Did Jesus really exist? | DW Documentary
Did Jesus, revered by Christians as the Son of God, really exist? Historians and archaeologists search for clues that might lead them to the historical figure of Jesus. Can their efforts solve a conundrum that goes back more than 2,000 years, and fascinates so many to this day?
For more than two billion Christians he is the son of God, sacrificed on the cross. The resurrected Messiah, his birth is held to be so important that it marks the starting point in the Gregorian calendar used in many parts of the world today. He is the cornerstone of Christianity, a figure whose story has evolved in accordance with the creed built by the churches over a period of 2,000 years.
Not until the 18th century and the Enlightenment was the question of an historical Jesus really explored. Beyond the religious discourse, who was Jesus really? A man of flesh and blood? Did the central figure in this religion really exist? Believers answer this question by reading the Gospels, the ancient accounts of the life of Jesus.
But how much historical credibility can be attributed to texts written several decades after Jesus’s death? Particularly given that the four official Gospels contradict each other on many points. The researchers question many of the things we think we know about Jesus: Was he really born on December 25th? What was his life like before he began preaching? What is the exact location of his tomb? Today, by examining historical evidence found in Israel, Egypt and Jordan, then harnessing cutting-edge science, can historians finally manage to reveal the mysteries of Jesus’s life?
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Even for non-believers Jesus is present everywhere in Western culture for over 2.3 billion Christians he’s the son of God the crucified and resurrected Messiah for Christians Jesus brings salvation to humanity marking the starting point in the Gregorian calendar he’s the Cornerstone of Christianity for over 2,000 years what Christians believe
About him has been shaped by Church creeds Jesus was a charismatic man whose disciples were inspired Enough by his message to turn it into a religion it was dangerous to ask too many questions about Jesus that would have meant doubting him not until the 18th century and the
Enlightenment was the question of the historical Jesus really explored beyond the religious discourse who was Jesus really did he actually exist was he born on December the 25th as tradition has it this quest for the historical Jesus is in some ways never ending people have been just fascinated with the question
So it is fascinating Believers turn to the gospels the ancient accounts of the life of Jesus in the Bible looking for answers the gospels feed Western culture reflected in literature the Arts Cathedrals painting sculpture they’re hugely important but what historical Credence can we give these texts written decades
After the death of Jesus can we trust what they say about his existence these are rival texts in competition with one another should we question the authenticity of the Holy sights in Israel as being those described in these accounts where was Jesus born where can we find his tomb some people every year
Are going to The Basilica of the Nativity and the the Church of the empty tomb and but there is no evidence identifying any of these sites with uh what’s in the gospels could other sites recently discovered by archaeologists take their place and could those discoveries Advance our knowledge of the
Life of Jesus so the tomb is of course very important because we’ve got the immediate family of Jesus in one tomb it’s clear that just like every Jew in the first century Jesus walked down these steps today by examining the historical evidence in Israel Egypt and Jordan and by applying cuttingedge
Science can historians finally shed light on the mystery surrounding the life of Jesus beyond the tenants of the Christian faith Believers non-believers and historians grapple with the same age of old conundrum did Jesus really Exist for around half of humanity the existence of Jesus is not in doubt he’s at the heart of the Christian message Islam also acknowledges his existence he’s the central figure of the four gospels featured in the New Testament the gospels according to Matthew Mark Luke and John Jesus is a
Paradox he’s one of the most famous figures in the world and has been represented drawn sculpted and painted countless times the Bible is the most widely distributed and translated book in the world and yet we know very little about him for centuries the question of his historical existence didn’t even arise
In Western Europe the Creed of the church was considered the absolute truth for a long time it was dangerous to ask too many questions about Jesus and demand proof of his historical existence to do so would be to doubt him and in a country where Christianity was the religion imposed on all such
