and its about the same.

There are no contemporary roman records from that time, earliest (with both eyes squinted and a lot of wishful thinking) is more than century afterwards. Quite an impressive record for claimed son of God, or God himself or whatever it should be.

I've been reading a bit about various sects recently, today it was Jim Jones and his escapades. With enough steps back, it all looks exactly the same, including behavior of believers. To the very last bolt. Tells you a lot about humans and how they internally try to handle tough times, but not much else.

So please, lets have a more rational discussion rather than level our grandparents may consider passable but many of us don't.