Saturday, March 6, 2010

No mention of Jesus outside the Bible

A small list of Jewish and pagan writers at the time of Christ who make no mention of him.

Wouldn't someone performing miracles and defeating death not be noticed?

Apollonius
Appian
Arrian
Auls Gellius
Columella
Epictetus
Damis
Dio Chrysostom
Dion Pruseus
Favorinus
Florus Lucius
Hermogones
Italicus
Justus of Tiberius
Juvenal
Lucanus
Lucian
Lysias
Martial
Paterculus
Quintilian
Quintius Curtius
Persius
Petronius
Phaedrus
Philo-Judaeus
Phlegon
Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Younger
Plutarch
Pompon Mela
Ptolemy
Seneca
Silius
Statius
Suetonius
Tacitus
Theon of Smyran
Valerius Flaccus
Valerius Maximus


There is one author that Christians use and that is Josephus. It is believed his work was tinkered with by Christians so they could have one person to point to.

3 comments:

  1. Apollonius - ca. 15?–ca. 100? AD
    Appian - c. 95 – c. 165
    Arrian - ca. 86 - 160
    Auls Gellius - ca. 125 AD—after 180 AD
    Columella - AD 4 - ca. AD 70
    Epictetus -AD 55–AD 135
    Damis - AD 55–AD 135
    Dio Chrysostom - ca. 40–ca. 120
    Dion Pruseus - ca. 40–ca. 120
    Favorinus - ca. 80–160 AD
    Florus Lucius -
    Hermogones - AD 161-180
    Italicus - AD 25 – 101
    Justus of Tiberius - 2nd half of first century
    Juvenal - late 1st and early 2nd century
    Lucanus - November 3, 39 AD – April 30, 65 AD
    Lucian - c. A.D. 125 – after A.D. 180
    Martial - March 1, between 38 and 41 AD - between 102 and 104 AD
    Paterculus - c. 19 BC – c. 31 AD
    Quintilian - ca. 35 – ca. 100
    Quintius Curtius - middle of 1st century
    Persius - middle of 1st century
    Petronius - ca. 27–66 AD
    Phaedrus - c. 15 BC – c. AD 50
    Philo-Judaeus - 20 BCE – 50 CE
    Phlegon - 2nd century AD
    Pliny the Elder - 23 CE – August 25, 79
    Pliny the Younger - 61 AD - ca. 112 AD
    Plutarch -c. 46 – 120 AD
    Pompon Mela - 1st century
    Ptolemy - c. AD 90 – c. 168
    Seneca - ca. 54 BC – ca. 39 AD
    Statius - ca. 45-ca. 96 AD
    Suetonius - ca. 69/75 – after 130
    Tacitus -AD 56 – AD 117
    Theon of Smyran - ca. 70–ca. 135
    Valerius Flaccus - died AD 90
    Valerius Maximus - first century

    A short list of authors (astronomers, philosophers, lawyers, poets, historians, mathematicians) at the time of Christ who either make no mention of Christ or the miracles he performed or the 3 hours of darkness during the crucifixion. That would have caught an astronomers attention. Seems all of it would have hit the "news" of its day.

    Josephus minimal statement stands alone and his entry is suspect.


    Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. (…) And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

    – Matthew 27:45, 27:51-54

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  2. PROVOST, I did some investigation on Eusebius

    Eusebius was appointed by Constantine and a primary player in the canonization of the Bible.

    In his book Ecclesiastical History, Book 3, Chapter 3 which was written about A.D. 324 he details his research on the various books to be considered for the Bible. He accepts 1st Peter, but has concerns about 2nd Peters validity, but he notes some consider it profitable. He notes that the Gospel of Peter, the Acts of Peter, the Preaching of Peter and the Book of Revelation by John are not universally accepted because they cannot find any authority quoting them. He says Paul's 14 Epistles are universally accepted. The Book of Hebrews is questioned and not thought to be written by Paul. He pointed out it was rejected by the church at Rome. He is concerned about the Acts of Paul and puts in in the disputed list. The book of Romans is also questioned.

    So he did his research paper and would have loved Wiki. But you can see it was a human process. There is nothing more important to fundamental Christians than the Bible. The Bible is filled with God's miracles and amazing stories. But the method to bring the book together doesn't carry that kind of weight. Why were some books that are in the Bible today in dispute and why were others that didn't make it even on the list? I think this illustrates what I wrote. Like minded men sorted thorough many books accepting some and rejecting others. And we even wind up with a Protestant and Catholic version. And we don't even have the original documents but translated ones. Koine Greek was not the language of the Israelites at the time of Christ, but Aramaic. The Gospels and many other books were written in that language. So, let's say it is no Ten Commandments written on a stone by God's finger. Let's say it has no more divine weight that many other non-Christian holy books such as the Vedas which has a surprisingly consistent message.

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