Introduction: Removing the Halo to See the Man
Few historical figures are so well known – and so poorly understood – as Jesus.
Over two millennia, theology, empire, myth-making, and political convenience have layered stories onto a man who lived briefly, spoke dangerously, and died violently. To understand who Jesus likely was, we must do something radical:
Strip away everything that cannot be independently supported.
What remains is not less compelling – it is far more confronting.
1. Did Jesus Exist? (Yes – and This Is Not Controversial)
Among professional historians, Jesus’ existence is not debated in good faith. He is attested by multiple independent, non-Christian sources.
Primary historical references:
Tacitus (c. 116 CE): Roman historian confirms Jesus (Christus) was executed under Pontius Pilate.
Josephus (c. 93 CE): Jewish historian references Jesus’ execution and followers. Scholarly consensus accepts a partially authentic core.
Pliny the Younger (c. 112 CE): Confirms early Christians worshipped Christ as a real figure
Conclusion: Jesus’ existence is better documented than many ancient figures whose historicity we never question.
2. Who Was Jesus Born To – and Where?
What we can say with confidence:
- Born c. 4–6 BCE
- Raised in Galilee
- Mother: Mary (Miriam) – a Jewish woman of modest means
- Father: Joseph, described as a tekton (builder/craftsman)
What is not historically supported:
- Virgin birth
- Bethlehem census narrative
- Royal Davidic lineage
These elements appear only in later theological texts, not independent records.
Why the birth story was altered:
- Bethlehem links Jesus to King David (messianic legitimacy
- Virgin birth mirrors Greco-Roman divine hero tropes
- Isaiah mistranslation (“young woman” → “virgin”)
Reference:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3268171
3. Jesus’ Actual Religion (This Matters)
Jesus was not a Christian. He was:
- A Jew
- Practising Second Temple Judaism
- Teaching in synagogues
- Observing Jewish law (while challenging elite interpretations)
Christianity did not exist during his lifetime.
References:
4. Was Jesus a Prophet? (Yes – But He Wasn’t Unique)
Jesus lived during an era saturated with prophets, messianic claimants, and reformers. Josephus documents dozens of similar figures:
- Apocalyptic preachers
- Desert prophets
- Anti-Roman agitators
What distinguished Jesus was not prophecy itself, but content. Core themes scholars broadly agree Jesus taught:
- Wealth hoarding is morally dangerous
- Debt forgiveness is essential
- The poor matter more than elites
- Authority without justice is illegitimate
- Violence corrupts moral purpose
Reference:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3268171
5. Why Rome Executed Him (It Wasn’t Theology)
Rome did not crucify people for religious disagreement. Crucifixion was reserved for:
- Insurrectionists
- Political destabilisers
- Threats to order
Jesus was executed by Rome, not by Jewish authorities.
The charge: “King of the Jews”
That is explicitly political.
The Temple incident – often mischaracterised as a tantrum – was an economic protest against a system tied to Roman control.
6. The Myths: What Was Added Later – and Why
After Jesus’ death, his followers faced a problem:
- Their leader was dead, and Rome had won.
- To survive and grow, the movement adapted.
- Key myth layers and motivations
- Myth
Why It Was Added
- Virgin birth
- Compete with divine Roman heroes
- Miracles escalation
- Establish superiority over rivals
- Resurrection literalism
- Sustain hope after defeat
- Blame shift to “the Jews”
- Avoid Roman retaliation
- Heaven over justice
- Neutralise political threat
References:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/Myth-and-ritual
https://ehrmanblog.org/how-jesus-became-god/
7. Christmas and Pagan Appropriation (Yes, That Too)
Jesus was not born on December 25. That date aligns with:
- Saturnalia
- Sol Invictus
This was a deliberate syncretic strategy to ease conversion from polytheism to Roman Christianity.
Reference:
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
8. The Historical Jesus – Summarised
Removing theology, Jesus was most likely:
- A Jewish moral reformer
- Born to ordinary Jewish parents
- Practising Judaism
- Speaking Aramaic
- Advocating radical equality
- Critiquing wealth and power
- Non-violent
- Executed for threatening authority
This profile does not require divinity to explain its impact.
9. So What Would Happen to Jesus Today?
He would not be crucified with nails. He would be:
- Labelled a socialist
- Accused of class warfare
- Smeared as irresponsible
- Targeted by media
- Marginalised by religious institutions
- Policed under “public order” laws
- De-platformed for being “divisive”
The tools have changed. The outcome would not.
