Did religious and mythological figures really exist?
I certainly don't mean all of them such as Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, etc... they could be fake, but did these characters actually exist: CLASSICAL: Romulus and Remus Numitor and Rhea Silvia Arenes and other Trojan War Heroes? Was the Trojan war an actual historical War (I know the historical city of Troy was found)? Horus, Anubis, Isis, and other ancient Egyptian figures? Byzas - the son of Poseidon, and the founder of Byzantium Other Legendary Hero-Kings of Ancient Greece (Don't include ones that definitely existed, I would like to hear ones whose existence is debated)? Were some of the mythological events true to history such as the events that took place in the early days of the Roman Kingdom? ABRAHAMIC: Were Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus (and Pontius Piliate), and Mohammed real? What are your theories on how Moses could have led his people out of Egypt since splitting the Red sea is not physically possible. (Non-bais secular answers only please). DHARMIC: Were Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and other Hindu/Vedic/dharmic deities real? Do we have any surviving historical artifacts that were used by these people (ex, the holy grail), and we know their whereabouts? Do they appear in any non-religious, historical texts?
Are Muhammad or Jesus historical figures, or just mythological figures? Why?
Muhammad is historically proven, I believe, to have existed. He became, whatever your take on his prophethood, an historically important religio-political leader who united the Arabs for the first time under a purely monotheistic Abrahamic-based faith tradition which lives on there and of course abroad today. Some man probably existed who was named Jesus, or Yeshua, and was from Nazareth in the Galilee, upon whom a sectarian Jewish messianic movement was eventually based. He seems to have been active and preaching -- primarily to and for his fellow Jews -- for a brief period of only a few years and his message may have consisted of an end times 'warning' type of theme. It might have included something potentially threatening to Roman rule in it as well. Perhaps like an idea that when these end of days came (said by him to be close at hand, back then) the Roman rule would be completely overthrown and replaced by the rule of the Messiah. Which would bring the Jews back to a position of greatness rather than subjection, and so forth. He was also, besides being a wandering preacher and holy man or mystic, a practicing exorcist and faith healer of sorts, evidently charismatic because he attracted a significant following. If you are a Christian, and a dogmatic orthodox believer, then of course you believe he was actually God's son, and also consubstantial somehow with God, that he was eternal and begotten without sin through a likewise blameless mortal woman, and that his death and resurrection was a crucial turning point for all humanity. If you are not, then you may just think he was anything ranging from a righteous important prophet, mainly for Jews (this is kind of like what Muslims believe), to a possibly mentally disturbed mystic, to just another of many false messianic claimants. That the religion that grew up around his name and legend in reality came about quite some time after his death and largely at the hands of another (former/converted) Jew who had at one time persecuted the movement.
How far back in history does Norse mythology go?
Norse mythology as it is recorded in the Icelanidc Eddas comes from no earlier than the Migration Period starting in the 4th century AD. The recordings of religion in Tacitus' Germanica (1st century AD) is not the same as we find recorded by Snorri. By examining the artworks of the early migration period we see that it was from this period onwards that the mythology recognised today was founded. Prior to the Iron-Age the Nordic Bronze Age has a number of differences to the religion described in the 1st century AD and in the 12th century Eddas, most notably that at some time between the 5th century BC and 1st century AD the sun changes sex from a male to a female, also during the Bronze Age there is little evidence of goddesses in the artwork as almost all characters depicted have an erect phallus. Within the Bronze Age artwork there are possible proto-types of Thor, Odin or Tyr but no evidence of proto-type goddesses unless the hypothesis that Nerthus was worshipped at this period is to be believed. The Migration Period also saw a change in the ranking of deities, most notably the demotion of Tyr as cheif sky and war god and his replacement by Odin taking on these roles to a greater or lesser degree. During this period we also see the disappearence of Nerthus. Sumerian/Aryan influence is minimal if at all present. Of course there are similarities, as with Sanskrit, as they share a common Indo-European root in their language and heritage, however the migration of peoples in the Bronze Age lead to these cultures developing independant so by the time the mythology in question was developed (1500 years later) the likelihood of influence is removed. One could date the start of the "modern" Norse mythology to the date from which runes started to be used, this puts its start date at around 200AD some 100 years after Tacitus (98AD). This start of runic characters could also correspond with the replacement of Tyr with Odin for obvious reasons. An interesting observation to be made is that Tacitus is often cited as evidence that runes were used in divination by "casting lots", however it is self evident that he could not have seen runes being used for this purpose as they had yet to be devised.
Did Jesus and other biblical characters truly exist?
Assuming you mean personages of the New Testament, then yes, for the main “characters,” there is more evidence than for the existence of the majority of ancient figures.Even if you dismiss all scripture as fabrication and all first generation Christians (many of whom interacted with the historical Jesus, or failing that, Peter, Paul and other disciples) as deluded freaks or liars keeping together an incredibly intricate scheme, there is still evidence.Historical sources include not just the New Testament apocrypha and the letters of early Christians, but also non-Christian Roman and Jewish attestations. Texts mentioning the historical Jesus can be found in writings that should not have impacted one another, notably Tacitus and Josephus, two contemporaries who mentioned him within 23 years of each other.All this contributes to a general consensus among scholars of the Bible and Near Eastern history that a historical Jesus did in fact exist, even though later Christian forgeries and myths have made historical study difficult.Ever since the 18th century, this consensus has led historians to attempt reconstructions of the life of the historical Jesus, through historical analysis of scripture, archaeology and ancient writings.This hasn’t stopped many scholars from questioning the conclusions of course. The majority of those in doubt do concur with the overall conclusion of Christ’s existence, but simply allege methodological problems on the part of other historians.Then, of course, there is the fringe theory of the “Christ Myth,” a suggestion that Jesus was originally simply a new deity and was later historicized by the misguided or dishonest Gospels. But this theory is not supported by the scholarly consensus, and virtually all emeritus specialists today agree that Jesus did exist.
Since most historians accept that Noah and Moses were mythical characters with no historical evidence, how can Muslims accept the Quran as true?
The same way that Christians believe in Bible and Hindus believe in the mythologies.You want to know an interesting factoid. Among the mountains of the Himalayas, Kailasha is still unmounted. It is done (and was done by the Whites before) to protect the sentiments of the Hindus and the Tibetans and the Jains. I am not sure of the Tibetans, but for Hindus the place is regarded as the abode of the Shiva, the God of Destruction. To those unfamiliar with Hindu religion, Shiva is one of the chief Gods with half the sects regarding him as the only true God.But, I have not read any scripture that forbids people from going there. Which God will stop his devotee? But, people know what they will (not) find there. A core belief in their hearts will be broken. If they were confident that the scriptures were true, they would not have protested against it. Knowing it is false, they continue to believe in it.