Jesus as a creation of Roman Empire

[BarberRB2015]

Hello and a Blessed Easter to you all,

 Please kindly refute the following statement for me.  I know on a gut level that this can be picked apart quite easily, but I would appreciate an apologist, or those more learned than myself doing it.

 I am newly baptised and confirmed as of the Easter Vigil last night.  For people like me, things are quite fragile as we are brand new, and do not know how to defend the faith and Christ's Church.  Seems the atheists enjoy coming out to play during Easter and Christmas...

“Jesus was actually a figure created by the Roman Empire to diffuse The Jewish Revolts, like Masada, happening all over Israel while under Roman rule. The “peaceful Messiah” would serve as an alternative to the revolutionary leaders who were rocking first-century Israel and threatening Rome. Much like Dr Martin Luther King in modern times. If you can see through the smoke and mirrors things become clear.”

Thank you very much,

RB

 

[KnowtheSilence]

Hello and a Blessed Easter to you all,

 Please kindly refute the following statement for me.  I know on a gut level that this can be picked apart quite easily, but I would appreciate an apologist, or those more learned than myself doing it.

 I am newly baptised and confirmed as of the Easter Vigil last night.  For people like me, things are quite fragile as we are brand new, and do not know how to defend the faith and Christ's Church.  Seems the atheists enjoy coming out to play during Easter and Christmas...

“Jesus was actually a figure created by the Roman Empire to diffuse The Jewish Revolts, like Masada, happening all over Israel while under Roman rule. The “peaceful Messiah” would serve as an alternative to the revolutionary leaders who were rocking first-century Israel and threatening Rome. Much like Dr Martin Luther King in modern times. If you can see through the smoke and mirrors things become clear.”

Thank you very much,

RB

I don’t think that non-expert believers need to have refutations for mythicism ready to go - burden of proof lies with the mythicists - but that goes double for this particular theory. It’s not even plausible. The Romans never did anything like this. It’s not a sane thing for them to try to do.

 

[Assyrian412]

Hey Barber, congrats on being received into the Church! I was also confirmed last night

I’m no apologist but I would suggest reading about the persecution Christians faced under the Roman Empire before Christianity was legalized; just do a quick google search.

Why would Rome create a peaceful messianic figure as an alternative for the Jews and then make it illegal to follow this made up messiah? Christians, before Emperor Constantine, were fed to lions, crucified, burned alive, etc for refusing to give up their faith in Christ which is one of the many reasons the faith spread so fast…

You can read about the above by learning about what the early Church Fathers had to say about it, such as Eusebius, as well as the negative things Roman Historians had to say about Christians…

Start here if you wish, I haven’t read over this whole page yet so I cannot advocate for its complete accuracy. However, it may give you a general sense as to what I mean…

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Christian_policies_in_the_Roman_Empire

An easier answer to the skeptics you are dealing with is simple: what proof do they have that the Roman Empire made up Jesus? From my understanding, there is none. You could then respond with all the evidence that there is out there for Jesus’ existence as a historical figure. Again, just hit up google!

Catholic Answers has a lot of videos and threads posted on their site about the historical Jesus as well, I suggest looking it up! The majority of credible historians agree that Jesus Christ was a historical figure.

Happy Easter and God Bless!

 

[animalis]

The revelation the Catholic Church imparts is one of the most studied and in turn accepted gift in all of humanity. This idea is a novelty, a lie, that has perhaps a drop of study to back it up in comparison to the ocean we have embraced.

 

[Jesus_Is_God_1]

Jesus Myth-Theories are considered pseudo-history by the vast majority of academic scholars and historians. Jesus existed, this is historical fact. Certain events described about his life have been open for debate but there is no doubt that Jesus existed.

 

[Arizona_Fat_Gir]

Sometimes these know-it-alls seem to want to stir up things. They just can’t keep their traps shut. Just because they are atheists they think they can make up stories.

Why don’t they just take a fiction course?

 

[katy]

Catholic Answers does have many resources by knowledgeable authors. Just browse around the site a bit.
Also check out the authors Peter Kreeft and Scott Hahn, who have a wealth of accurate study behind them and also write in an easily readable manner. God bless and welcome home.

