(January 28, 2016 at 10:24 pm)Minimalist Wrote:(January 28, 2016 at 9:21 pm)Jehanne Wrote: Tacitus was a careful Roman historian. Considering the synoptic sources, Q, the Gospel of John, the writings of Paul and the other New Testament authors (most of whom are unknown), it is an extraordinary "leap of faith" to say that there was not a certain personage, an epileptic preacher with delusions of grandeur, Jesus of Nazareth.
Then you had best go read Tacitus again. Even if the passage is not a forgery ( doubtful ) he knows nothing about any "jesus." All that he mentions is someone named Christos but there are bigger problems than that with the only manuscript we have of the Annales.
As for the rest of that gibberish you note, I can read the script of the original Star Wars and see that Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star. Says it right there on the page. Guess what. It is still fiction.
Are you saying that Tacitus did not exist:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus