I often come across some readers questioning about the existence of Jesus. "There is no concrete evidence regarding the passage of the Nazarene on earth", some claim. For some, Christ is not a historical figure, but a mythological figure created sometime in the past.

The topic instigates heated discussions and deserves further study, given that such questions challenges almost a third of the world's population (2 billion Christians) and also the history of mankind. 

The Emergence of a Mythological Christ - Jesus was never unanimity and this fact is not news to anyone. Since the beginning of his preaching He encountered vehement opponents. Insofar as his ministry grew, the attacks of antagonists became increasingly violent, resulting in his arrest and crucifixion. Even after the suffering of Jesus on Calvary, Christian persecution continued, however not always in a violent form. Some hundreds of Christians were martyred in Roman circuses, others ridiculed by intellectuals who were trying to discourage Christianity. The more intelligent people spread the idea that Jesus was a mythological, that is, he never existed.  But despite the contrary efforts, the Christian movement resisted and became perpetuated.

Almost two millennia had passed, and by the year 1790, in the era of the French Enlightenment, thinkers such as Constantine François Volney and Charles François Dupuis resurrected the idea that Jesus had been created. These opinions were known as the "Myth of Christ” or “Mythical Jesus “(the inexistence of Jesus).

The rationalist Enlightenment was a cultural movement created in order to reform the knowledge inherited from the medieval tradition. This knowledge, hitherto, was dictated by imperious Roman Church, hence the emergence of the theory of the Myth of Christ. It was a way to confront reasoning and faith.

Mythical Jesus did not spread as thought by the rational Enlightenment followers, the religiosity of the great mass was much bigger. Despite not gaining strength, the theory is still a controversy raised by sceptics in the modern era. In 2002, the Italian Luigi Cascioli sued the church for believing that institution fed the lie of the existence of Jesus. The lawsuit, after going through all instances, was shelved for lack of evidence. 

Confronting the anti-Christian ideas - The first argument is of a sceptic is that there is no concrete evidence of the life of the Nazarene. "Jesus did not leave a single sentence written, no archaeological and documentary evidence that traces his life and his apostolate" some claim.  

To put things in this light, we will see that Socrates, for example, also had not documented his ideas, but by no means he ceased to be one of the largest and best-known philosophers of antiquity, because his thoughts were recorded and broadcast by his disciples, among them, Plato.  Just as happened with Jesus and his apostles.  

Let's look at the other questions raised by non-Christians: 

1) Bible Stories: The more religious people would rebut the criticism concerning Jesus referencing the New Testament, however, for the opponents of the Nazarene, the Bible is not an acceptable historical record. The rationale would be that the four canonical gospels have been formulated long after the crucifixion of the Saviour. In addition, two of the evangelists (Luke and Mark) did not even get to know the Carpenter of Nazareth, so their writings are based on reports from third parties. Another important aspect of the anti-Christian point of view is that the original scrolls were edited several times by the church, until the current format, besides being copied and translated into other languages, which can significantly misrepresent the essence of texts.

In fact, there are contradictions between the Gospels of the New Testament; however, the existence of Jesus is a consensus among them, including the apocryphal gospels (which are not in the Bible). Many scholars believe that less than 20 percent of what we read in the Gospels is the original sayings of the Messiah. Not even the most incredulous researchers refute the idea of the "Son of God" to be a historical figure. 

2) Roman Conspiracy: For some theologians, the creation of the story of Jesus would have been a political strategy of the Romans to pacify the violent attacks of the Jews who lived in Palestine of the time. This argument is contradictory as Roman society was polytheistic and socially segregated. The Nazarene personality (who advocated a single merciful God and equality among men) differs from the religious and social beliefs of that civilization. The Gods of Roman mythology were moody and would never accept a patrician be compared to a slave. 

3) The construction of the myth by early Christians: Another argument raised is that the Jesus Myth was created by pioneers Christians. Could a group of modest workers devise a grandiose personality like Jesus? And how a myth would have crossed historical periods without being forgotten?  It is unlikely that much of humanity would live all this time believing in an allegorical figure. If Jesus did not exist, one must imagine how a myth could alter so much the history of mankind. 

Historical evidence about Jesus - Before anything else, it is necessary to answer the following question: What distinguishes a mythological figure of a historical figure?  In order for historians to prove the existence of a historical character, it is necessary to search for three primary reasons: documents of ancient historians, historical impact, and other historical documents and archaeological evidence. Admittedly, these gaps are entirely fulfilled by Christ.

Historians documents: The first historical document we present is titled "Jewish Antiquities," from the year 93 AD, written by the historian Josephus, born a few years after the crucifixion of Jesus:

"Jesus lived at that time, a holy man, if he can be called a man, because he did mighty works, taught men, and received the truth with pleasure. And he was followed by many Jews and many Greeks [...] " ²

For modern historians, Flavius Josephus is considered an important reference on the history of Jesus for he was a scholar, who is considered impartial, ie, he did not belong to the Christian movement, which evidences the existence of the historical Christ.

Another referenced author is the Roman historian Gaius Suetonius Tranquil. This also has great credibility due to his biographies on the twelve Roman emperors, from Julius Caesar to Domitian. The work called De Vita Caesarum, probably written during the period of Hadrian, makes mention of Christians:

"Nero inflicted punishment to Christians, a group of people leaned towards a new and evil superstition."(Gaius Suetonius Tranquil - De Vita Caesarum)

": Last but not least, we find Cornelius Tacitus, born 25 years before Jesus' crucifixion and also cites the envoy of God in his last historical work entitled "Annals":

"Christus, which gave rise to the Christian name, was sentenced to extreme punishment [ie crucifixion] by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius, but repressed for a time; the pernicious superstition broke out again, not only throughout Judea, where the problem started, but also in the entire city of Rome.”(Cornelius Tacitus - Annals) Besides these mentioned historians there is confirmation of at least 19 ancient secular writers who have referred to Jesus as a real person. The sources that allude to the Messiah are numerous. There are more books about Him than any other historical figure, which would be impossible for a mythological figure. 

Historical Impact: It is clear the impact that Nazarene personality caused in human history. We could list a hundred of them, starting with the Western calendar, which is counted from his birth on earth. Our time is divided into BC (BC) and after Christ (AD), this fact alone is self-explanatory. 

Other evidences: Several experts in history (and who have not communicated with each other) use the same sources to affirm that that Jesus is a real figure. Scholars defend that the Messiah was, at worst, a Jewish preacher from Galilee. Amongst the sceptics, He was seen as a charismatic healer, a philosopher, or an egalitarian reformist. These arguments converge with the ideas of non-Christian religions, among which are Judaism, the main religion at the time of Jesus.

Mainstream Judaism rejects the proposal of Jesus to be the Messiah, because he neither performed the Messianic prophecies of the "Tanach" nor presents the personal qualifications of the Messiah, which does not contradict its existence. Jews recognize Jesus in a good Jew, who passed forward the religious, moral and ethical teachings received from Judaism. Another important religious doctrine in the region of pilgrimage of Christ is Islam. Islam considers Jesus a messenger of God and the Messiah sent to guide the tribes of Israel through the new scriptures, the Gospel. The belief in Nazareth, and in all other messengers of God, is part of the requirements for being a Muslim. The Koran mentions the name of Jesus twenty-five times, more than Mohammed himself, and also emphasizes that Jesus was a mortal human being who, like all other prophets, was divinely chosen to spread God's message.

The extensive documentation of the life of Jesus by writers of the time, its profound historical impact and tangible and confirming evidence of history persuaded scholars that Jesus actually existed. 

Jesus for Spiritism - Many spiritist works depicting the life of Christ and his extraordinary legacy, starting with the coding books. References depart own spirituality:

625. What is the most perfect type that God has offered to man as his guide and model?  "Jesus."

Jesus is the type of the moral perfection to which man may attain upon this earth. God offers Him to our thought as our most perfect model and the doctrine taught by Him is the purest expression of the divine law, because He was animated by the divine spirit, and was the purest being who has ever appeared upon the earth. (The Spirits’ Book – Allan Kardec) 

To the Spiritist Doctrine, Jesus is the model and guide, the more evolved Spirit that the Creator sent to Earth to serve as a reference to imperfect men, as shown in the above excerpt, taken from the basic work of Spiritism.

Another booklet that highlights the existence of Jesus as a historical figure emerged through the psychographics of the Brazilian medium Chico Xavier. The book "Two Thousand Years" by the spirit author Emmanuel, tells the story of one of the spirit author’s reincarnations, when he lived as a Roman Senator in the times of Jesus. Publius Cornelius Lentulus is the author of the famous letter to Caesar depicting the figure of Jesus. Maybe this is the only documented reference of the face of Christ.

Emmanuel still offers the world another book rich in historical details about Jesus. "Paul and Stephen" is a narrative of the life of Saul of Tarsus, a judge of the Sanhedrin who persecuted Christians and that, after a vision of Jesus at the gates of Damascus, became converted the doctrine of Christ, changing the name to Paul of Tarsus and becoming one of the greatest apostles of Christianity.

Paul, after his conversion, developed an outstanding job, taking the word of Jesus to communities that did not yet know the Master. He founded churches and wrote his famous epistles. Some historians argue that his letters were the first produced records referencing the life of the Carpenter of Nazareth.

The converted one from Damascus did not know Jesus personally, but became very close to Simon Peter and the other apostles who provided notes and important data about Him. At least six of the thirteen epistles attributed to Paul had its authenticity proven by historians, which refers to the truthfulness of a Historical Jesus.

To Spiritism there is no doubt that Jesus was a real person, who lived on earth to show with his examples, the path to moral progress. The contrary opinions constitute differences of the individuality of each spirit, but sooner or later the sceptics will recognize its importance as Emmanuel recognized:

 [...] You find, today, a reference point for the regeneration of all your life. It is, however, in your wantting to enjoy it now or in a few millennia. (Jesus speaking with Publius Lentulus, the book “Two thousands years ago”, channelled by psychography by medium Chico Xavier)

References:

1. Annals - Cornelius Tacitus

2. Jewish Antiquities

3. The Research for the Historical Jesus

4. The Spiritis’ Book - Allan Kardec

5. Two Thousands Years Ago – channelled by Chico Xavier, authorship of the spirit Emmanuel

6. Paul and Stephen - channelled by Chico Xavier, authorship of the spirit Emmanuel