Posted on 01/29/2007 10:02:46 AM PST by presidio9
--Indeed He is. You wouldn't be posting right now if He weren't.--
Why? He would have banned the internet?
Who's funding this?
Well, nobody thinks HE's ever coming back from the grave.
Presidio9 trying to determine if Flavius Josephus existed...
They began with the premise that He was not the Son of God, but merely a wise teacher. Then, they ruled out anything that indicated Christ claimed He could perform miracles, and anything that indicated people might go to Hell. Once they had it down to "Judge not lest ye be judged" and a couple of other phrases that reduced the Lord to being a doe-eyed hippie that said nothing more controversial than "be nice", they felt they had the true teachings of Jesus.
I don't support nuttin and I don't have to support nuttin. I do not like this tendency for cross examination on FR lately; it is a waste of mental energy.
Isn't that an antagonistic, rhetorical question?
The question they should be asking is not whether Jesus existed, but whether He still exists.
I am happy to report that He does.
This is what happens when people overthink stuff.
This is what happens when people can't think
Do we know they actually existed? Why does this sound so like the Holocaust denial industry to me?
If an original manuscript of Josephus' writings could be found...
Nope they threw dice or different color markers. I forget which.
Looking for: letters from Pilate or reports from Judea during Jesus' time...
That would be a big 10-4, good buddy...
Happily the Founder of the Christian religion lived, died was buried and rose from the dead. His Faith has lasted 2000 years and gives peace, comfort and meaning to the lives of millions who proclaim themselves Christian even if it means torture and death. These guys won't even call themselves atheists, preferring "skeptic".
The funny thing is that he asked the wrong question in a mocking tone. As far as Christians are concerned, OF COURSE Christ is still alive.
So lame the hair of Tom.
"...[edit] Arabic version
In 1971, professor Shlomo Pines published a translation of a different version of the Testimonium, quoted in an Arabic manuscript of the tenth century. The manuscript in question appears in the Book of the Title written by Agapius, a 10th-century Christian Arab and Melkite bishop of Hierapolis. Agapius appears to be quoting from memory, for even Josephus' title is an approximation:
For he says in the treatises that he has written in the governance of the Jews: "At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon their loyalty to him. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive. Accordingly they believed that he was the Messiah, concerning whom the Prophets have recounted wonders" - Shlomo Pines' translation, quoted by J. D. Crossan
Pines suggests that this may be a more accurate record of what Josephus wrote, lacking as it does the parts which have often been considered to have been added by Christian copyists. This would add weight to the argument that Josephus did write something about Jesus.
However, Pines' theory has not been widely accepted. The fact that even the title of Josephus's work is inaccurate suggests that Agapius is quoting from memory, which may explain the discrepancies with the Greek version. In addition, the claim that Pilate condemned Jesus to be crucified and to die has been interpreted as a reaction to the Muslim belief that Jesus did not really die on the cross."
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