nonbelievers do not believe that the Jesus described by the bible existed, but I seem to recall 'most' saying that there very well may have been a man by the name who generally became a local leader and preached being good to one's fellow man. It's just that he wasn't God, God's Son, and a magical ghost, and that the probability he did exactly what the bible said he did approaches zero in the mathematical sense.
But a nice Jewish man who was crucified by the Romans because they correctly smelled a rising threat of an alternate power structure? Sure... they tended to frown on those things.
His name was Jesus? Ok...within the reasonable range of possibilities. I wouldn't say there couldn't have been such a man.
I have spent the last 40 years examining the story of Jesus. I have gone from being a non-believer to a believer through getting sober. I have attended and been a member of different 'degrees' of Christianity (more on that in a sec) and I have been blessed with several college level courses on 'the bible'
The Bible is not a book, it is a collection of works from tales of wonder (fiction), art (song, poetry, story telling) and been used to murder or malign millions of people.
So, I will start here. The 'old testament' as Christians call it is a part of a set of Jewish lore and history. Israelite history, not world history...and it is filled with millions, literally millions of questionable concepts, ideas etc.
There never was a man eating fish, it was entertainment and a religious lesson taught to children around the camp fires of a nomadic tribe. Noah never was, not unless his sons were black, Asian, Inuit etc.
The "new" testament" wasn't even begun until over 70 years after the events described in the first five books. No, memories are "miraculous" else the Pope would remember the words to "our father"
!Archeologists have been digging up Egypt and the middle east since the time of the crusades. They have never found evidence (graves, sewage) that Israelis EVER lived in Egypt in great numbers, no evidence of millions of people wandering in the desert.
Lastly, two of the courses I took made a mockery of biblical quotes hurled as shields of spittle and fear...they teach the social customs behind what Jesus is doing & saying. As an example, the story of the woman at the well becomes much more rich and informing when you know Jesus was risking being stoned by even talking to her.....
...and all the male scholars of the bible shake & tremble when they learn the first "apostle" was that very woman at the well...a prostitute whom he told "now, go and tell them I have come."
Context is everything.
