Jesus Christ

[Minimalist]

There is nothing wrong with trying to learn more. To be certain there is enough religious clap trap out there to make getting to the bare bones of the story difficult if not impossible.


Consider the ramifications of this.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0...85,00.html

A 3-ft.-high tablet romantically dubbed "Gabriel's Revelation" could challenge the uniqueness of the idea of the Christian Resurrection. The tablet appears to date authentically to the years just before the birth of Jesus and yet — at least according to one Israeli scholar — it announces the raising of a messiah after three days in the grave. If true, this could mean that Jesus' followers had access to a well-established paradigm when they decreed that Christ himself rose on the third day — and it might even hint that they they could have applied it in their grief after their master was crucified. However, such a contentious reading of the 87-line tablet depends on creative interpretation of a smudged passage, making it the latest entry in the woulda/coulda/shoulda category of possible New Testament artifacts; they are useful to prove less-spectacular points and to stir discussion on the big ones, but probably not to settle them nor shake anyone's faith.

The alleged smudged part has been resolved in Knohl's favor:

http://www.bib-arch.org/bar/extra.asp?Ar...ticleID=14

Since there was confusion in the media reports with regard to my view of Israel Knohl’s reading of the critical line of Hazon Gabriel (the Gabriel Revelation), I would like to make the following statement: After reviewing the document, I came to the conclusion that the reading suggested by Professor Knohl for the third word of line 80—HAYE “live”—seems to be the only plausible reading of that word. Thus, the first five words of this line should be translated as: “In three days live, I Gabriel.”
All my best regards,
Ada Yardeni

(Yardeni is a recognized expert in the field.)