Random Physical Evidence That Jesus Christ Was A Real Person (13 items)

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  (#13) Jesus May Not Have Been Divine, But He Was Real

  Whether you believe that Jesus was divine or not, the evidence points to the fact that Jesus was a real person. Proof like the Pilate stone and written sources from Jewish and Roman authors establishes the existence of many people and places mentioned in the Gospels. While the followers of Jesus had an incentive to claim he was divine, their writings also come from people who met the real Jesus when he was alive.

  In spite of the fact that some physical evidence, such as the Shroud of Turin, the crown of thorns, and the pieces of the cross, cannot be definitively linked to the time of Jesus, there is still overwhelming evidence that Jesus was a real person. 

  As scholar Simon Gathercole has claimed, there is "little reasonable doubt that Jesus lived and died. The more interesting question - which goes beyond history and objective fact - is whether Jesus died and lived." And as for that question, it is doubtful that physical evidence alone could provide a definitive answer.  
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  (#9) Josephus Still Provides Independent Confirmation Of The Existence Of Jesus

  However, even if the more positive references to Jesus as a "wise man" and the Christ were added by later scholars, Josephus's historical account confirms many details about the life of Jesus. As scholar Christopher Price has argued, the passage in Josephus's Antiquities independently confirms the existence of Jesus. It describes him as a teacher and says that he was executed by Pontius Pilate. And it calls Jesus the founder of Christianity. 

  As another scholar, E.P. Sanders, wrote, "[b]y the standards of the day, [Josephus] was a very good historian, and for some parts of his historical narratives he had excellent sources." And, most importantly, as a non-Christian, Josephus had no stake in propping up a mythical Christ; this means that his historical details are more likely to be reliable.
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  (#5) Churches Claim To Have Pieces Of Jesus's Crucifixion Cross

  Jesus was crucified on an enormous cross, according to the Gospels, and many have wondered if the cross still exists. In the medieval period, many churches, nobles, and royals claimed to possess a piece of the true cross, with pieces preserved in elaborate reliquaries. As the humanist Erasmus quipped in the sixteenth century, “So they say of the cross of Our Lord, which is shown publicly and privately in so many places, that, if all the fragments were collected together, they would appear to form a fair cargo for a merchant ship.”

  Reports of the true cross started to spread in the fourth century, when one Christian reported that pieces of the cross were venerated in Jerusalem on Good Friday with deacons stationed nearby to make sure people didn't bite off a piece to take home. But crucifixion was considered a shameful death when Jesus died, and it appears unlikely that his earliest followers would have preserved the cross. As a result, it is not possible to prove that pieces of the cross are authentic. 
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  (#7) Graffiti Could Be Strong Evidence Of Jesus's Existence

  While early Christians had an incentive to produce texts and images that glorified Jesus, people who didn't follow Christ did not have the same motives. Thus, the most reliable evidence of Jesus might come from non-Christians who lived in the same time. One of the oldest images of Jesus comes from a piece of graffiti. It is called the Alexamenos Graffito, and it likely dates to around 200 CE. 

  The image shows a crucified man with the head of a donkey. It was found in Rome, but carries a Greek inscription that reads "Alexamenos worships God." The mocking image argues that Jesus was not actually God, but rather a foolish character, underscored by the donkey head. 

  However, the piece of graffiti still does not prove that Jesus was real. The best textual evidence may come from another non-Christian, the first-century scholar Flavius Josephus.
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  (#2) These Nails May Have Been Used To Crucify Jesus

  The April 2011 discovery of two nails, possibly used for a crucifixion, may provide physical proof that Jesus not only lived, but died at the hands of the Romans. The two nails were discovered in a 2,000-year-old tomb in Jerusalem, and there is some evidence that they were linked to the crucifixion of Jesus. 

  However, the majority of experts and scholars doubt the nails can be tied to Jesus. In 1911, scholar Herbert Thurston proved that there were at least 30 "holy nails" being venerated across Europe, when the true number was likely three or four. As a result, the nails are only circumstantial evidence.
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  (#10) The Earliest Images Of Jesus Were Created 200 Years After His Death

  If Jesus was real, he must have left behind some physical evidence. Because images of Jesus have been incredibly popular since the earliest years of Christianity, some scholars have looked for images of Jesus to prove that he was real.

  But unfortunately, there are no known images of Jesus made before 200 CE, or nearly two centuries after Jesus lived. The mural pictured above, which dates to around 230 CE, shows the Gospel story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. In the mural, discovered on the wall of a Syrian church, Jesus commands the paralyzed man to walk, which, miraculously, he does.

  The image is barely identifiable today, and provides no physical proof that Jesus actually existed. 

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