Was the 'Nazareth Inscription' a Roman response to Jesus' empty tomb? New evidence says it wasn't.

Apr 17, 2020
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Jesus never existed. He was a concoction of the Jews. A gift to the Gentiles who had no god. The Jews wrote their own bible and made themselves the "chosen" people. They wrote their own ticket. No god nor deities wrote any bibles. All religious books were written by mortal men. Hokus Pokus. There is no Wizard!
 
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Apr 11, 2020
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Linking to a story 'Who Was Jesus?' undermines science. It is as if the writer actually believes in this nonsense. We know that paid scribes manufactured this cult for their masters. It is time that secularism and Freethinking were introduced back into the classroom and serious efforts made to combat the virus of religion.
 
Apr 18, 2020
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However, 24 inches high, 15 inches wide and 2 inches deep means 61, 38 and 5 centimeters, no less, no more. It is just a conclusion, not a reproach.
 
Wow. Is there an implicit assumption that there was no trade in times of antiquity?
I'm not defending the biblical provenance of this item. But leaping from the idea that there are indications that the marble came from Kos, to that it could not have been used in Judea, is not anything close to a "likely resolution".
(If we're going to say we believe in "science", well, then let's actually practice logic and science! Instead of conjecture, at best.)
 
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Jan 23, 2020
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But leaping from the idea that there are indications that the marble came from Kos, to that it could not have been used in Judea,
Why would you want to import a piece of rock from another country when you have plenty of your own. The real leap is that it was anything to do with the myth of Jesus in the first place. Have you heard of Occam's razor
 
Apr 18, 2020
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Now here's a person who "thinks" through to the formulation of their thoughts and ideas before writing them down! I "feel" great sorrow for afmeincke, Graeme and GaryO; they write through their emotion and without any true experience nor forethought!
I am an engineer, I am a veteran pilot and I am a true believer in miracles and the existence of Christ Jesus, both in the present day and in the past. Being an engineer requires me to research, prove and disprove what others accept more easily, it is not an easy life being dedicated to the welfare of others; however, I do it because I believe that there are a great many "kind and good" people out there who need someone to help make life doable. I am a veteran pilot, flew F-15s and F-4s before that back in the 70s, yes in combat and in peacetime both. I have seen what both death and bravery looks like in the eyes of my fellow man and the difference between within their eyes at the time of leaving this life; a christian is happy to go, shows no fear, but gladly gives up his life life for his fellow man. He is also braver and more resolute than any non-christian I've ever met or served with! I believe in miracles because I have been the benefactor of 5 each throughout my lifetime. There can be no possibility of any other way these 5 events within my life could have been otherwise, just not possible... And these 5 events have nothing to do with belief or faith; they're just facts of life!
Let's try an experiment for those of you who laughingly doubt my word... walk up to and turn on the gas burner on your stove, now place your fingers and hand well into the flames! No, what do you say; what a fool am I to think my hand won't be cooked alive and that in response I will feel great pain and not only that... I will be reminded of my foolishness for a good long time from now as well! So afmeincke, Graeme and GaryO; how did you come to those conclusions, what you say, just common sense? No, I say to you, it is belief, experience and or advice that an elder shared with you early in your life? Well then I say this to you... before you write such emotional nonsense again, or even think or utter it to yourself; just imagine that same experience that just your hand may have felt, feeling it over and throughout your whole mind and body "forever!" Do you chose still to disbelieve in what these scattered prophets chronicled similarly in each of their books 2 thousands years ago? Do you not question the reasoning that any "one man" in such a hard life would take the time to chronicle what he believed was the word of God come to him? Would you still disbelieve that all 12 disciples (all 12) of Christ would travel out into the world each fleeing from persecution while chronicling the words given to him by God? I chose not to press my luck against what those men have written and you; if you still haven't run, not walked to your closest church and asked for forgiveness of your miserable trite way of thinking, then you are far braver men than I! I do not wish to burn in such a way... forever! You say it's impossible... then you go first...
 
Apr 18, 2020
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Yes, and what can be more simple (Occam's Razor) than 12 different men traveling 12 different directions and and chronicling the similar events and story of a man's life and calling it "the word of God"
I bade you; attempt to duplicate those exact happenings, cradle to grave, in even this day and age... good luck to you!
 
Mar 3, 2020
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Fine, LiveScience. I don't care much about the Jesus story, one way or the other.

What I do care about is science. I would like to have confidence that you will give equal time to the story of some discovery that presently seems to favor the Christian account. Not to make a religious believer of anyone; simply to demonstrate (and to keep on demonstrating) that you are not beholden to anyone's pro- or anti-religious agenda. Please don't degrade science by making it ideological.
 
