How to debunk the resurrection?...

[Minimalist]

What about Christian apologists who mention the writings of Josephus?? Was he reliable??

Josephus is reliable at times. Excluded from that are

a) he is talking about his own shameful conduct during the Galilean campaign, or,

b) when he is kissing the asses of his Roman patrons, Vespasian and Titus, ( which includes the siege of Masada conducted by Flavius Silva, a kisman of theirs) and

c) when he is not merely repeating bullshit he read in the Torah.


Archaeology has been able to confirm the broad outlines of Josephus' history although his "details" are no more accurate than any other ancient historian.

This is especially true when Xtian forgers inserted bullshit passages into Josephus because they were embarrassed that their god boy made no mark on history at all.

I suspect this last is what you are talking about.

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Aretus IV Philopatris, King of the Nabataeans, is the more likely candidate in this incident mentioned by Paul.

I hate to have to break this to you but Damascus was a Roman town from 64 BC until the Byzantines finally lost it to the Arabs. Aretas IV was a hunted fugitive in 37 AD being chased by the army of the Legate of Syria, Lucius Vitellius for having attacked Herod Antipas' kingdom. The only thing that saved Aretas' ass at that time was that Tiberius died and Vitellius called off the chase to await new instructions from Caligula. Highly fucking unlikely that the Romans would then turn around and award Aretas one of the most prized pieces of commercial real estate ( Damascus was the terminus of the Silk Road) in the ancient world. In any case, no Greco-Roman or Jewish writer mentions any such transfer.

Xtian assholes assume it happened because it is mentioned in "Paul" but xtians lie a lot.