IN ONE OF THE MOST CAREFULLY DOCUMENTED PERIODS OF ROMAN AND
ANCIENT HISTORY
The time that Jesus Christ supposedly existed is one the most heavily
documented periods in ancient history. Yet there is virtually zero
historical evidence of his supposed existence in any contemporary historical
record. It is also important to understand that an absolute reign of
terror was instituted when Christianity seized power in the Roman Empire as
documented in our
Christian Totalitarianism Report. The Church
appointed an official historian of dubious ethics, Eusebius, to write an
official history. Meanwhile, Christian launched the largest book
burning campaign in history, destroying a vast part of the wisdom and
history of the ancient world forever.
The Account of Josephus is a Fraud
When discussing the alleged existence of Jesus Christ,
one piece of "evidence" that frequently gets mentioned is the account of
Flavius Josephus, the famed Jewish general and historian who lived from
37 to 100 C.E. In Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews there is a notorious passage regarding Christ called the "Testimonium Flavium."
"Now, there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works,--a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day." (Whitson, 379).
This brief piece of evidence which supposedly
contributed the best "proof" of Jesus's existence has actually been
proven to be a fraud. It has been demonstrated continuously over the
centuries that "Testamonium Flavium" was a forgery manufactured by the
Catholic Church, and was inserted into Josephus's works. The Testamonium
Flavium account is so thoroughly refuted, that biblical scholars since
the 19th century have refused to refer to it, unless to mention its
false nature.
Dr. Gordon Stein gives a further explanation for this forgery. The History of Jesus: A Reply to Josh McDowell.
Another source is The Jesus Forgery: Josephus Untangled.
First Written Accounts of Jesus's Life Occur Decades After His Purported Existence
Most written accounts of the life of Jesus did not exist
until a couple decades after his purported existence. These accounts
were presented by a number of different authors and had somewhat
conflicting stories about his existence. These written accounts are
known as the Gospels. Also, it is worth knowing that not all of the
gospels that were written even made their way into the bible. Only four
gospels became the canonical writings for the church. The rest were
burned, destroyed or lost. Historians estimate that the first written
gospel, the gospel of Mark, was written sometime after 70 C.E, which
means that at the earliest, it would have been written 40 years after
the alleged crucifixion of Jesus.
PLINY, TACITUS AND SUETONIUS: NO PROOF OF JESUS
Nero's Persecution of Christians and Mention of Jesus is Highly Doubtful
There is widespread belief that Nero blamed the burning
of Rome on the Christians; however, there are many holes in this theory.
This belief comes from the account of the Roman
historian Tacitus (56-120 CE) about how Emperor Nero (37 - 68 CE) blamed
the burning of Rome on "those people who were abhorred for their crimes
and commonly called Christians." The passage then states that the fire
agitators were followers of "Christus" who "was put to death as a
criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate." The passage then also states
that Christians constituted a "vast multitude at Rome" and goes on to
discuss the ghastly ways in which they were persecuted.
However, there are many troubling details about the
historical accuracy of this passage. Some critics call into question
whether Tacitus wrote this account at all, or if it was yet another
forgery.
Around the date of Nero's Fire, 64 AD, there were no "multitude
of Christians" in Rome. At this time, there was not even a multitude of
Christians in Judea. Therefore, it is highly doubtful that Nero would
refer to Christians in this way.
This is also the only mention of Christians in the work of Tacitus, despite the fact that he wrote several volumes.
Also, the supposed persecution of the Christians by Nero
is not recorded by any other historian of Nero's time. If the
persecution of Christians were really that widespread, wouldn't other
historians be writing about it? (Truth Be Known)
Pliny's Letter About "Christiani"
In addition to the Testomonium Flavianum, there exists
another tenuous piece of evidence that some have tried to use as proof
for the existence of Jesus. The Roman Historian, Pliny The Younger
(62-113CE), wrote a letter to the Emperor Trajan in 110 CE requesting
his assistance in the proper punishment of a group of "Christiani" who
were causing trouble and would not bow to the image of the emperor.
According to Pliny, these Christiani would meet before daylight and sing
hymns with responses to "Christ as God."
However, this letter does not provide concrete evidence
for the existence of Jesus as a person since it makes no direct mention
of "Jesus of Nazareth," nor does it refer to his life. Also, there are
many critics who have argued that this letter is a forgery. (Truth Be Known)
Suetonius's Reference to "Chresto"
The last piece of questionable historical evidence we'll discuss here is the passage in Suetonius's
Life of Claudius, dating around 110 CE. There is a reference in this work to a figure named "Chresto"
who caused the Jews to riot in Rome. First of all, if Jesus Christ did exist, it
is not possible that he would have been in Rome at this time. Claudius reigned
from 41-54 CE, this is at the time of Christ's alleged crucifixion.
LINKS
"Jesus Never Existed," by Kenneth Humphreys (Amazon Book)
Did Jesus Exist? (Huffington Post)
Jesus Never Existed At All (Atheism Resource)
Source:
JESUS CHRIST - NO HISTORICAL EVIDENCE
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