Miracles and Anti-supernaturalism

[Undeceived]

It might be helpful to lay the texts in question on the table.

Tacitus - probably a much later forgery anyway - never mentions any "Jesus."

"Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind".

Yes, but who else would this refer to?

Lucian of Samosata was the second half of the 2d century - not the first and he was a satirist making fun of idiot xtians.

"The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. … You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains their contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property."

He was indeed "a satirist making fun of Christians." Which, of course, is the point.

Suetonius speaks of "Chrestus" not Christos. Chrestus was a Greek slave name. Further, Claudius did not assume the throne until 41 AD when your godboy was supposedly long dead.

"Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome."

Jews in Rome in the 40s AD. The book of Acts is validated. When Jesus, and later Stephen, died, Christian Jews scattered for fear of persecution. Suetonius' account matches the Bible exactly: that for some reason Jews ended up in Rome, and soon thereafter were expelled. All because of one man.

Pliny the Younger never mentions any "Jesus" and he further talks about how so-called xtians sacrificed to Trajan and cursed Christ to save their own necks...something xtians would not want to get around.

"They were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of a meal—but ordinary and innocent food."

Something Christians would not want to get around. Which is why Pliny the Younger's account is unlikely to be a forgery. Here, Christians are worshiping "Christ" as if he is God, displaying morals, and partaking in Communion/Eucharist (which is based on Jesus' sacrifice of body and blood on the cross).

Neither Thallus nor Julius Africanus' works are extant. They appear only in the work of the noted xtian liar, Eusebius, who is about as reliable as a $2 watch. Eusebius is the most likely forger of the so-called Testimonium Flavianum which was clumsily inserted in Josephus' in the 4th century.

Have you any evidence that Eusebius' work contains forgeries?

Mara Bar Serapion never mentions "jesus," "christ" or xtians. In fact, he is probably blaming the Jews for killing Antigonus II, the last Hasmonean king of Judea - or having Mark Antony do it for them.

"What else can we say, when the wise are forcibly dragged off by tyrants, their wisdom is captured by insults, and their minds are oppressed and without defense? What advantage did the Athenians gain from murdering Socrates? Famine and plague came upon them as a punishment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burning Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king? It was just after that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men: the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were overwhelmed by the sea and the Jews, desolate and driven from their own kingdom, live in complete dispersion. But Socrates is not dead, because of Plato; neither is Pythagoras, because of the statue of Juno; nor is the wise king, because of the "new law" he laid down."

Jesus is referred to as the "King of the Jews" in all four Gospels. Jesus also predicts the destruction of the Jews' kingdom in Matt 24:2, Mark 13:2 and Luke 21:6. The Romans overthrew Jerusalem in 70 AD. Mara Bar Serapion notes that the "wise king" is not dead because of the "new law" he laid down. Jesus laid down the New Covenant. What new law did Antigonus II lay down?

What else have you got? My guess is, "not much."

The Jewish Talmud was compiled in the 2nd century:
“On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf." But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.”

And there are more Jewish accounts: http://jewishchristianlit.com/Topics/JewishJesus/

Enough with speculations about forgeries. Someone might get the wrong idea and think you're using a disbelief in divinity as a premise for your arguments.