The historicity of Jesus is the question of whether or not Jesus, the central figure of Christianity, historically existed (as opposed to being a purely mythical figure). Virtually all scholars of antiquity argue that Jesus existed. The contrary perspective, that Christ was mythical, is regarded as a fringe theory.
Only two key events of Jesus's life are widely accepted as historical, namely his baptism and crucifixion, while other elements (e.g. his alleged miracles) are subject to debate. Standard historical criteria are used in evaluating the historicity of the gospel narratives. Academic efforts to determine facts of Jesus's life are part of the quest for the historical Jesus.
Besides the gospels and the letters of Paul, sources for the historicity of Jesus include the works of Jewish historian Josephus and Roman historian Tacitus, who both lived shortly after the time of Jesus and wrote in reference to him and his followers.
The quest for the historical Jesus and the scholarly reconstructions of the life of Jesus are based primarily on critical analysis of the gospel texts and applying the standard criteria of historical-critical investigation, and methodologies for analyzing the reliability of primary sources and other historical evidence.
Virtually all scholars of antiquity agree that a historical human Jesus existed. Historian Michael Grant asserts that if conventional standards of historical textual criticism are applied to the New Testament, "we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never questioned."
Francesco Carotta
The Christ myth theory, which developed within the scholarly research on the historical Jesus, is, in Geoffrey W. Bromiley's words, the view that "the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology" possessing no "substantial claims to historical fact".
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Jesus (6 to 4 BC - AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and several other names and titles, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most Christians believe Jesus to be the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited messiah, the Christ that is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically.
The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians, but since the fifth century a widespread consensus has emerged limiting the New Testament to the 27 books of the modern canon. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant churches generally do not view the New Testament apocrypha as part of the Bible.
The Christ myth theory, also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory, is the view that the story of Jesus is a work of mythology with no historical substantiality. Alternatively, in terms given by Bart Ehrman paraphrasing Earl Doherty, "the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity." In contrast, the mainstream scholarly consensus holds that there was a historical Jesus who lived in 1st-century-CE Roman Judea, and that he was probably both baptized and crucified.