Often, when considering the historical person of Jesus, there is a tendency for skeptics to dismiss his existence as merely a fictional character and the gospel accounts as unreliable sources about him. However, these positions are not necessarily warranted due to the amount of evidence which supports his historicity and reliability of the gospel accounts.
When looking at the historicity of Jesus, it is important to consider both external and internal sources. There are multiple non-Christian sources which validate that he existed in history including Josephus Flavius (c. 37 – c. 100), Tacitus (55–117 AD), Lucian (120 -180 AD) and Pliny The Younger (61–113 AD). For example, Josephus Flavius wrote “Now there was about this time Jesus… He was [the] Christ” (Josephus 18). This account provides an independent witness that validates Jesus’ existence outside of Christian writings or oral tradition within less than 40 years after his death according to New Testament scholar William Lane Craig who states “we have certain knowledge that Jesus existed” (“Did Jesus Really Exist?”). Furthermore, even if one were to discount all extra biblical evidence for some reason any non-Christian source itself would still provide more evidence for authenticity than other ancient figures such as Alexander The Great or Julius Caesar whose histories rely solely on what has been written by those within their own cultures without much external validation . Thus, based on available extra Biblical evidence from external sources it can be concluded that skepticism regarding the historicity of Jesus is unwarranted.
Often people assume Jesus was not a real person and/or that the gospels are unreliable sources about Jesus. Based on what you have learned analyze whether these are warranted positions.
Additionally skepticism towards the reliability of gospels is also unfounded due to their close proximity in relation to events recorded as well as archeological accuracy found within them. It has been established through textual analysis including bibliographic testing on manuscripts that much material found in Matthew, Mark Luke and John dates back very close in time to when they occurred making it highly unlikely they could be inaccurate UBS 4th Revised Edition: Introduction 28; Gundry 2001 21; Bruce 1985 29-30]. Additionally modern archaeology seems to support many aspects from events described in various Gospel books such as items related Pilate’s trial [Keener 2012 1202]; John’s standing among Jews [Keener 2012 1147],and archaeological findings such James Ossuary [Yardeni 2003 767]. These facts further establish reliability behind gospels accounts so dismissing them entirely would be unjustified..
Overall skepticism surrounding historically concerning Jesus’ existance and/or Gospel Reliability appears misguided given amount evidence supporting validity of both subjects. As noted earlier numerous extrabiblical texts validate life whilealso internal considerations such textual analysis plus archaeological discoveries often corroborate with stories told throughout Gospels make them reliable source information pertaining Him . Therefore individuals should hesitate before outrightly rejecting either idea instead putting better effort into researching subject determine factual truth behind matters themselves