Jan 23, 2020
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Yes, and what can be more simple (Occam's Razor) than 12 different men traveling 12 different directions and and chronicling the similar events and story of a man's life and calling it "the word of God"
I bade you; attempt to duplicate those exact happenings, cradle to grave, in even this day and age... good luck to you!
It is not hard to duplicate something that never happened, I am glad you said similar events as they can't even get the facts the same and tell the same fairy tale.
As for sticking your hand in the fire, pray to your god and then try it for yourself, and you will see that your so called miracles were nothing but chance.
Attributing chance as miracles, and anything good that happens as the action of god and anything bad as the action of the devil, has been the christian way of hiding from the facts for 2000 years.
If you are an engineer you will understand the concept of infinity. To be a God you must have infinite power and knowledge and sit outside of time as time did not exist before the big bang and therefore know the past, present and future, otherwise you are just an advanced powerful alien (Scientology).
What is a human compared to infinity? Absolutely nothing. Yet the narcissistic religious nutters believe that a being of infinite power loves them, the very definition of narcissism. If there was such a being (definitely not the Abrahamic god) we would be infinently less than an ant to it/them.
 
Jan 23, 2020
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Fine, LiveScience. I don't care much about the Jesus story, one way or the other.

equal time to the story of some discovery that presently seems to favor the Christian account.
If this ever occurred I am sure they would, but you can't have proof of something that never happened, there has never been on piece of evidence that actually proves the existence of an Abrahamic god, or any other god
 
Mar 3, 2020
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Jesus never existed. He was a concoction of the Jews. A gift to the Gentiles who had no god. The Jews wrote their own bible and made themselves the "chosen" people. They wrote their own ticket. No god nor deities wrote any bibles. All religious books were written by mortal men. Hokus Pokus. There is no Wizard!

As we travel more into the 21st century, the discarding of Jesus Christ as a historical person (along with religion in general) has attained to greater heights, despite sound evidence to the contrary. For example, Jewish historian (and priest) Flavius Josephus (about 37-101 C.E. whose original name was Joseph Ben Matthias) stated that Annas, a Jewish high priest who had political influence, "convened the judges of the Sanhedrin (Jewish high court) and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ".(Jewish Antiquities, Book XX, 200)

Roman historian Tacitus (about 56-120 C.E. who was neither Jewish nor Christian) said in his Annals that Nero was considered responsible for the great fire in Rome, but instead Nero accused the Christians in order to "scotch the rumour". He further said that "Christus (Christ), the founder of the name [Christian], had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius (Caesar), by sentence of the procurator (Judean governor) Pontius Pilate".(Annals, Book XV, 44)

Then there is Roman historian Suetonius (about 70-130 C.E., who too was neither Jewish nor Christian) that wrote: "Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus (or Christ, who was not responsible for any disturbances but it was because the Jews hated Jesus, and they were the source of these disturbances), he (Roman Emperor Claudius) expelled them from Rome".(The Deified Claudius, Book XXV, 4)

Roman author and administrator in Bithynia (modern day Turkey), Pliny the Younger (about 61-113 C.E., who was also neither Jewish nor Christian) spoke of Christ Jesus in the context of trying to force Christians to recant from following him by "offering adoration, with wine and frankincense, to your (Roman Emperor Trajan) image" or else be executed.(Pliny-Letters, Book X, XCVI)

How can someone who never existed impact the world so much that about 1/3 of it professes to be his followers ? How can someone who never existed give wisdom that exceeds all human thought ? How can someone who never existed be able to foretell the downfall of the Jewish system of things some 37 years in advance and that happened in 70 C.E.?

The historian H. G. Wells said that a man’s greatness can be measured by ‘what he leaves to grow, and whether he started others to think along fresh lines with a vigor that persisted after him.’ Wells, though not claiming to be a Christian, acknowledged: “By this test Jesus stands first.”

Alexander the Great, Charlemagne (styled “the Great” even in his own lifetime), and Napoleon Bonaparte were powerful rulers. By their formidable presence, they wielded great influence over those they commanded. Yet, Napoleon is reported to have said: “Jesus Christ has influenced and commanded His subjects without His visible bodily presence.”

So please tell me how all of this possible if Jesus never existed.
 