Conclusion: Why This Still Matters
The historical Jesus is uncomfortable precisely because he is recognisable. He challenged:
- Wealth concentration
- Moral hypocrisy
- Power without justice
Those challenges are timeless – and still unwelcome.
Jesus was not killed for being divine. He was killed for being dangerous.
That danger has never gone away.
Keep Independent Journalism Alive – Support The AIMN
Dear Reader,
Since 2013, The Australian Independent Media Network has been a fearless voice for truth, giving public interest journalists a platform to hold power to account. From expert analysis on national and global events to uncovering issues that matter to you, we’re here because of your support.
Running an independent site isn’t cheap, and rising costs mean we need you now more than ever. Your donation – big or small – keeps our servers humming, our writers digging, and our stories free for all.
Join our community of truth-seekers. Donate via PayPal or credit card via the button below, or bank transfer [BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969] and help us keep shining a light.
With gratitude, The AIMN Team
I say that Jesus Christ was crucified for the same reasons that you do.
I thought, a very good piece.
Basically my take, an ethical reformer savagely done down by the Establishment of the times: the local Jewish herarchy and the Roman Imperialists..
I often wonder if there was a deal between the Romans and the likes of Caiphas. I think the diff is, Xtianity, esp after St Paul (no not ME) breaking with James in universalising the thrust as ethics not just Jewish, but applying to all.
I must saying the the thinking of the editors in materials selection is peerless.
So when does the deification, son of god stuff begin which (oversimplifying) led to the creation of sects, competing narratives and claimants eventually leading to the religious wars?
Lachlan; You will be castigated by those that wish to protect the myths and untruths that underly their lack of understanding. However abiding by truth brings strength to the truth teller. It has long been apparent to me that the public practice of Christianity does not always reflect the simple message that Jesus taught his followers. The deification of Jesus and the “revelations” of Saul of Tarsus (later known as St Paul) was the beginning of a series of deliberate distractions that enabled the establishment of a religious “industry” that was based on opportunism, superstition, fear, vested interests and control. And that is precisely what we have today.
Your article is packed full of facts. It would be wonderful if they get disseminated widely especially in this time of religious conflict.
What a shit article. It is full of lies. Pliny, Tacitus and Josephus never mentioned Jesus. This is a pure propaganda piece written by an idiot. Jesus never existed.
Lee, we encourage people to argue their point, but we don’t appreciate attacks on the author.
I hear that there was a second coming but it was thwarted by ICE agents, who nabbed a man called Jesus, a tomato picker, south of San Francisco. He was deported as an illegal alien and now resides in a detention centre in El Salvador.
Lee – only takes a 5 sec google search to show you are wrong.
I rather like the real Jesus, much more the kind of person I’d follow than the full on “magical dude”. I think he would have been a hippie if he had appeared in the 60s. Love and peace.
According to the po-mos, “the author is dead”.
We await newspaper announcements on the funeral. We miss you, Lachlan.
But the text stays tricky. It is not to say that Jesus himself wanted to “author” a great new movement, but he was a dissenter for the fair go in a hard time where and when he and his community lived, with some difficulty.
History would show that conditions for the religion to thrive was some thing that occurred over several hundred years and that, of course, it was manipulated to serve elite interests (eg Constantine later) and Nero earlier, as scapegoats for the Great Fire that Nero himself may have started.
I read a great book years ago called “Jesus the Man” by Barbara Thiering. I highly recommend it as it goes through the whole life of Jesus and to a great extent agrees with your article.
The virgin birth bullshit links back to far earlier mythologies than Graeco-Roman: the Egyptian. That’s where Moses grew up, and where he got his ideas. Look at how much the OT prophecies mirror ancient Egyptian myths.
And yes, then there’s the mistranslation issue. The original term simply meant “young unmarried woman”.
Yeshua bar Yosef was a rabbi who got caught up a little too deeply in the fraught politics of the time, and paid for it. Peter (and that misogynistic shit Paul) are what gave us the christian churches, most of which (like their adherents) are christian only in name but not action. The man himself would disown them.
The biggest problem with the historicity of JC is that there are no contemporary records. Even those sources cited here postdate JC by a good many decades.