When atheists express doubt over the existence of Jesus, a common rejoinder from Christians is to ask if atheists can prove the existence of any famous person from ancient history. If there is no better proof for the existence of someone like Plato or Alexander the Great, then why express any serious doubt over the existence of Jesus? The problem with this argument is that the evidence for other commonly accepted figures from ancient history isn't as poor as it is for Jesus -- and, moreover, no one is basing their lives or souls on the existence of any of them, either.
A forum member writes:
Aside from the assertion that people with supernatural abilities don't exist, there is a reasonable argument against the existence of Jesus based on the lack of contemporary biographers, the lack of Roman records detailing the adventures of this charismatic fella, contradictory accounts and so on.
I was curious as to if there was any other famous historical figure who also has dodgy evidence regarding his/her corporeal presence, but since he/she didn't ascend into heaven as god or turn Evian into a Chablis, is not scrutinized with such exacting rigor and is considered to be real.
My first thought is: no. But I could be wrong.
I don't think that there are any examples of this, either -- but even if there were, what would the impact be? In most cases, it wouldn't matter much at all. No one's life would be devastated or significantly changed if something like this happened. Can you think of any historical figures that would fit in this category? If so, comment here or post in the forum.
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