Questions were regarded as wicked not until the 18th century and the emergence of a degree of critical thinking was the matter of the historical existence of Jesus finally debated did the man at the heart of the Christian message the one described in the gospels ever live for the first proponents of the
Christ myth Theory the answer was no according to the Christ myth Theory Jesus Christ did not exist he is merely a myth and their argument is that the patterns of divinity of God in heaven coming down to Earth being born of a virgin that this is a mythological
Typology that we know in mystery religions and other GRE Roman religions a guy walks on water he changes water into wine he heals anybody that comes to him and crowds do that seem to be more like comic book superheroes than historical figures one of the first arguments put
Forward by Christ myth proponents is the lack of direct testimonies of Jesus’s life written during his lifetime doesn’t this Merit some kind of coverage or mention by contemporary sources progress in historical research complemented by the emergence of archaeology in the 19th century highlighted two important factors the
Old oldest copies of the gospels that we have date from the 4th Century they were discovered by chance 200 years ago at the monry of St Catherine in Egypt it held the earliest known manuscript of the Christian Bible the Codex caticus these are original leaves of the
CeX caticus from the early 4th Century It Was Written in Greek within the lifetime of the emperor Constantine himself the kak anticus has been called the world’s oldest Bible this is a manuscript of the very greatest importance for people who make a study of the scriptures the four gospels of the New
Testament form the official message adopted by the church they are also known as the canonical gospels there are four gospels unfortunately we do not have the manuscripts written by the apostles themselves we want to get as close as possible to the text that they wrote and that is a significance of the Codex
Syus however some historians view the choice of the four gospels recognized by the church as arbitrary because there are in fact dozens of other unofficial gospels they’re known as the New Testament apocrypha ful gospels the ones excluded from the church Canon are later texts from a period between the second and
Fourth centuries that typically come from Christian sources but have a hint of the Fantastical there’s a gospel of Peter there’s a gospel of James there’s a Gospel of Thomas has some very important information that’s not in the canonical gospels it’s fascinating to compare them very little agreement to be found between the individual
Texts we can deduce likelihoods or presume areas of probability but very little can be stated with any degree of Certainty in addition to the religious accounts a rare third Source exists which is the historians of antiquity such as tacitus suoni and most importantly flavius Josephus flavius Josephus is a Jewish historian who collaborated with the Romans in his writings addressed to a Roman population he tells us that Jesus was put on The Cross by Pontius Pilate under the principate of tiberious as with copies of the gospels historians are faced with the issue of
The surviving efus texts actually being copies made by Christians who may have taken the opportunity to strengthen Jesus’s Messianic Credentials the reference to Jesus it seems like it’s been either totally forged or partially forged for example it starts out at that time there appeared a man no problem with that and then it adds if it’s lawful to be calling him a man well that sounds like
A Christian maybe remember the copies of Josephus were preserved by Christians in the Middle Ages and passed down we don’t have ancient copies of Josephus from the first and 2nd Century so whether that’s a strong Source or not is questionable during the course of the 20th century proponents of the Christ
Myth Theory diminished in Number the lack of texts directly testifying to Jesus was simple to explain in a culture where very few people knew how to write information was passed by Word of Mouth once more a thorough analysis of the gospels dates the writing of the texts
To the period between 65 and 110 ad when you open up the New Testament you immediately come to Matthew Mark Luke and John they’re all from the first century we think so that would be during the first 70 years from the time of Jesus death historians however almost
Universally doubt that these names were original the gospels then are a collection of oral accounts written relatively soon after the death of Jesus the fact they were written down shows the importance of this new religion their purpose was to spread the good news they were tools to convert people
To the Christian faith and they cannot be treated as historical accounts the gospels are theological treatises they’re theolog iCal presentations they’re almost like sermons and they’re written to cause you to believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God that he’s been raised from the dead and so forth they don’t have
