(May 15, 2023 at 9:46 am)Kingpin Wrote: I may be completely obtuse, but Kerim I'm not following your point. Your subsequent posts are not adding to the clarity either. Others have claimed Jesus is a fictional person, which you accept and still stick to using Him and this good news. It would be no different than quoting what Gandalf said in Lord of the Rings.
If you want to make an argument about something, you need to build a base that can withstand some scrutiny. I of course would argue against Jesus being fictional as there are non-biblical references to Christ, like Tacitus, Mara Bar-Serapion and Phlegon (quoted by Julius Africanus).
Tacitus isn't of much value regarding the historicity of Jesus - he was writing a quarter century after the fact, and was very probably repeating what Christians of his era believed.
Bar-Serapion is even worse, as it isn't at all clear that 'the wise king' referred to is Jesus.
Phlegon never even mentioned Jesus, or anyone remotely like Jesus.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson
