TOP 5 reasons to consider Jesus Christ an assembly character

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

This box, dated 64 AD, that is, several decades after the crucifixion, was confiscated by the Israel Antiquities Authority, and its owner was arrested in 2003 for counterfeiting. And although later, in 2012, he was acquitted, doubts about the authenticity of the above inscription still remain.

There are two references to Jesus in non-Christian sources. They were used to investigate the reality of Jesus.

Jesus is mentioned by Joseph in Antiquities of the Jews, written about AD 94. The Roman historian Tacitus mentions Christ and his execution by Pontius Pilate in his chronicle, which was written around 116 AD. Both references are made much later than the alleged execution.

There are also questions about the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, in particular, "there is no evidence of the existence of a tradition that would allow the release of Barrabas, a rebel and murderer, and at the same time execute the innocent Jesus."

Valerie Tariko, columnist for the blog Alternet.org, cites "5 reasons to say that Jesus never existed" in an article based on Fitzgerald's previous book (hereinafter translated by "Inosmi"):

1. There is not a single non-religious evidence from the first century confirming the reality of Yeshua ben Joseph

This is how Bart Ehrman put it: “What do the pagan authors of his era say about Jesus? Nothing. Ironically, none of his pagan contemporaries even mention Jesus. There are no birth records, no court records, no death certificates. There are no expressions of interest, loud slander and slander, there are not even casual mentions - nothing.

In fact, if we broaden our field of view to include the years after his death, even if we include the entire first century AD, we will not find a single reference to Jesus in any non-Christian or non-Jewish source. I would like to emphasize that we have a large number of documents from that time - for example, the works of poets, philosophers, historians, scientists, records of government officials, not to mention a large collection of inscriptions on stones, private letters and legal documents on papyrus. And nowhere, in a single document, in a single record, the name of Jesus is never mentioned."

2. The earliest Gospel writers seem to have no idea of the details of Jesus' life that crystallized in later texts.

No magi, no stars in the east, no miracles. Historians have long been puzzled by "Paul's silence" over the elementary facts of the biography and teachings of Jesus. Paul is not referring to the authority of Jesus when it can help in his arguments. Moreover, he never once calls the twelve apostles disciples of Christ. In fact, he doesn't say anything at all about his disciples and followers - or that Jesus performed miracles and preached sermons. In fact, Paul refuses to reveal any biographical details, and the few mysterious hints he makes are not just vague and vague - they contradict the Gospel.

The leaders of the early Christian movement in Jerusalem, such as Peter and James, were allegedly followers of Christ himself, but Paul disparages them, saying that they are nobody, and also repeatedly opposes them because they were not true. Christians!

Liberal theologian Marcus Borg believes that people read the books of the New Testament in chronological order in order to clearly understand how early Christianity began.“The fact that the Gospel comes after Paul clearly indicates that, as a written document, it is not the source of early Christianity, but its product. The New Testament, or the Good News of Jesus, existed before the Gospel. It is the result of the work of early Christian communities in the decades after the historical life of Jesus, telling us how these communities view his significance in their historical context.”

3. Even stories from the New Testament do not claim to be a firsthand account

Now we know that the names of the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were assigned to the four books of the Gospel, but they were not written by them. The authorship was attributed to them somewhere in the second century, or more than 100 years after the supposed date of the birth of Christianity. For a variety of reasons, the practice of using pseudonyms was generally accepted at that time, and many documents of that time were "signed" by famous people.

The same can be said for the New Testament epistles, with the exception of a few letters from Paul (6 of 13) that are considered authentic. But even in the descriptions of the Gospel, the phrase "I was there" is never pronounced. Rather, there are statements about the existence of other eyewitnesses, and this is a well-known phenomenon for those who have heard the phrase "one grandma said …"

4. The gospel books, our only accounts of Jesus' existence, contradict each other

The Gospel of Mark is considered the earliest life story of Jesus, and linguistic analysis indicates that Luke and Matthew simply revised Mark, adding their own edits and new material. But they contradict each other and even more contradict the later Gospel of John, as they were written for different purposes and for different audiences. The incongruous Easter stories are just one example of how many inconsistencies they have.

5. Modern scholars who claim to have discovered the real historical Jesus describe completely different personalities

There is a cynical philosopher, a charismatic Hasid, a liberal Pharisee, a conservative rabbi, a revolutionary fanatic, a nonviolent pacifist, and other characters, of which Price compiled a long list. According to him, “the historical Jesus (if such existed) could well have been the messiah king, progressive Pharisee, Galilean shaman, sorcerer or ancient Greek sage. But he could not be all of them at the same time. " John Dominic Crossan complains that such "astounding diversity is embarrassing in academia."

Based on this and other points, Fitzgerald draws a conclusion that he considers inevitable:

It seems that Jesus is the effect, not the cause, of Christianity. Paul and others from the first generation of Christians studied the Septuagint - a translation of Scripture from Hebrew - to create the sacrament of faith for the Jews with pagan rituals such as the breaking of bread, with Gnostic terms in the epistles, as well as a personal savior god who would not be inferior to other gods from ancient Egyptian. Persian, ancient Greek and Roman traditions.