RE: Did Jesus Christ exist as a historical human or was he a theological construct?
June 7, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Min I understand that Nazareth was a small place some say as small as 500 acres. Only a few families could have possibly lived there. This would explain Jn. 1:46 where Nathanael says what good thing could come out of Nazareth. Seems the remark by Nathanael does put Nazareth in the catagory of a little hamlet. You are right in saying that the gospels refer to Jesus as more than a teacher, Natanael three verses later Jn. 1:49 calls Jesus teacher and Son of God. Min I'm not trying to minimize Nazareth to a little town it was a little place, actually so small historians did not bother to mention it or if they did those writtings are lost. Going by the definition you give to the word polis why Luke called Nazareth a polis is then yet to be understood. I've not research that word but I will. So you see I believe that Nazareth was a very small place indeed, yet according to the gospels Nazareth did have a synagogue as you have shown in Luke 4:16 and 28. Matt.13:54-58 tells the same story with the use of the words town and synagogue. Mark 1:1-6 tells the same story with the same words, I know that Matt. and Marks gospels give the event in very similar wording and I see nothing wrong with that, two men recalling the same event one using the others recall why should that be bothersome, do not story tellers do the same thing. Do not historians use each others writtings in the telling of the same historical events.
If I'm not mistaken the Jews were not allowed to live within 100 feet of a grave not such a great distance.
Do not those tablets say that the priest were relocated when the temple was distroyed in 70 AD. Isn't it the tablets themselves dated to the second century AD.
As for Paul his ministery was to the gentiles and they would not have an interest in Israels history. Most of Pauls teaching was to the poor though Paul did speak to the elite in places like Greece. Pauls focus was on the ministry of Christ not the history.
You say that the romans did not occupy Galilee until 44 AD and that Antipas who died in 39 AD rebuilt Sepphoris as a roman town then the time line is off some where. Antipas would have had to start the rebuilding of Sepphoris some time before the death of Christ to have completed the city and it would have had a roman bathhouse because no self respecting roman would go to a city without one.
If I'm not mistaken the Jews were not allowed to live within 100 feet of a grave not such a great distance.
Do not those tablets say that the priest were relocated when the temple was distroyed in 70 AD. Isn't it the tablets themselves dated to the second century AD.
As for Paul his ministery was to the gentiles and they would not have an interest in Israels history. Most of Pauls teaching was to the poor though Paul did speak to the elite in places like Greece. Pauls focus was on the ministry of Christ not the history.
You say that the romans did not occupy Galilee until 44 AD and that Antipas who died in 39 AD rebuilt Sepphoris as a roman town then the time line is off some where. Antipas would have had to start the rebuilding of Sepphoris some time before the death of Christ to have completed the city and it would have had a roman bathhouse because no self respecting roman would go to a city without one.
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.


