RE: The First Century Void
August 3, 2017 at 9:53 pm
(This post was last modified: August 4, 2017 at 12:33 am by Minimalist.)
In spite of xtian scribes zealously protecting much of Philo's writings there is this anomaly.
Three examples. We can add Justus of Tiberias' History of the Jews which the Bishop of Constantinople, Photius, read in the 9th century but dismissed because in spite of living in first century Palestine he failed to make any mention of jesus. It seems that Photius' comment was the kiss of death and the work was allowed to vanish. A pattern is developing.
Quote:Another strange loss are certain volumes of Philo of Alexandria. Despite
Christians having saved vast quantities of the writings of Philo, the ones
that would most have occasion to mention Jesus or Judean affairs under
Pontius Pilate are missing or mangled. According to Eusebius, Philo wrote
five books about his embassy to Caligula (after the year 36) and the events
precipitating it, only two of which survive. 34 What happened to the other
three? We know they covered three other subjects, each a major persecution
of Jews under Tiberius: one volume on Pilate (in Judea), another on Sejanus
(at Rome), the ones we have (on Flaccus in Egypt; then one on Caligula),
and a final volume showing what happened to Caligula after all this.JS All
of these may have embarrassingly omitted mention of any Christians at
Rome (such as was claimed in the apocryphal but popular Acts of Pilate) or
in Jerusalem or Alexandria. But the most important volume would have
been the one on Pilate's persecution of the Jews in Judea. Christians would
surely expect that volume to mention Pilate's execution of Jesus in some
respect; but as it probably did not, again its si lence would have been as
embarrassing as all the others surveyed so far.3
Carrier 304-05 OTHJ
Three examples. We can add Justus of Tiberias' History of the Jews which the Bishop of Constantinople, Photius, read in the 9th century but dismissed because in spite of living in first century Palestine he failed to make any mention of jesus. It seems that Photius' comment was the kiss of death and the work was allowed to vanish. A pattern is developing.
