# What do you make of Jesus?



## veron (Apr 29, 2009)

Most atheists and non-Christians don't dispute the existence of Jesus of Nazareth. So I'm wondering, what do you think of him and his life? Was he a well-meaning individual with some mental illness (hearing voices and seeing things that don't exist are reminiscent of schizophrenia, for example). Do you think he was an outright liar? Or do you not believe in his existence at all; do you think that all the stories are based on a fictional person?

This question is obviously for non-Christians only. If you want to discuss how Jesus is the son of God, there's another forum for that


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## Yer Blues (Jul 31, 2013)

I think he's an amalgam of Apollonius of Tyana and various other sons of gods that were supposedly running around at the time. He really isn't that unique if you do some research. Of course there are actual writings by him unlike Jesus.

Quote by Bart D. Ehrman:



> Even before he was born, it was known that he would be someone special. A supernatural being informed his mother the child she was to conceive would not be a mere mortal but would be divine. He was born miraculously, and he became an unusually precocious young man. As an adult he left home and went on an itinerant preaching ministry, urging his listeners to live, not for the material things of this world, but for what is spiritual. He gathered a number of disciples around him, who became convinced that his teachings were divinely inspired, in no small part because he himself was divine. He proved it to them by doing many miracles, healing the sick, casting out demons, and raising the dead. But at the end of his life he roused opposition, and his enemies delivered him over to the Roman authorities for judgment, but unlike Jesus was not crucified,[31] as he vanished from the courtroom and reappeared in another place days later where he was seen by his followers,[32] and convinced them that he was not really dead, but lived on in the heavenly realm. Later some of his followers wrote books about him.[33]


The above quote is about Apollonius.


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## andy1984 (Aug 18, 2006)

too busy to research some random dude from history that might have existed


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## harrison (Apr 14, 2012)

Once I got to about 16 I just assumed the church made all that up too - so it's not something I ever think about.


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## blue2 (May 20, 2013)

Seems like he was friendly enough.


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## WillYouStopDave (Jul 14, 2013)

Dead dude on a stick.


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## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

Lots of times in the Bible he seemed kinda grouchy.


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## SparklingWater (Jan 16, 2013)

A well meaning guy who taught basic **** like kindness and love and since pple were so **** he seemed revolutionary. Shrug.


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## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

Hmm. Disputed son of God? I think there's room to discuss jesus in any forum or form, be it religious or not. What I find interesting is that there are Islamic accounts of this jesus dude and the quotes attributed to him not-from-the-bible that sound similar to those found in the bible. Maybe this was a real dude. Maybe he's an amalgamation of things. Maybe he's the middle eastern buddha?


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## MCHB (Jan 1, 2013)

He just wants to come inside you!


...Oh pretzels...I'm going to heck for that comment!


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## D'avjo (Sep 23, 2018)

He's a good lad but bit of a liabilty after too many tequilas, punchy as fck so dont stare at him on a night out as he'll kick off


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## AskingAlexandria (Jun 14, 2018)

I believe in God and I think believing in a man like Jesus is very healthy if he did or didn't exist.


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## zkv (Feb 18, 2020)

Nice guy. Very nice guy. Has lots of friends. Has long hair. Doesn't have any shoes. Wore a dress.


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## bad baby (Jun 10, 2013)

I think Jesus was either a spiritually enlightened human being during his lifetime, or his death and resurrection is supposed to be an allegory of the process of spiritual enlightenment. In scientific terms, spiritual enlightenment would be a certain state of consciousness, likely involving ego death and other atypical experiences. I believe psychosis - such as seen in schizophrenics and drug users - may involve similar subjective experiences, except the patient doesn't understand what's happening so they might become panicked and/or interpret it in the "wrong" way (medically what is termed "delusional thinking").


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## Tetragammon (Jun 2, 2015)

I think that even the most crazy fairy tales tend to have some grain of truth to them, so a preacher called "Yeshua" probably did exist around that time. Perhaps this preacher was even smart enough to play off of the old Jewish traditions and convince some unfortunately gullible people that he was their promised "messiah." From the stories (driving out people selling in the temple, for example) it sounds like he was a bit of a rebel, going against the Jewish traditions of his time. Or perhaps he was simply schizophrenic, some guy who actually believed all the crazy stuff he supposedly said and did. 

Of course it's highly likely that all of the supernatural stuff is completely bogus. Nobody can walk on water, turn water to wine, multiply loaves or fishes, bring people back from the dead, etc. It's likely that all of these stories are based on real-life events that were blown way out of proportion in subsequent tellings. And of course there's no way he died and came back to life; far more likely that someone did manage to take his body after the crucifixion, probably some kind of co-conspirator who wanted his legend to grow. And since people were so superstitious and gullible back then, hey, it worked! 