The modern standards and even modern history you got to take them all and see then what we can sort out and that’s the job of historians so we need to analyze everything that science tells us about the life of the historical Jesus starting with his birth Was he really born on December the 25th on the eve of year 1 are we now really in 2024 these questions seem obvious and yet every year Catholic and Protestant churches celebrate the birth of Jesus on December the 25th in the Christian tradition the Nativity is the coming of the son of God so it’s a major event fundamental to the history of humanity whenever we think about the birth of Jesus the Christmas story most people have in their heads famous paintings of the manger Jesus is in a
Little crib there’s usually cows and animals around Mary looking adoringly at Jesus and Joseph the date of December the 25th is never mentioned in the gospels more surprisingly references to the event differ and even contradict one Another neither Mark nor John talks about the birth of Jesus only the gospels of Matthew and Luke include what are known as the infancy narratives Matthew describes a star that the Magi follow and says Jesus was born under the reign of Herod the Great Luke meanwhile talks about a census
Carried out by a Roman legot of Syria called quinius and also the presence of Shepherds and sheep in the fields what can we deduce from this information the presence of sheep and Shepherds on the hills for example is surprising in midwinter even in the mild climate of the midle East being out to
Pasture in spring or late summer would seem more likely so why commemorate the date of December 25th there’s a one in 365 chance that Jesus was born on that day it’s well known that December 25th was when the winter soltice was celebrated Christianity has been good at appropriating days that were once celebrated in great Pagan rights what people don’t realize that date has been celebrated long before
Jesus it’s the Calia this has nothing to do with Jesus this was celebrated universally by the Romans and the Greeks we don’t have December 25th as the date until two or 300 years after the time of Jesus when that Festival is so popular in the Roman
Culture and in the Pagan culture of the time according to this thesis Jesus was most probably not born on December the 25th not until the year 354 does the date appear for the first time Constantine the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity rearranged the calendar to base it on the birth of
Christ he commandeered a major pagan holiday to better introduce Christianity into people’s practices while the choice of the day of Jesus’s birth may have been opportunistic can the year be deduced from the gospels in the Christian calendar the years are counted from the birth of Jesus which should have been the virtual year
Zero but what did the gospels say Matthew speaks of a birth under Herod the Great Matthew talks about Herod the Great who we know died most probably in the year 4 BC some say 2 BC but certainly not in the year 1 AD in Luke this isn’t the date used as a starting point rather the census of quirinius which can be dated to what we
Would Now call 6 a if Jesus was born during the reign of King Herod that was more than four years before the official date if he was born during the census of the Roman Governor then it’s more than 6 years later to pinpoint the year scientists looked at another piece of information mentioned
In the gospel of Matthew the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem hello little the Star of Bethlehem the Star of David appears in the sky and leads the Magi to find and worship Jesus it’s a prophetic Proclamation did an extraordinary Celestial event 2,000 years ago in the
Skies over Bethlehem guide the Magi from the East according to scientists the appearance of this mysterious star could well have an Explanation in the gospel of Matthew there’s the mention of a star appearing above Bethlehem describing something very bright this leads to numerous hypotheses involving exploding Stars novas supernovas Stars at the end of their life or even passing comets but most probable is a planetary conjunction which in this case would be between
Jupiter and Saturn those two would have been observed very close to each other at that time thanks to Modern computers astronomers can recreate the position of celestial bodies in the night sky at any given moment over a period of several thousand years on the evening of December the
24th 2021 the planet Jupiter was clearly visible over Bethlehem if we go back in time to December of the virtual year zero nothing special appears but to go back to the year 7 BC and Saturn and Jupiter come close together as they enter the constellation of Pisces before being eclipsed by the
Moon seeing from the earth the apparent proximity of the two planets makes them seem as bright as a star despite being 650 million kilomet apart could the Star of Bethlehem be the result of this conjunction this conjunction of two major planets would occur three times over a 9mon period that’s what made them
