The reference to Jesus in "The Passing of Peregrinus" is describing what Christians believe in, it is NOT suggesting that these beliefs were true. The Passing of Peregrinus is also a satire, a work of fiction.

• Lucian was a satirist, not a historian
• Lucian was not born until 125 CE

The reference to Jesus in "Annals XV.44" is describing what Christians believe in, it is NOT suggesting that these beliefs were true. Tacitus goes on to call this belief about Christus a "pernicious superstition."

• Tacitus was not born until 56 CE
• Annals XV.44 was not written until 115 CE

Chapter 25 of a biography titled "The Life of Claudius" has one line that mentions "Chrestus" which is NOT a reference to Jesus Christ. This passage is also set during 50 CE, twenty years after Jesus' supposed death.

• Suetonius was not born until 41 CE
• "The Life of Claudius" was not written until 115 CE

The reference to Jesus in Pliny the Younger's writings corresponding with the emperor Trajan is describing what Christians in Asia Minor believe in, it is NOT suggesting that these beliefs were true.

• Pliny the Younger was not born until 61 CE

The Antiquities of the Jews is NOT based on historical events. Right in the preface Josephus tells us that the history he is writing about is based on Hebrew scriptures and religious books. Hence why Jesephus' Antiquities not only mentions Jesus but also describes God's creation of the earth, Adam & Eve, Noah & the flood, the Tower of Babel, the 10 Plagues, and the parting of the sea.

"Now I have undertaken the present work, as thinking it will appear to all the Greeks worthy of their study; for it will contain all our antiquities, and the constitution of our government, as interpreted out of the Hebrew Scriptures." "I shall now betake myself to the history before me, after I have first mentioned what Moses says of the creation of the world, which I find described in the sacred books after the manner following." - Antiquities of the Jews -- Preface

• Josephus was not even born until 37 CE
• Antiquities of the Jews was not written until 94 CE
• Antiquities of the Jews is based on religious texts, not history.
• Josephus was an orthodox Jew and never believed in a savior named Jesus Christ

Just because a figure is influential does not suggest they existed, all mythological gods were very influential. Like some Christians many followers of other gods were willing to die for what they thought was true. The terrorists of 9-11 died for the influential lie about 72 virgins in paradise.

The absolute lack of historical evidence for Jesus Christ is obviously a major problem for anyone looking for a reason to think he actually existed. To ignore this problem apologists claim that we cannot expect to have any evidence for a person who lived that long ago. That claim is far from true. The 1st century was a well documented time and we have a great deal of historical evidence for figures who actually existed.

Take Julius Caesar for example. We have writings by him, and writings about him by both friends and enemies written during his life time. We have contemporary sculptures and other artwork depicting his image and various artifacts confirming his life and death. We have a known year of birth and a known day of death. We have a rather complete history of Caesar yet no such evidence is found in relation to Jesus Christ, who is said to have lived decades later. We don't even have a known last name for Jesus.

The Shroud of Turin is a forgery. After independent analysis by the University of Arizona, Oxford, and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology all results date the shroud to be from between 1260 and 1390 CE. Besides, even if it was from the wrappings of a dead body during the 1st century this would still not be evidence that Jesus Christ existed. It would only be evidence that a person died during the 1st century.

The "Letters of Abgarus and Jesus" claimed by some apologists to be written by Jesus to the Abgar V are taken as forgeries, not authentic, by historians. The known copies of these letters were written long after the time Jesus supposedly lived. Also the letter forged as Jesus mirrors passages from the Diatessaron (c. 150-160 CE) and not the earlier versions of the gospels.

Some apologists claim that the Talmud (c. 200-500 CE) is evidence that even non-Christians claimed Jesus existed. Despite claims by Josh McDowell there is NO specific reference to Jesus anywhere in the Talmud and there is no denying that its authors didn't believe in Jesus' messiahship or divinity.

The gospels are not eyewitness accounts and were written 36-65 years after Jesus' supposed death. None of the writers claim to be eyewitnesses, Matthew is written completely in third person (e.g. Matthew 9:9), and the author of John claims he is not the disciple John (John 21:24). The followers of Jesus were Aramaic speaking peasants from Galilee, lower class men that are not educated and could not have written the gospels in Greek. All the gospels were written anonymously and the names Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were simply applied to the unnamed writings by later readers and named after characters in the stories.
Acts 4:13 even says Peter and John were uneducated and ignorant men.

Some claim a tomb found in Talpiot is the tomb of Jesus and his family because two of the ten ossuaries contain the names "Jesua, son of Joseph" and "Mariamene e Mara." Mary, Joseph, and Jesua were very common names in 1st century Israel so there is nothing significant about the inscriptions. Even most apologists agree that there is no reason to think this tomb is related to Jesus Christ particularly since it was the tomb of a wealthy family that was not from Nazareth.

Some apologists claim that there is no contemporary evidence for Jesus because during that time people only shared stories verbally. It is true, there was an oral tradition among story tellers and the sharing of stories. Historians on the other hand documented events as they occurred. If Jesus was a historical figure and not just a character in a story there would be contemporary writings about him.