Jan 23, 2020
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So please tell me how all of this possible if Jesus never existed.
That is really quite simple.
1. Most of your quotes are long after his death even up to 100 years later.
2. The may have been a person named jesus who was even a "preacher" and was executed for blasphemy, where stories about him have been enhanced to myth status or simply made up for the sake of good showmanship and conning a few more shekels out of foolish believers, but was does that prove?
Absolutely NOTHING.
Does it prove he was the son of god, NO
Does it prove he was from a virgin birth, NO
Does it prove he performed miracles, NO, it actually goes the other way and tends to prove he didn't perform any miracles at all
Does it prove he rose from the dead, ABSOLUTELY NOT, even the bible can't get the fairy tale consistent on this one.
Does it prove that Billions of people have been conned by the greatest ever con job, YES.
Does your reference to Alexander and Napoleon, prove you are clutching for any evidence no matter how irrelevant to support your position. YES
The real question is not whether a person named jesus existed (I am sure there were thousands of them as well as marys, davids and any other name common in those times), but are the fairy tales built up a hundred years after his death true, and the answer to that is there is ZERO evidence of this
 
Mar 3, 2020
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That is really quite simple.
1. Most of your quotes are long after his death even up to 100 years later.
2. The may have been a person named jesus who was even a "preacher" and was executed for blasphemy, where stories about him have been enhanced to myth status or simply made up for the sake of good showmanship and conning a few more shekels out of foolish believers, but was does that prove?
Absolutely NOTHING.
Does it prove he was the son of god, NO
Does it prove he was from a virgin birth, NO
Does it prove he performed miracles, NO, it actually goes the other way and tends to prove he didn't perform any miracles at all
Does it prove he rose from the dead, ABSOLUTELY NOT, even the bible can't get the fairy tale consistent on this one.
Does it prove that Billions of people have been conned by the greatest ever con job, YES.
Does your reference to Alexander and Napoleon, prove you are clutching for any evidence no matter how irrelevant to support your position. YES
The real question is not whether a person named jesus existed (I am sure there were thousands of them as well as marys, davids and any other name common in those times), but are the fairy tales built up a hundred years after his death true, and the answer to that is there is ZERO evidence of this

When you read about World War I of 1914-18 and its deadly effects in history books, do you ever say that what was written down by historians is fake ? When you read about the Spanish Influenza of 1918-20 in history books, do you ever think that this is just nonsense ? When you read about the Great Depression, do you ever say that this is just gibberish because you did not experience or see the event for yourselves ?

All three world changing situations happened long before either you or I were born (unless you are at least 90 years old). Yet, we never doubt their authenticity when we examine them from qualified historians accounts or even from, say our grandfather who may have lived through those times.

You mentioned David in your post, as perhaps another person conjured up, though spoken of some 1,000 times in the Bible. Before 1993, there was no proof outside the Bible to support the historicity of David, the brave young shepherd who later became king of Israel. That year, however, archaeologists uncovered in northern Israel a basalt stone dated to the ninth century B.C.E., that experts say bears the words “House of David” and “king of Israel.”

An archaeological team headed by Professor Avraham Biran, uncovered a basalt stone (also called the Tel Dan stela) outside the outer gate of ancient Dan (Tel Dan) near the border of modern day Lebanon. It referred to the ' House of David ' (referred to in the Bible 26 times) and to the ' King of Israel '. This stone is dated to ninth century B.C.E., a little over 100 years after the death of David, or almost 3,000 years ago.

Another stone, the Mesha stela, an ancient stone slab that was also called the Moabite stone which was found at Dibon [modern day Dhiban in Jordan] about 12 miles northeast of the Dead sea and is assigned to Moabite king Mesha as his account of breaking Israel's domination over Moab in which he says lasted forty years and is recorded at 2 Kings 3 in the Bible, giving the credit to his god Chemosh, was discovered in 1868, and was also found to contain the expression ' House of David ' by Professor Andre' Lamaire, and is also dated to the ninth century B.C.E. and is of the same material as the Tel Dan stela and is written in almost identical Semitic script.

Bible critics questioned the existence of Pontius Pilate (governor of Judea from 26-36 C.E.), the Roman governor who handed Jesus over to be executed. (Matthew 27:1-26) Evidence that Pilate was once ruler of Judea is etched on a stone discovered in 1961 at the Mediterranean seaport city of Caesarea, and is now located in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Another example that was seen as just a "fib" was that of Assyrian king Sargon. The Bible mentions him only once at Isaiah 20:1. Until 1843, Bible critics said that he was just a "made up" person. But in that year, near Khorsabad, on a northern tributary of the Tigris River, the palace of Assyrian King Sargon II, covering some 10 hectare or 25 acres, was discovered, and subsequent archaeological work there brought this king out of secular obscurity to a position of historical prominence. Two lamassu or protective deities from Sargon's palace at Dur-Shurrakin is exhibited at the French Louvre Museum.

So, just because you discount the authenticity of several first century historians' account about Jesus, does not change the facts. Many are like what is stated at Proverbs 18: "A stupid person takes no pleasure in understanding (doing no in-depth research nor using sound logic); He would rather disclose what is in his heart (or give his personal opinion)".(Prov 18:2)