Why I do not accept Jesus’ divinity (or anyone’s for that matter)

Happy Easter, everyone. This is my favorite pagan holiday because it celebrates fertility—and who doesn’t appreciate that? Well, maybe those who have unintentional pregnancies, but that’s an entirely different topic. For now, I’d like to focus on the Christianized version of this ancient holiday—particularly  Jesus’ supposed divinity, and his mythical resurrection.

I am not certain Jesus even existed. There is no clear evidence outside Scripture, which was most certainly written by those who wanted to perpetuate the myth. A majority of biblical scholars—conservative and liberal alike—concur that the authors of the gospels did not know Jesus personally, but merely relayed stories about him. Most of Jesus’ followers were illiterate Aramaic speakers, while the authors of the gospels were educated Greeks. Therefore, we are certain the writers cannot vouch for Jesus’ existence. However, we know for certain Pontius Pilate existed because we have many outside sources to validate this—from local writings to Roman logs to physical evidence of his actual house.

If Jesus existed, we can be certain he wasn’t divine. First, there were a number of messianic claimants during this time in his particular part of the world. He was most likely just another uneducated peasant claiming the mantle of Jewish savior. Second, and most obvious, there is no such thing as “divinity”. None of his miracles can be substantiated. Nothing he did has been verified by extra-biblical sources. Most magicians and miracle workers during this time were charlatans and there is no reason to think otherwise about Jesus.

Finally, people cannot rise from the dead. It’s impossible. If he existed, was tortured, and lay in a tomb, his body was either stolen or he simply wasn’t dead and walked out. Either is more plausible than supernatural resurrection. There was no one living at that time in that part of the world to verify this event and we have no rational reason to believe it happened.

While some of what Jesus said was “good” and “moral”, we have no reason whatsoever to believe he was divine or supernatural. It’s highly likely the stories of Jesus of Nazareth were either outright fiction or embellished stories of one of many poor, radical Jewish miracle workers in the Middle East two thousand years ago.