Think a very important figure was about to be born it also occurred in the constellation of Pisces which in the astrological tradition was the element of water and therefore of nativity this rare phenomenon appeared significant enough to find its place in the gospels but when the new calendar was introduced under Constantine there
Must have been an error in the calculations if there is some believability and historical validity to this conjunction of the planets in April of 7 BC then our calendar is off by about 8 years guess what I don’t think anybody’s going to go back and change it according to this hypothesis we’re
Currently in the year 20131 another mystery is the exact location of Jesus’s birth since the 4th century Christians have celebr ated the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem in one of the oldest churches in the world the Basilica of the Nativity it was commissioned by Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena the Basilica of the Nativity is a
Very important place in the Christian faith it’s located at the site historically considered the birthplace of Jesus and his birth is very important chrisan tradition attributes the construction of the Basilica of the Nativity to Constantine and Helena It is believed to have been built sometime
Before 333 ad as we have an account from that year written by a Bordeaux Pilgrim who visited one of the things we try to do when we do the historical Jesus is find out about the archaeology what evidence is there Helena the mother of the emperor Constantine has become a
Very devout Christian she only has the Bible to go by the New Testament so she goes to Bethlehem and she ask around so she’s probably talking to some of the indigenous people that lived in the country she did identify this cave maybe somebody showed her maybe there was a
Legend or a tradition like I think it was over here oh well we’ll build the church here beneath the basilica’s chancel in The Grotto of the Nativity a 14o silver star inlaid in the marble floor indicates the spot where the event is said to have occurred it Bears the
Inscription here Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary according to tradition the Magi deposited their gifts of gold frankincense and my from an archaeological point of view there’s nothing to prevent it from being The Grotto of the Nativity the site was authenticated by Christian oral tradition which is why Constantine had a
Church built there there’s nothing to prevent it from being The Grotto of the nativity yet there is no mention of such a grotto in the gospels according to John Jesus was born in a stable while Luke mentions a house once again the accounts differ you have to realize that this was
A cave at the bottom of a house and that houses were very often semi- trite the gospel says that the living room was full so a quiet place had to be found which was the cave lower down where the animals were was this cave the birthplace of Jesus no
Archaeological evidence dating back to the period before the fourth Century has emerged to confirm it in fact some historians doubt that Jesus was even born in Bethlehem again several theories have been advanced was Jesus born elsewhere to answer this question the birth of Jesus must be put in its
Historical context at that time the Roman Empire was at its zenith it had occupied the whole of the Mediterranean and Judea for more than 60 years in 63 BC when General Pompei captured Jerusalem the Roman senate decided to install a king an ally of Rome who was Herod the
Great he was a great Builder who rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem that was the admirable side of his character but other otherwise he was a dangerous paranoid ruler a dictator who massacred his own family and instigated A Reign of Terror so hopes were high for a liberator a messiah a descendant of
David who could drive out the Romans and liberate Israel to make Jesus a credible Messiah he had to be in the lineage of David the second king of the Jews a key figure in the Bible David was born in Bethlehem so the gospels of Matthew and Luke placed Jesus’s birth in the
City according to Matthew Joseph and Mary lived in Bethlehem then once Jesus was born they moved to Nazareth in Luke’s version Jesus’s parents lived in Nazareth they traveled to Bethlehem Joseph’s Hometown when Mary was pregnant to take part in the Sens ordered by the prefect quirinius the date of the census though
Does not match up it took place in the year 6 a after the birth of Jesus it’s important that Jesus was born in Bethlehem to establish his Messianic credentials only if he was an heir of King David could he be the Messiah perhaps Luke was aware of a
Census without knowing its precise date and used it to justify by Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem another hypothesis put forward by historians places Jesus’s birth in Nazareth where according to religious texts Jesus grew up the city of Nazareth is very important Jesus belongs to the davidic tribe that settled in Nazareth the name
