What really solid evidence is there that anyone you haven't met "in the flesh" exists or existed? And what non-anecdotal evidence can you offer to prove even those you have met in the flesh exist(ed)? I certainly have no reason to believe "Guest AR282" exists in anything but name, and I have slightly stronger reason to believe Jesus was the Messiah of God foretold by prophets than to believe that "Guest AR282" read the source on Josephus before copypasting it. (Though my evidence for the former is private and that against the latter speculative.)

Obviously what one considers "historical evidence" is pertinent here; I would recommend the arguments in A Marginal Jew and Saint Saul to those seriously interested in the issues involved. Both authors are serious historians; the former is more committed to Christian tradition than the latter, but both argue as historians rather than as apologists. Personally, although I am a Christian believer, I find Akenson more persuasive than Meier.

Haruo