Historical researcher Michael Paulkovich has claimed that Jesus of Nazareth was a ‘mythical character’ and never existed.

The controversial discovery was apparently made after he found no verifiable mention of Christ from 126 writers during the ‘time of Jesus’ from the first to third centuries.

He says he is a fictional character invented by followers of Christianity to create a figure to worship.

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Writer Micheal Paulkovich has claimed that there is a little evidence for a person known as Jesus existing in history (painting of The Last Supper pictured). Jesus is thought by most historians to have lived from about 7BC to 33AD in Judea in the Roman Empire

The claims were made in an article for Free Inquiry called The Fable of the Christ and a book called No Meek Messiah.

In the article and book, Paulkovich says he found an absence of evidence for Jesus in historical texts.

And he says this is surprising despite his ‘global miracles and alleged worldwide fame.’

WAS JESUS A MIDDLE-CLASS ARCHITECT (IF HE EXISTED)? Rather than being born in a stable to a carpenter father, Jesus was actually the son of a successful, middle-class and highly intellectual architect. This claim comes from biblical scholar Dr Adam Bradford, who also says that between the ages of 12 and 30 - the so-called 'missing years' of Jesus' life, when little is known about him - he was studying at religious schools and became the highest-ranking rabbi in Judea. The radical revision of Christian history would suggest that, in preaching the spurning of worldly possessions for an austere life, Jesus may have been speaking from experience. Dr Bradford has analysed the Bible's original Greek and Hebrew scriptures to try to establish the truth about Christ's background. He says a mistranslation of the Greek word 'tekton' to describe the profession of Joseph, Jesus's father, is one of many mistakes that have led to a fundamental misunderstanding of Christ's character. Dr Bradford claims that while 'tekton' is usually said to mean carpenter, it more accurately means master builder or architect. As an architect, Joseph would have had a higher social status that enabled him to better educate his son. Advertisement

The 126 texts he studied were all written in the period during or soon after the supposed existence of Jesus, when Paulkovich says they would surely have heard of someone as famous as Jesus - but none mention him.

'When I consider those 126 writers, all of whom should have heard of Jesus but did not - and Paul and Marcion and Athenagoras and Matthew with a tetralogy of opposing Christs, the silence from Qumram and Nazareth and Bethlehem, conflicting Bible stories, and so many other mysteries and omissions - I must conclude that Christ is a mythical character,’ he writes.

‘"Jesus of Nazareth" was nothing more than urban (or desert) legend, likely an agglomeration of several evangelic and deluded rabbis who might have existed.’

Of the writings he examined, written from the first to third centuries, he found only one book that contained a mention of Jesus - The Jewish Wars by the Roman historian Josephus Flavius written in 95 CE, but he claims it is fabricated.

Paulkovich says the mentions of Jesus were added later by editors, not by Josephus.

Even in the Bible Paulkovich says Paul, often credited with spreading what would become Christianity, never refers to Jesus as a real person.

‘Paul is unaware of the virgin mother, and ignorant of Jesus' nativity, parentage, life events, ministry, miracles, apostles, betrayal, trial and harrowing passion,’ he writes.

‘Paul knows neither where nor when Jesus lived, and considers the crucifixion metaphorical.’

The 126 texts Paulkovich studied (shown here) were all written in the period during or soon after the supposed existence of Jesus, when Paulkovich says they would surely have heard of someone as famous as Jesus - but none mention him, leading the writer to conclude he is a 'mythical character' invented later

Paulkovich says he found little to no mention of the supposed messiah in 126 texts written in the first to third centuries. Only one mention of Jesus was present, in a book by Roman historian Josephus Flavius, but he says this was added by later editors. Pictured is the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

He also says that silence from Jesus himself is telling, with no personal accounts being written.

‘Perhaps the most bewildering "silent one" is the mythical super-savior himself, Jesus the Son of God ostensibly sent on a suicide mission to save us from the childish notion of "Adam's Transgression" as we learn from Romans,’ he says.

‘The Jesus character is a phantom of a wisp of a personage who never wrote anything. So, add one more: 127.’

He continues: ‘Christian father Marcion of Pontus in 144 CE denied any virgin birth or childhood for Christ - Jesus' infant circumcision was thus a lie, as well as the crucifixion!

‘Reading the works of second century Christian father Athenagoras, one never encounters the word Jesus (or Ἰησοῦς or Ἰησοῦν, as he would have written) - Athenagoras was thus unacquainted with the name of his savior it would seem.’

And he claims even the book of Mark in the Bible, which contains the story of Christ’s resurrection, was doctored later on.

‘The original booklet given the name "Mark" ended at 16:8, later forgers adding the fanciful resurrection tale,’ he says.

‘Millions should have heard of the Jesus "crucifixion" with its astral enchantments: zombie armies and meteorological marvels recorded not by any historian, but only in the dubitable scriptures scribbled decades later by superstitious yokels.’

Paulkovich’s views will surely prove very controversial, as most scholars do not support the theory that Jesus never existed.

Most agree that he was a Galilean Jew born between 7 to 4 BC and who died in 30 to 36 AD.

It is also widely agreed that he was baptised by John the Baptist and crucified on the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate.