CMV: As a Christian, you can't say you follow Jesus, because you've never met the guy. In fact, you have no idea if he even existed.

I've been to a few churches in my area, which have been a very interesting experience. A lot of the people I've met are really nice and seem like genuinely great people, but have one glaring flaw: they've never actually met Jesus.<br><br>Let me explain. According to what I've understood from Christian teaching, Jesus was a guy who lived about 2000 years ago. That's a pretty long time, and the method we use to measure time is based on his supposed birth. He's supposed to have lived in a place called Galilee, which is now Israel, and lived for about 33 years or so. He was crucified, died, resurrected, and then took off into the sky, where he became one with God, and then left. He's also supposed to have lived for about 33 years prior to that, and had a few disciples, like Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and a few others.<br><br>Well, if I am to believe in Jesus, I should do so based on evidence, not faith. I can't just blindly follow someone. I should do my research, and find as much evidence that exists about him. Now, this would be something you have to do if you wanted to learn about literally anyone who lived in the past, whether it be a commoner or a historical leader. For example, if you wanted to learn about Abraham Lincoln, you'd do so by reading books about him that were written by people who were alive during his time. Or, if you wanted to learn about Napoleon, you'd do the same.<br><br>What you wouldn't do is read some book about him written 200 years after he lived, or even worse, read some book written in 2023 about him. While I have no doubt that a book about Lincoln written in 2023 will include all of his history and facts, you have to ask yourself, where did the author get this information from? And if you do your research, you'll see that the modern-day author got it from an old book written in the 1800s, by someone else who read another book written by someone who lived before even that.<br><br>This is a chain of Chinese whispers that lasted over centuries. You can't trust the information written about someone if they're based on assumptions and second-hand sources. It's impossible.<br><br>But, you can't learn about Jesus either, because every piece of information we have about him is based on someone else's account. Since he's supposed to have died 2000 years ago, we can't trust any information about him today. The modern-day Christian is reading the holy scriptures, which was written in 1000 AD, which got their info from a book written in 500 AD, which got their info from a book written in 500 BC, which got their info from a book written in 1500 BC, which got their info from some Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol that exists in their language.<br><br>But, who wrote the book in 1500 BC? Was it someone who saw Jesus? No, that's impossible, because he died in 30 AD. Was it a Christian? No, because Christianity didn't exist yet. So who wrote the book in 1500 BC, and who wrote the original book at the very least?<br><br>You'll never know, and neither will I. And neither do the Christians. They don't even know if Jesus ever actually existed at all. They're just following someone they have no idea about, which is ridiculous.<br><br>So, what you should do is go ahead and try to find Jesus. Forget about Christian scripture and the modern-day church, and go out and find evidence for something you have a firm stance on. If you have to hold on to faith to justify your beliefs, that's a sign that you should probably just do your research.<br><br>If you can find evidence for Jesus, I'll change my view. If you can demonstrate that you know Jesus, and have actually met him, I'll change my view. But until then, I'm right, and I know it.<br><br>Edit: Wow, this got really popular. Thank you all for the gold and silver, and for all the comments. I'm not going to respond to all of them, but I'll try to respond to a few.