 

[neophyte]

The ravings of madmen need no rebuttal.

 

[exnihilo]

Welcome to the Church!

All the other answers were good. I’d add that you’ll encounter these kinds of ‘arguments’ frequently. If you look at it though it is just a bald assertion. They have no facts to support their claim. It is just speculation. It is often impossible to change the mind of the person you are interacting with because they have an axiomatic belief. In other words they have an unquestioning faith in this belief that matches if not exceeds the religious faith they challenge or, more typically, mock.

One thing you can do is ask them what documents they have that lay out the plot they claim exists. When they admit nothing then you can ask them how they know the minds of ancient Romans. Are they psychics? But again, don’t expect to change their mind.

When arguing against challenges remember to ask questions. Make sure your opponent’s argument and terms are well defined. Make them lay out their facts. You may end up arguing in circles but if you don’t ask clarifying questions you almost certainly will.

 

[jcrichton]

Hello and a Blessed Easter to you all,

 Please kindly refute the following statement for me.  I know on a gut level that this can be picked apart quite easily, but I would appreciate an apologist, or those more learned than myself doing it.

 I am newly baptised and confirmed as of the Easter Vigil last night.  For people like me, things are quite fragile as we are brand new, and do not know how to defend the faith and Christ's Church.  Seems the atheists enjoy coming out to play during Easter and Christmas...

“Jesus was actually a figure created by the Roman Empire to diffuse The Jewish Revolts, like Masada, happening all over Israel while under Roman rule. The “peaceful Messiah” would serve as an alternative to the revolutionary leaders who were rocking first-century Israel and threatening Rome. Much like Dr Martin Luther King in modern times. If you can see through the smoke and mirrors things become clear.”

Thank you very much,

RB

Hi, RB!

…have you seen any of the films depicting the Roman empire?

…these people were war zealots… their modus operandi was: scorched ground, raze the enemy’s civilization, build the military infrastructure, and divide the spoils…

…so the Roman empire would be scared of Jews who comprised of no military prowess?

…it’s like pitting the NFL against little leagues… do you actually think elementary-age school children would be a threat to the NFL players (well, perhaps if all the little leaguers were the children/grand-children/nephews of the players they were to face)?

…consider also that Christian values were counter cultural and that they influenced Roman thinking…

Then, there’s the total eradication of the Jewish Temple, around 70 AD; the Jews were tolerated and allowed certain liberties… yet, when serious thread surfaced the Romans forced the Jews to capitulate by razing to the ground their center of hope and solace…

Finally, for this claim to hold any veracity, would the majority of the Jews not have had to become “pacifist Christians?”

Maran atha!

Angel

PS: Welcome Home! :extrahappy::extrahappy::extrahappy:

 

[jcrichton]

Sometimes these know-it-alls seem to want to stir up things. They just can’t keep their traps shut. Just because they are atheists they think they can make up stories.

Why don’t they just take a fiction course?

Hi!

…their religion requires that they “un-save” Christians?

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[Blue_Horizon]

Hello and a Blessed Easter to you all,

 Please kindly refute the following statement for me.  I know on a gut level that this can be picked apart quite easily, but I would appreciate an apologist, or those more learned than myself doing it.

 I am newly baptised and confirmed as of the Easter Vigil last night.  For people like me, things are quite fragile as we are brand new, and do not know how to defend the faith and Christ's Church.  Seems the atheists enjoy coming out to play during Easter and Christmas...

“Jesus was actually a figure created by the Roman Empire to diffuse The Jewish Revolts, like Masada, happening all over Israel while under Roman rule. The “peaceful Messiah” would serve as an alternative to the revolutionary leaders who were rocking first-century Israel and threatening Rome. Much like Dr Martin Luther King in modern times. If you can see through the smoke and mirrors things become clear.”

Thank you very much,

RB

There is some truth to this. Every culture distorts the real Jesus and his message.
But obviously the message was very powerful before the Romans gave it spin.