MERGED: The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (Part 1) & (Part 2)

[Minimalist]

"Paul" seems as legendary as fucking jesus. Xtians desperately assert that "Clement of Rome" - another phony literary character - wrote an epistle that they date to the persecution of Domitian. Trouble is, there was no persecution of Domitian. Decius, 250 AD, was the first Roman emperor to persecute xtians and he didn't even single them out. That epistle is so important because it is the only first century reference to "Peter" or "Paul" but the fact is that like the rest of the nonsense it comes from the second century.

So much of the story cannot withstand scrutiny.

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/persecutions.html

The Roman Empire lasted more than a thousand years and persecuted Christians for fewer than twelve of them. The 'Christian Empire' also lasted more than a thousand years and persecuted non-Christians through all of them.

Until the early years of the 2nd century, Roman administrators were ignorant of the existence of the Christians. For a generation that followed they remained indifferent to this obscure 'Jewish' sect (and its many different factions) but, in time, this indifference gave way to contempt and then irritation.