The Three-Headed "Jesus" Problem

[Randy Carson]

But there are facts.

1- No Roman writer prior to Celsus in 185 mentions anyone named "jesus."

Pretty weasely, Min, given that at least one Jewish historian working for the Roman government mentioned him by name along with several Jewish writers. And then there are the reference to Christus or Chrestus which appear in other places...LOOOOOONG before AD 185.

2- There apparently was a group called "Chrestians" in Rome itself in the early part of the first century.  Suetonius mentions them and your pal Tacitus' only surviving manuscript shows that the word he used was Chrestianos (followers of Chrestus) not "Christianos" followers of christ until it was edited by some helpful scribe probably in the 9th century. 

Which seems to be a big deal to absolutely no one, but you and your fellow mythers. Why it's almost as if you expect standardization of spelling in an age that did not even have printing presses.

Yeah...I'd put this on par with someone in 1980 writing the name of Bill Gates' company as Micro-soft instead of MicroSoft.

4- There are no first-century xtian burial catacombs in Rome.

Perhaps, but you can take a virtual tour of the first century necropolis where St. Peter is buried beneath the main altar in St. Peter's Basilica here:

http://www.vatican.va/various/basiliche/...glish.html

Here's a diagram:



And a photo of the underground street leading to Peter's tomb: