RE: Did Jesus Christ exist as a historical human or was he a theological construct?
May 19, 2010 at 11:46 pm
(May 18, 2010 at 7:54 pm)Minimalist Wrote: As far as Nazareth goes, the fairly reputable Xtian scholar, Stephen Pfann has excavated there and found one single-family farm. Xtians create much of their own problem by claiming some grandiose status for Nazareth in the first century. No one else had heard of the place. As the observation goes, the most likely question for a Judaean to ask would be "Jesus of where?"
It has been established that the small town of Nazareth was in existence in AD 70. When Jerusalem fell and the temple destroyed in AD 70 the priest were assigned to other locations. Archaeologist have found a list in Aramaic describing the twenty four families of priest and their relocation and one is listed as being reassigned to Nazareth. This info comes from Dr. James Strange of the University of South Florida he is an expert on this area.
Ian Wilson citing pre-christian remains found under the Church of the Annunciation in 1955 in present day Nazareth said"Such findings suggest that Nazareth may have existed in Jesus' time,but there is no doubt that it must have been a very small and insignificant place." This would explain Nathanal's statement in John 1:46.
God loves those who believe and those who do not and the same goes for me, you have no choice in this matter. That puts the matter of total free will to rest.