Re: THE PROBLEM WITH THE HISTORICITY OF JESUS

On 6 May, 23:32, Andrew <thecr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On 2008-05-06 16:23:11 +0100, "Bill M" <wm...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> said:
>
> > More evidence that sup****ts the fact that Jesus the Christ
> > is pure myth and fable.
>
> > "The_Sage" <The_S...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> >news:j2bv14t46lm2b3r3t3a032qqmcd6ts0rsn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> For being considered the most influential person in all of history,
it is
> >> strange that of the 29 first century historians who existed at the
time of
> >> Jesus, none of them mention Jesus at all...
>
> >> 1. Philo Judaeus

A philosopher, not a historian.

> >> 2. Apollonius of Tyana
>
> Virtually no writings survive
>
> >> 3. Valerius Maximus
>
> Not a historian - wrote a manual on "historical tales for rhetoricians"
> based largely on Roman history
>
> >> 4. Marcus Manilius
>
> Not a historian - a poet and astrologer
>
> >> 5. Velleius Paterculus
>
> A historian, but dead before the crucifixion (19 BC - 31 AD)
>
> >> 6. Quintus Curtius Rufus
>
> Only surviving work is an autobiography of Alexander the Great. Oddly,
> Jesus doesn't appear.
>
> >> 7. Pomponius Mela
>
> Not a historian - a geographer
>
> >> 8. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
>
> Not a historian - a very bright man, but not a historian
>
> >> 9. Petronius Arbiter
>
> Not a historian - a satirist
>
> >> 10. C. Musonius Rufus

Not a historian -- a philosopher, none of whose works now exist.

> >> 11. Aulus Persius Flaccus
>
> Not a historian - a poet and satirist
>
> >> 12. Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
>
> Only surviving historical work concerns the Roman Civil War. Oddly,
> does not mention Jesus
>
> >> 13. Hero(n) of Alexandria
>
> Not a historian - a mathematician and engineer
>
> >> 14. Geminus
>
> Not a historian - a mathematician and astronomer
>
> >> 15. Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella

Not a historian -- a writer on agriculture.

> >> 16. Cleomedes
>
> Not a historian - an astronomer
>
> >> 17. Phaedrus
>
> Not a historian - a writer of fables in imitation of Aesop
>
> >> 18. Dioscorides
>
> Not a historian - a physician and pharmacologist
>
> >> 19. Plutarch of Chaeronea
>
> A historian whose only extant works in this field focus on Alexander,
> Pliny and Herodotus. Oddly, does not mention Jesus
>
> >> 20.Justus of Tiberias

A historian whose work is lost and is anyway described by Photius as
very brief and largely fictitious.

> >> 21. Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus)

His history is lost; the surviving work is a National History,
discussing drugs etc.

> >> 22. Dio Chrysostom (Cocceianus Dio)
>
> Regarded as a historian by his contem****aries but no historical works
survive
>
> >> 23. Marcus Fabius Quintilianus
>
> Only extant work is a textbook on rhetoric
>
> >> 24. Publius Papinius

Publius Papinius **Statius**, you mean?  A poet, not a historian.

> >> 25. Dio of Prusa
>
> Same person as Dio Chrysostom!!!
>
> >> 26. Silius Italicus
>
> Not a historian - a poet. Only surviving work an epic based on the Punic
wars
>
> >> 27. ***tus Julius Frontinus
>
> Not a historian - a soldier and administrator
>
> >> 28. Marcus Valerius Martialus
>
> Not a historian - read his "Epigrams".
>
> >> 29. Hierocles of Alexandria
>
> Writing in the 5th Century AD by which time Christianity was the
> official religion of the Empire!!!

> You see Bill? You'll accept any old piffle if it fits in with your
> prejudices. "The Sage" trawls anti-Christian websites and just accepts
> everything he reads entirely uncritically. That's why I killfiled him -
> he can't accept that there is a difference between 'fact' and his
> prejudices.

Such people are very, very disreputable.  Atheism does not benefit
from trying to misrepresent the past, and it injures the unwary.

All the best,

Roger Pearse