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"The Life and Times of Jesus (the Christ)" |
| Name: |
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JVH ^_^ |
| Date Posted: |
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Oct 30, 07 - 10:52 AM |
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 Incredulousness is not an argument against - it's an argument for - for one's own inability to conceive. |
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"The Life and Times of Jesus (the Christ)"
The Gospels are not the only historical record of Jesus. "Non-Christian' historians mention him too. Or do they?
The Case
Of the 'non-Christian' commentators, very few are known to have written anything about Christianity or Jesus. No archival or archaeological evidence refering to Christ exists from the period when he is said to have lived even though the writings of several contemporary 'non-Christian' authors have survived and remain to form a library and is thus available for perusal.
The Witnesses
The following is a list of 'non-Christian' authors who lived and wrote during the time, or within a century after the time, Jesus Christ is said to have lived and performed his wonderful works:
Josephus, Arrian, Philo-Judaeus, Petronius, Seneca, Dion Pruseus,
Pliny the Elder, Paterculus, Suetonius, Appian, Juvenal, Theon of Smyran,
Martial, Phlegon, Persius, Pompon Mela, Plutarch, Quintius Curtius,
Justus of Tiberius, Lucian, Apollonius, Pausanias, Pliny the Younger,
Valerius Flaccus, Tacitus, Florus Lucius, Quintilian, Favorinus,
Jucanus, Phaedrus, Epictetus, Damis, Silius Italicus, Aulus Gellius, Statius,
Columella, Ptolemy, Dio Chrysostom, Hermogones, Lysias, and Valerius.
The Evidence
Four of the above listed authors appear to mention Jesus/Christ: Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger and Suetonius - which amounts to a total of about 25 to 40 sentences, i.e. the greatest person said to have lived gets around 25 to 40 lines. Also, none of the authors listed mention the slaughter of all the male infants in and around Jerusalem ordered by Herod; the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem; the resurrection; the great earthquake with the supernatural darkness; bodies of dead saints rising up from the dead and walking around the city ... to name but a few examples. Such things do not go by unnoticed. Yet, no contemporary 'non-Christian' author mentions these and other extraordinary occurences related to Jesus Christ as mentioned in the bible.
Josephus (37 – 100 AD)
Josephus is often sited as proof. However, Josephus only wrote (or so it appears) about a dozen of lines about Christ/Jesus (Antiquities 18:63-64 and Antiquities 20:200). Yet, whole pages of Josephus' works are devoted to petty robbers, obscure rebellious leaders and forty chapters are devoted to a single king. Josephus wrote twenty books. But "the greatest person who ever lived" gets little more than a paragraph or two. Mysteriously, these much quoted passages of Josephus are not found in the early copies of his work. Not until "the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius" (320 A.D.) do we come across it, - including an altered version of Antiquities 18:63-64 - which, interestingly, is about the same time the NT made it into the bible.
The Bible
As for the bible, it didn't exist during the time Jesus is said to have lived. It was 'published' towards the end of the first century, and the NT didn't make it into the bible until the fourth century.
So, what have we as evidence for the extraordinary existence of Jesus? The NT, and the NT alone. No other written account by 'non-Christian' commentators of the time mentioning Jesus' extraordinary life exists.
Belief defied
So, there is this man traveling the country-side, who; performs 'miracles'; starts a movement; is a pain in the ass to Romans and Jews alike; is killed and comes back to life again, and all the while other extraordinary occurences directly related to this man's existence take place. Yet, contemporary 'non-Christian' authors/historians -all of them- decide to not note it down?
Something appears to be amiss here. A remarkable person as Jesus doesn't go unnoticed.
Now, for what reason would the writers/historians listed not note down the extraordinary live and times of "the greatest person that ever lived"?
Do the research and find out for what reason they did not.
Summary
All in all, we will find about 25 to 40 lines by 4 out of 40 or so "contemporary" 'non-Christian' writers/historians concerning "a man who changed the world".
A remarkable person as Jesus doesn't go unnoticed. Yet, according the authors listed he did go unnoticed, since none of them bothers to mention what the bible mentions about Jesus or the extarordinary occurences related to his historical existence.
So, when talking an actual historical Jesus, way to many things do not add up. As it appears, the case "against" outweighs the case "for". |
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