Was derived from the word niter meaning offspring of David even if the inhabitants were peasants or craftsmen there is an obvious correlation between the notion of Nazareth Nazarene and aidic ancestry but this ancient Town long remained a mystery for archaeologists who could find no trace of it neither
Was it mentioned in any texts written prior to the gospels it’s been argued that Nazareth did not exist because it’s not mentioned in any Old Testament text whenever we think about Nazareth Jesus from Nazareth the question is does the city exist because over the centuries critical Scholars have wondered maybe that’s just mythology
It’s made up but in the North of Israel near the Basilica of the enunciation in the modern-day city of Nazareth archaeologists have Unearthed the remains of an ancient village with a population of 50 to 100 inhabitants at the time of Jesus beneath the convent of the sisters of Nazareth a first century
House is particularly well preserved could it have belonged to Mary and Joseph Jesus’s Parents it is my firm belief that Jesus lived in Nazareth the discovery of these remains gives us another indication of what might have happened in Nazareth providing a spiritual and a Christian Dimension the fact that it was rebuilt after some destruction suggests that this small house was
Important enough to not be raised to the ground near the house a tomb from the same period was also discovered it is proclaimed by some Christians to be that of St Joseph there is a tomb called the Tomb of the just man which is sealed with the round Millstone and therefore associated
With royalty why in a small village is the a royal tomb we are told that in this area only eight such examples of this type of first century Herod era tomb exist are this tomb and the dwelling connected to the family of Jesus after 14 years of researching the site this is
The theory put forward by Professor Ken dark from the UK’s University of reading but what evidence could validate its science scientifically what is known for sure is that the site was transformed into a place of worship as early as the second century to accommodate Christians whether or not Jesus was born in
Nazareth the gospels agree that he spent his childhood here a childhood shrouded in Mystery according to the the New Testament Jesus was raised by his father Joseph and his mother Mary alongside two sisters whose names are unknown and four brothers James Joseph Simon and Jude of the four gospels it’s mainly Luke that looks at jesus’ childhood it has Jesus as an Avid Reader of the Bible but the evangelists can’t have known that these are really constructions to dress up a character there’s nothing very solid in their accounts the gospels aren’t biographies
Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many gaps in Jesus’s childhood adolescence and early adulthood so what did Jesus do between the ages of 7 and 30 Where Did He travel who did he meet can the study of texts archaeology and science shed any light on this mystery all kinds of Legends have arisen
And some people say he went to India and studied with the Buddhists others have him going to Egypt and learning secrets of Egyptian mythology Luke’s gospel says at the age of 12 Jesus went to Jerusalem with his parents to celebrate Passover within the walls of the Old City built on the hill
Where the al- AXA mosque and the Dome of the Rock stand today was herod’s Temple temp was a high place of worship for Israel a place you had to make a pilgrimage to several times a year it’s an extremely important sight for Jews and as a Jew Jesus would have adhered to
The belief that God’s presence dwelled in the holy of holies we only have one story in the gospels when Jesus is 12 years old and they find him sitting in the temple talking to the rabbis and the doctors of the law of the Torah and they’re amazed
At his wisdom destroyed in 70 AD and never rebuilt what remains of the temple today are the stones of the Western Wall in front of which many Jews still gathered to pray as well as two sets of steps it’s historically probable that Jesus went there that’s also important for his Messianic
Status it’s obvious that in the first century like any Jew of the time Jesus walked down these steps he went to the the temple to talk to the doctors and sages of the time and prepare for his religious coming of age Jesus on the steps of the Temple of
Jerusalem underscores his Destiny As an interpreter of the Hebrew Bible Jesus was very much part of the Judaism of his time 2,000 years later it’s difficult to imagine what Jesus might have seen when he arrived in Jerusalem but thanks to modern technology the temple can now be
Modeled and this is what it could have looked like it was a vast construction with a massive extension started by Herod the Great in 19 BC the esnard alone was spread over more than 14 hectares herod’s Temple was a Monumental construction that has no equivalent in Antiquity you can imagine the people of