I just think it's ridiculous that so many people today still believe in all of that nonsense. It's been 2000 years for Christ's sake; when exactly is he supposed to "return"? But that's the power of indoctrination for you.


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## firelight (Jan 31, 2019)

An okay philosopher who has had myth upon myth piled onto him and far more attention than is deserved. I bet the real Jesus would be baffled to learn all the crap that is attributed to him.


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## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

Wonder if anyone ever told Jesus to make something of himself?

"Hey Jesus, go get a degree, at least learn a trade, make something or yourself for (your own)sakes"


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## SamanthaStrange (Jan 13, 2015)

funnynihilist said:


> Wonder if anyone ever told Jesus to make something of himself?
> 
> "Hey Jesus, go get a degree, at least learn a trade, make something or yourself for (your own)sakes"


His happiness came from within. :lol


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## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

SamanthaStrange said:


> His happiness came from within.


:grin2:


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## Paul (Sep 26, 2005)

The lack of contemporary accounts of him suggests that, assuming he was a real person (I don't know and don't care to waste time investigating thoroughly), he probably wasn't that remarkable. He probably never claimed to be god, because the god bit seems to have been tacked on by particular authors more than others. He may have claimed to be some sort of holy man or prophet, like Muslims think. Prophets were a dime a dozen back then. I wouldn't try to diagnose him with a disorder, because things were different back then and people had lots of fantastic beliefs and not much education or reason to doubt them. When you know nothing about how the world works, magical thinking is as reasonable as anything.

If any of the accounts can be believed, he was fairly decent and progressive for his time (although backward in many ways by modern standards). I'd put him middle of the pack for world religious figures -- he's not one of the ones I'd actually admire and want to talk philosophy with, but he's not one of the many I'd loathe either. Mostly harmless.



funnynihilist said:


> Wonder if anyone ever told Jesus to make something of himself?
> 
> "Hey Jesus, go get a degree, at least learn a trade, make something or yourself for (your own)sakes"


Wasn't he a carpenter? Perfectly useful trade.


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## funnynihilist (Jul 29, 2014)

Paul said:


> Wasn't he a carpenter? Perfectly useful trade.


Well yeah but he kinda gave that up for the hippie lifestyle


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## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

I had this post saved in browser cache from ages ago. I guess I'll post it:

boring normie part:

I still think of Jesus in the bible as a fictional character. I think the historical figure of Jesus is probably several different people mixed together. Like him more than Yahweh.

other ****:


* *






I kind of think of him as a gay icon, partly because he reminds me of Saint Sebastian who is a gay icon:



> Some religious images depicting Saint Sebastian have been appropriated by the LGBT community. [43] A combination of his strong, shirtless physique, the symbolism of the arrows penetrating his body, and the countenance of rapturous pain have intrigued artists (gay or otherwise) for centuries, which is claimed to be the first explicitly gay cult in the nineteenth century.[43] These eroticized innuendos are what intrigues and draws this erotic interest to Saint Sebastian, not his legacy of piety and historical sainthood.[44]
> 
> American author Richard A. Kaye claims the following opinion:
> "Contemporary gay men have seen in Sebastian at once a stunning advertisement for homosexual desire (indeed, a homoerotic ideal), and a prototypical portrait of tortured closet case."[45][46]
> ...


Partly because a gay stand up comic did a whole bit about him.

But mostly because I sorta ship Satan and Jesus.



> The temptation of Jesus focused on Satan's determined effort to keep Jesus from the cross. He didn't want Him to die, whatever interpreters think. He desperately sought to keep Him from the cross, for he knew Christ's death destroyed evil, death, and Satan himself. The proof of his desperation was his willingness to compromise with Jesus by letting Him rule in morality and virtue so long as He didn't rule in blood-bought righteousness.


cute

https://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/temptation-of-jesus-faq.htm

Also from that link lol:



> The temptations of Jesus were all answered by the Master's resort to Scripture. The reason is obvious: Satan has no answer to God's Word. He would have loved to debate philosophy with Jesus or why God could say He loved Jesus, but still let Him suffer, or why God could claim to be sovereign and let good people suffer-all the arguments skeptics employ to justify their refusal to obey God. But Jesus declined. The Master gives us the perfect response to any temptation: shield life with God's Word and shoot it like cannon at the tempter!


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## Canadian Brotha (Jan 23, 2009)

I feel like if he was as we’ve been taught then it’s ironic that most of the people who claim to worship him are nothing like him at all in how they live or treat others...that’s been my experience anyway. 

In some ways I agreed with him, he was very critical of the religious institutions of his time, & I don’t like the institution of the church at all(or organized religion in general) despite feeling that there’s wisdom in the bible & other religious texts. 

