The evidence for Jesus is good, but it's not THAT good. Specifically, it isn't better than the evidence for every other figure in the ancient world, as some Christians would have you believe. It's not even close! Let's break down what there is for the Dictator of Rome, Julius Caesar, and everyone's favorite rabbi.
Interact with us: Twitter: https://twitter.com/PressX_toDoubt Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason2Doubt/ Podcast: reason2doubt.podbean.com
Special thanks to Brenden Kyer @MagisterKyer for his help in pulling some sources together to prep for this episode!
Sources: Writings of Cicero: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/9776/pg9776-images.html Counts of Manuscripts: https://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2015/05/distribution-of-new-testament.html https://ntvmr.uni-muenster.de/liste Coinage: http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/acans/caesar/Intro_Overview.htm Traditional Authorship: https://ehrmanblog.org/mark-as-peters-scribe-for-members/
Christians making this claim: https://billygraham.org/devotion/evidence-of-jesus/ https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/jesus-real-how-history-and-science-validate-christ-existed-and-gospels-are-true https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/sources-for-caesar-and-jesus-compared/ https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2019/02/15/the-earliest-new-testament-manuscripts/
Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 1:28 - Christian Claims About Evidence 5:00 - Evidence for Jesus 22:45 - Evidence for Caesar 45:00 - Wrap-up/Comparison 48:30 - Bias of the Day