The time catching their first glimpse of the monument with its holy of holies 60 M high with white stones and gilding all around the temple was so imposing that it could be seen from very far away so for a young man visiting for the first time it must have been very Impressive would this experience have strengthened Jesus’s spiritual awareness after the age of 12 all trace of him is lost until his public appearance is 18 years later from the time Jesus began to preach when he was 30 years old his life is better documented what do the gospels tell
Us in the texts he settles in capernium on the Northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee capernium was a fishing village with no ramp parts or any means of Defense a small village of some five or 600 inhabitants with a jetty extending into the lake capernum is like cape canaval for the space exploration this is jesus’ home base from here he’s going out and
Always coming back he’s living with Peter Andrew James John Philip these are five fishermen and you have others as well obviously this is where Jesus formed his group of 12 Apostles what remains of capernium the ancient city where so much happened that the name is still well known today can
We find evidence of the presence of Jesus as described in the gospels This Modern Church in the shape of a flying sorcer has been erected over the foundations of three previous buildings constructed over the centuries firstly a fifth century octagonal Church from the Byzantine era before that there was a small Square Church
Here and finally older still a house that stands out from all the others found in capernium under the present church we have the remains of Peter’s house the walls were completely plastered in the second half of the first century that means 152 years after Jesus so this is very unique
There are no private domestic utensils that you would find in all the other houses and there are lots of lamps and there are large vessels so what was going on in this place this had changed its function why then there’s the big debate about the graffiti with the name
Of Peter so why are they writing this there then we have the further development that goes on generation to generation for many Christians there is no doubt this is the home of the Apostle Peter where Jesus and his disciples stayed although science cannot prove that it is possible to reconstruct the
House as it was in the first century at the time of Jesus this is the same place Jesus was seeing so this is a great value for connecting with those original events that generated our Faith just across the street from the house are other remains whose Discovery could prove crucial in the search for the historical Jesus namely the ancient synagogue of capernium the gospels frequently refer to this synagogue here Jesus freed the demoniac here Jesus healed the man with a hand here Jesus gave the Eucharistic
Discourse in John chapter 6 this synagogue is the Core teaching place in capernium and capernium is the Core teaching place in the gospel story this is a treasure whether the synagogue or the house of Peter the correlation of The Remains with Biblical accounts is striking all these locations all this
Research points towards the existence in the first century of our era of a person called Jesus unquestionably surrounded by his disciples Jesus’s message spread throughout Galilee just 35 km west of capernium was the small village of kaaa where the first of the Miracles reported by the apostles is said to have been
Performed during a wedding in Kaa Mary tells Jesus that the guests have no more wine yielding to her request to help Jesus asked the servants to fill the stone jars with water and immediately the miracle was accomplished when the water in the jars was poured out it was actually Exquisite
Wine today Kaa is called kafar Kaa at the osed sight of the miracle stands a small Franciscan church every year thousands of pilgrims from all over the world flock to it to celebrate the legendary wedding Feast while the fervor of The Devout is sincere some historians explain this
Miracle by recalling how wine was made at the time the unfiltered must of grapes left a thick deposit in the bottom of jars when diluted with water the mixture took on the color and taste of wine and became drinkable Again jesus’ Miracles should not always be examined empirically we must also look at their meaning and significance in the context of biblical tradition the transformation of water into wine was not just some redundant Miracle it has a deep theological meaning it announces his public Ministry and says that the grace of God is
Overflowing it foretells the heavenly banquet the miracle of the transformation of water into wine presented in The Gospel according to John is the first of the signs given by Jesus for the benefit of his Disciples many miracles were performed by Jesus according to the gospels there was the feeding of the multitude the healing of a paralytic the healing of several blind people one of these Supernatural healings is said to have taken place in Jerusalem the healing of the blind man took place at the pool of
Siloam Jesus placed saliva and mud on the Man’s eyes and told him go and wash yourself in the pool of Siloam you are healed we see that John was an eyewitness he lived in Jerusalem he knew the place very well and he describes the pool frequented by pilgrims all the details ring