He seemed far more accepting of outsiders than most Christians I’ve met/known...I mean they tend to be nice until they sense your lack of devotion or feel that you’re attacking or dismissing their faith simply by asking pointed questions...again, ironic because it’s exactly what he did himself to the religious leaders of his time, it’s part of why he was crucified...if it hadn’t been so long since I held a bible I’d quote some of the passages. 

Him being the son of god though, believing it himself, & being able to launch a thousands years old dynasty of faith...I suspect like a learned/creative scientist or magician of today, he was able to do some things that the average person/populace simply wouldn’t be able to comprehend & add to that being a charismatic speaker(I mean for all our knowledge as a species look at what has happened with all types of populist leaders in recent decades, doesn’t take much to sweep people up)...in those days guaranteed a charismatic speaker was someone speaking the truth, at least to those masses, I mean “why would god bless a man with such words if not for him to enlighten the rest of the flock”...you can see where I’m going & how the story of Jesus’ words & personal sacrifice would slowly, but progressively snowball. 

Ultimately, to me , Jesus was a rebel. He came on the scene, spoke his mind, & no one could tell him otherwise, such that he died for it...I think there’s a part of everyone that admires someone true to their cause to the end, sometimes that’s true even if you don’t agree with them.

I do think he was a real person, but his story is probably not who he actually was overall, legends need their bravado


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## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

I already answered but.. I don't know what to make of him. Sometimes I wonder what the difference is between god and jesus. The current Christ consciousness seems a bit demanding for the modern age. One moment..let me ask an Irishman.


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## jinx77 (Jun 26, 2020)

*jesus*

He was a lying hippie.


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## Frank.Dux (Jul 2, 2020)

The truth is we know very little. 

Whatever we think of him are projections of our own needs, fears, and desires.


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## CNikki (Aug 9, 2013)

I personally believe that there was a historical Jesus - if not someone who was depicted as the Jesus we presently know of. He likely questioned the system he was raised under (a bit like Aristotle) and ultimately paid the price when knowing something behind that system along with the Roman Empire finding the opportunity to easily invade, as they had with much of Europe and West Asia. As far as the Christian text goes, it may have started with ear-to-ear hearsay on an event that happened (that refers to Jesus) and the Roman Catholic Church found yet another opportunity to control the masses when they knew that they were weakened and can only hold much of its local countries (primarily western Europe).

Edit:

I still respect the fact that people follow much of Christianity's principals (primarily the New Testament) and don't intend to do any harm with it. But it can't be denied that many ideologies start off with political systems and power dynamics that can either have it conquer or be conquered. What we make do with it presently is all that technically concerns us 'now'.


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## green9206 (May 13, 2013)

I don't know if Jesus existed or not, but I do know that he does not exist now as there's no proof. We have not seen any proof that Jesus is looking over us currently. That's all I know.


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## Blue Dino (Aug 17, 2013)

The one I know, he makes very good lumpias. Bit overpriced. He owns the filipino takeout in the strip mall across from home.


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## Fixxer (Jul 12, 2011)

If he was coming back in 2000 years, we really need him right now. Sadly, he'd be seen as a weirdo and put down (similar fate as back then). Society pretend they improved but they didn't. Look how much mental health regressed in 2020. Fight for your rights and look at them take them from you.


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## Cool Ice Dude55 (Jan 7, 2014)

I dont know enough about bible history to say.


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## inigo15 (Nov 14, 2020)

Mythical figure inserted into history.


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## NotFullyHere (Apr 29, 2018)

I don't know if He's real or not but I'm very curious about the missing years that He's not mentioned in the Bible??? Like, what happened to him during that LONG period of time?


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## zonebox (Oct 22, 2012)

Jesus seemed like a cool dude, but then Paul came into the scene after he had died, and introduced an entirely new religion. After that, a bunch of other accounts of Jesus were tossed out, and the bible as we know it was created.


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## Fixxer (Jul 12, 2011)

I don't pray very often, rarely to be honest. Still, I had a picture frame of Jesus in my room since I was a kid. There were some issues and the picture I had as a kid is gone, but a neighbor moved away and gave me one of his. It's not the same picture my mom gave me as a kid, but it's an ok replacement. I get to wonder if Jesus really looked anything like what he's pictured as. I remember in elementary school, in religion teachings, in the mid 90s, Jesus had short hair in our books. Long hair were falling off the map at that period of time. It was weird. lol I remember his meeting with the tax collector in Jericho.

French only.. sorry!


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## Starcut83 (Feb 13, 2021)

I don't know but my thoughts on it are if he was real he was only showing us...ourselves...don't think he intended to be worshiped. I also think the stories about him, again if he was real, are taken way too literal.


I've always thought of the saying "God created us in his image." well I like reverse it and think "We" created god in our image and then fed it to the masses.


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