Did Jesus Really Exist? | Helen Bond from Biblical Time Machine Podcast

Did Jesus of Nazareth really exist? How do historians evaluate the evidence? And what can we actually know about the man behind the Christian tradition?In this episode, New Testament scholar Helen Bond explores one of the most debated questions in biblical studies: the historical Jesus.The conversation examines the evidence for Jesus' existence, the reliability of the Gospels, the letters of Paul, Josephus, Mara bar Serapion, oral tradition, mythicism, and the challenges involved in reconstructing the past from ancient sources.Topics discussed include:• The strongest evidence for the historical Jesus• Why Jesus was crucified• The burial traditions surrounding Jesus• Dating the Gospels• Who wrote the Gospels• Whether the Gospels can lead us to the historical Jesus• The Q hypothesis and its value for historical research• Scholarly consensus and historical method• Josephus and the Testimonium Flavianum• Mara bar Serapion and non-Christian evidence• Paul and the earliest traditions about Jesus• Richard Carrier and mythicism• The historical reliability of John's Gospel• Whether Jesus claimed to be divine• Early Christian diversity and common misconceptions• The most important developments in modern biblical scholarshipHelen Bond is Professor of Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh and one of the world's leading scholars of the historical Jesus and early Christianity. She is the author of numerous books, including The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed, Jesus: A Very Brief History, and The First Biography of Jesus.For early access to interviews, bonus content, and to support the show, visit LogosLeaper on Substack.