True according to the gospel the pool of Siloam was an expanse of water where 2,000 years ago pilgrims flocked to purify themselves before going to pray at the temple for a long time historians could find no trace of the site and doubted its existence some claimed the event
Must have taken place along the canal carrying water into the city but its construction postdates the life of Jesus then in 2004 below the Temple of Jerusalem archaeologists made an extraordinary Discovery we’re sitting in Sila pool in the south side of city of David it was found occasionally in a
Small miracle what we see over here is only the northern side of this pool we know from excavations done that is continue around 50 m to the East and which means that it was a very very large pool it goes together very well with the literary sources in the gospel
Mentioned Jesus coming over here from the Galilee as a pilgrimage to Jerusalem finding the pool of Siloam in Jerusalem is one of the most important discoveries of the last two decades when archaeological finds concur with the texts in the gospels the historical character of Jesus is reinforced also in Jerusalem just a few
Hundred meters away is where the final hours of Jesus’s Earthly existence unfolded for two Millennia one place in particular has been the subject of much discussion the sight of the crucifixion and Jesus’s tomb once again there’s a clash of hypotheses as with the Nativity the official sight of Jesus’s death was determined by
Helena of Constantinople in the 4th Century during the reign of Constantine the Church of the Holy Seiler was later built at the Site the holy Seiler has always been an important site for Christianity it captures all the mystery epitomized by the death and resurrection of Jesus according to the church Jesus’s body was anointed with spices and wrapped in a shroud and then placed in a tomb here 2 days later on Easter day he was
Resurrected every year many pilgrims come here as a way to show their faith and give thanks to Jesus but how can we be sure that the body of Jesus was actually placed here on this question science was long unable to help a stone is very difficult to date
Because Carbon 14 dating can’t be used examining how The Rock has been cut is one way of putting a date to it not until October 2016 during extensive restoration work was the Tomb of the Holy Seiler reopened for the first time in 200 years Scientific analysis of the materials and their structure concluded definitively that none of the remains could be older than 1700 Years in Jerusalem no other place corresponds better to what the gospels tell us than here so while that’s not proof it does lend authenticity to the claim we now know that the foundation date from the fourth Century so with regard to its claim to be the tomb of
Christ given the lack of evidence we would need to find Jesus’s DNA supposing the body of Jesus had not been placed there supposing Helena was mistaken another site turns out to be a good candidate fitting both with the biblical texts and historical Probability there is in jerus an alternative site for the crucifixion different from the Church of the Holy seler Gordon’s Calvary for me is much more likely and plausible this site is outside the city but close to it where everyone could see the crucified as described in John’s gospel Gordon’s Calvary is a tomb
Located in a garden outside the old city just 600 M from the official holy seer discovered in 1867 it reopened the investigation on the Tomb of Jesus at least amongst conservative Protestants we are in front of the Tomb of the resurrection of the resurrected Jesus why is this so because it corresponds to the gospels which tell us the story with a lot of detail they describe golgatha where Jesus was crucified and say that beside it was a
Garden where there was a tomb that had never been used the scriptures describe a garden next to the Crucifixion site a huge underground system found in 1890 next to Gordon’s Calvary suggests there could have been substantial Gardens here its location outside the city also fits in with the
Texts lastly three crosses or even more could be accommodated here which is not the case with the site of the Holy SE however archaeological analysis does not support the theory of Gordon’s Calvary the problem is that tomb is an iron aged tomb 800 BC 700 BC and the
Tomb Jesus has put in was a new Tomb that no one had even ever been put in I don’t think historically it works inconsistent dating for Gordon’s Calvary and lack of archaeological evidence prior to the 4th Century to support the Tomb of the Holy Sepulcher the investigation had hit a wall then in
1980 an extraordinary archaeological Discovery reshuffled the deck a first century tomb was discovered in the talpiot district around 2 km south of the old city boundary it contained uies or boxes holding human bones under this slab of concrete is a Stone Gate an arch and inside that Arch
