(March 31, 2010 at 4:32 pm)Minimalist Wrote:Quote:Why is there no mention of JC's execution from historians of the time, or his followers?
Forget that.
Why is there no mention of a Jewish criminal coming back from the dead after being executed by a Roman magistrate? Pliny the Elder wrote an enormous book which contains lots of fantastic mythic shit from all over the empire. He died in 79 AD during the eruption of Vesuvius. Yet, he never heard this tale?
Let's be clear about something. Xtians want it both ways. They propose on the one hand that JC was so important and so dangerous that the religious authorities in Jerusalem had no choice except to break every fucking rule in their own book to have a trial on Passover, YET, at the same time, he was so insignificant that no one paid any attention to him. Recall Pilate's reaction to having him brought before him. Basically "who is this fucking guy." If JC were stirring up the countryside you can bet your ass that Pilate would have known about him. That was his job.
Jerusalem in 30AD was no longer the jerkwater little town that it had been in Old Testment times. Herod, with Roman engineering help, had built aqueducts to increase the water supply and his construction of the port of Caesarea Maritima had greatly enriched the country AND given it a sea-borne link to the rest of the empire. Ideas travel along trade routes too. Had someone that a Roman magistrate condemned to death come back from the FUCKING DEAD it would have been big news across the empire. It would have been seen as a repudiation by god(s) of the magistrate's action and since the magistrate is appointed by the emperor who was thought of as a god, himself, the implications are clear.
Yet....in all first century Greco-Roman literature we hear not a single word about any of this.
You are quite versed in history! Great stuff! And a great point that it would be big news across the empire if a guy condemned to death came back to life after being executed. The fact that none of this stuff pops up in contemporary historical writings speaks volumes as to its veracity. The crap about JC doesn't show up until DECADES later. And yes, believers want it both ways. I've had them argue that JC was the rock star of his day. But then they want us to believe that nothing shows up in the historical record about him because he was considered insignificant by the authorities. It makes no sense!
Science flies us to the moon and stars. Religion flies us into buildings.
God allowed 200,000 people to die in an earthquake. So what makes you think he cares about YOUR problems?
God allowed 200,000 people to die in an earthquake. So what makes you think he cares about YOUR problems?