Historical Jesus

A timeline of the different genealogies attributed to Jesus, demonstrating the discrepancies.

Read about some of the interesting relics which were popular among Christians during the Middle Ages - including Jesus' foreskin! Actually, there were about of dozen of Jesus' foreskins distributed around Europe, with different churches fighting over who had the genuine article. But why?

"...I think there are four senses in which Jesus Christ may be said to be a "fiction.""

It is indisputable that Luke dates the birth of Jesus to 6 A.D. It is also indisputable that Matthew dates the birth of Jesus before 4 B.C., perhaps around 6 B.C. This is an irreconcilable contradiction.

Was he real or not? Evidence is lacking.

"In the fifth chapter of Evidence That Demands a Verdict entitled, "Jesus--A Man of History," Josh McDowell lists a series of "sources for the historicity of Jesus."" - Jeffery Jay Lowder rebuts.

"Did a historical Jesus actually exist? All accounts of him come from hearsay writings and no one during the time of his alleged life ever mention him. "

Great basic introduction to all the commonly claimed evidence of Jesus and good objections.

"Christians dismiss the tales of pagan saviors as mythology while adamantly insisting that it is rational to believe that the story of Jesus's virgin birth and resurrection is factual." Farell Till argues that this is unreasonable.

A book review of The Jesus Papyrus addresses this claim in detail, finding that it is groundless.

"There is a problem when dealing with the various contradictory biblical accounts of Jesus' arrest and trial as they relate to each other and Jewish practice of the day."

A transcript of the debate between Robert M. Price, a member of the Jesus Seminar and editor of The Journal of Higher Criticism, and John Rankin, president and founder of the Theological Education Institute.

Eliminating paganism from the New Testament stories appears to be fruitless - so perhaps there really isn't anything but myth there?

"Most of McDowell's points about Jesus (and about other matters in the book, but I must leave that to others) are simply not supported by modern scholarship."

A look at the history behind this controversy.

Overview of important facts about Thallus (or Thallos), a pagan chronologer of who is mentioned in apologetics as a witness to the gospel tradition of a "darkness" at the death of Christ.

A close look at some specific mythical and magical accretions to the stories of Jesus.