Leads is a tomb in which 10 osies were discovered uh what makes this tomb unique are the names inscribed on six of the 10 uies the names are Mary Jesus Son of Joseph yose maram Mara Matthew and Judah son of yosua the names are identical to the names of the immediate
Family of Jesus of Nazareth do these uies contain the bones of Jesus of Nazareth and his family members the age of the Tomb combined with the matching names caused a huge stir in the scientific Community but what impressed us and by us I mean researchers in the year 2000
We begin studying this is the cluster of the names that is a very important point because indeed that’s what makes this group of names important and so unique it’s the cluster of these names together in the same tomb not in different tombs scattered all over the place but within
A single cluster a single grouping of names the immediate members of the Jesus family are there to really understand these names in the topot Tomb what you have to understand are statistics let’s say we have a stadium with 50,000 people and we say all those named Jesus please stand so 5% of the
50,000 would stand up then you say how many of you had a mother named Mary maybe about half would sit down and then we say how many of you had a brother named James you’re going to have almost everybody sit you know why James is a very rare name less than
1% and then if that didn’t do it anybody have a brother Nam yose not Yosef not Yosi yose spell with the he anybody that same guy would keep standing that would be Jesus it’s a theory that divides the scientific community in the Crypt of the French biblical and archaeological
School in Jerusalem uies are preserved that date from the same period as those found in the talate Tomb the Jerusalem ues have been studied 12200 have been invented and there are perhaps 200 or 300 name Engravings the names are extraordinarily repetitive for the simple reason that it
Was the old Semitic tradition to give a child a name from their family on all 53 ues arranged in this room some names crop up regularly such as salomi eleazer or ionos there are other common names but only one Jesus here but as there are at
Least seven or eight in Jerusalem as a whole we know it was a common name it isn’t really clear why this tomb would be that of Jesus these combinations are quite possible without having to be linked to Jesus the matching names are of course intriguing but epigraphists are much
More guarded they say there are several possible interpretations depending on the particular form of a letter and so on so the end result is highly dubious it’s a nice story like a fairy tale but it has no reliable historical consistency the last hypothesis is much more praic after the crucifixion the
Romans simply disposed of the body of Jesus as they usually did with the remains of the executed most likely after Jesus was taken down from the cross he ended up in a mass grave because it really was the worst kind of torture when Spartacus and his slaves rebelled against Rome they
Were crucified so it was for society’s very worst Criminals it therefore seems unlikely that the Romans would have allowed Jesus’s friends to recover his body after his death on the other hand nobody questions the way he Died the death of Jesus and its description in the gospels is among the most convincing evidence of his historical existence if Jesus were an invented character created by someone to found a new religion he wouldn’t have died in this way he would have been stoned to death for
Blasphemy no text says he was stoned he was crucified all four gospels agree on that at least today historians are almost unanimous on the subject the existence of a historical Jesus can be in no doubt his crucifixion is all too plausible and there’s no historical text questioning
The existence of Jesus for such a revolutionary figure if the slightest doubt could have been planted it would have been archaeological discoveries combined with an in-depth study of ancient texts offer us a better understanding of the environment in which Jesus grew up providing the most plausible interpretation of the events
That took place more than 2,000 years ago what we call the Quest for the historical Jesus is in some ways never ending our culture our civilization has been so nourished by the stories arising from the gospels and from the figure of Jesus that we find it important to ask
Ourselves these questions and push back the limits of our ignorance of course the existence of Jesus raises questions we must also develop our own perspective on this figure he is not just a wise man he’s something else entirely for Christians he is the embodiment of God on Earth so that is
Absol abolutely unique unique for Christians the existence of Jesus is self-evident but historians also agree that the historical existence of a man named Jesus a descendant of the Royal davidic Line a reformer of Judaism who wanted to reestablish God’s sovereignty over Israel is now difficult to contest
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Video “Did Jesus really exist? | DW Documentary” was uploaded on 03/30/2024 by DW Documentary Youtube channel.