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lax16
Guest
No, however it would lead one to research whether it was so. If there were writings containing accounts where numerous people claim to have met, spoke with and learned from this individual creating a whole new philosophy about life, then either numerous people are lying or hallucinating or the person actually existed.Let’s say that there is a temple to Buddha somewhere in southwestern Asia and it is dedicated to him. Is that enough proof do you think for a professional historian to say conclusively that the Buddha was a real historical person?
There is obviously a worldwide religion called Buddhism, based on the teachings of someone called the Buddha, and he may or may not have been a real person. It makes sense to me to believe he was a real man, but that is not the same as saying there is evidence that he was real, in the same way we know that Julius Caesar or Benjamin Franklin was a real person.
If someone claims to have had a vision, such as Joseph Smith, then eyewitness accounts and writings are equally important. They either validate or invalidate the claim that the person is a credible individual.