Thursday, October 17, 2013

Scholar Claims Jesus Was a Roman Hoax?

A historical scholar claims to have found evidence proving that the story of Jesus as described in the New Testament is a fiction, and that historical claims about Jesus were actually created by Roman aristocrats to control the poor.
According to a news story in The Independent:
“Joseph Atwill, who is the author of a book entitled ‘Caesar’s Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus’, asserts that Christianity did not begin as a religion, but was actually a sophisticated government propaganda exercise used to pacify the subjects of the Roman Empire.”
Atwill’s take on Jesus is of course not new. In 1844 Karl Marx famously declared religion as the opiate of the masses. History is filled with skeptics, freethinkers, atheists, agnostics and other doubters who have questioned religious doctrine and dogma.
Atwill’s claims are based on what he described as important and revealing parallels between a first-person account of first-century Judea (an ancient Roman province now part of Israel and Palestine) and the New Testament.
“What seems to have eluded many scholars is that the sequence of events and locations of Jesus ministry are more or less the same as the sequence of events and locations of the military campaign of (Emperor) Titus Flavius as described by Josephus,” Atwill wrote in a blog on his web site.
Atwill believes that the story of Jesus was actually copied and created from the biography of the Roman emperor.
Evidence for a Historical Jesus?
While Atwill’s thesis is intriguing, there are reasons to be skeptical.
“The reality is we are unlikely ever to know the ‘facts’ about Jesus,” says Ronald A. Lindsay, a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Inquiry, a non-profit educational organization. Lindsay authored an essay on the evidence for Jesus in the book “Sources of the Jesus Tradition.”
“There are too many different stories about him, all of which have some serious credibility problems and which are inconsistent with one another,” Lindsay told Discovery News. “For the objective historian, he will always remain a shadowy figure, with little substantive biographical content. On the one hand, we have many who will take things on faith, accepting some subset of the stories as unquestionably true. On the other hand, there are those who insist that Jesus is an invented figure, a myth or a hoax. I think both of these extremes are almost equally implausible.”
Biblical scholars, as well as lay Christians, have long sought hard evidence of events and miracles described in the Bible, ranging from Noah’s Ark to the Shroud of Turin, with little success. New claims about proof of Jesus surface every few years.
For example, in 2003 a relics dealer claimed to have discovered a limestone mortuary box that held the remains of Jesus’ brother. The inscription read, “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.”
The find made international news and spawned several documentaries, including one titled “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” which aired on the Discovery Channel. Further investigation by the Israeli Antiquities Authority concluded that though the ossuary box was authentic, the inscription on it had been faked.
And just last year an historian at Harvard Divinity School claimed to have found documentary evidence in the form of a fragment of Coptic writing on papyrus that Jesus was married; a later analysis by Biblical scholars suggested the writing was hoaxed.
Over and over, these “discoveries” typically turn out to be far more hype than fact and are trotted out as teasers to promote a new book, TV series or film. And, of course, Dan Brown made millions from his own fictional, conspiracy-laden versions of Jesus’ story — though his premise is claimed by a few writers to be based on fact.
Though Atwill’s claims have yet to be verified by other historians, whatever their consensus it will certainly not resolve the matter. The likelihood that any sort of real, definitive proof about Jesus will suddenly be discovered two millennia after he died (assuming, of course, that he existed) is vanishingly remote. Then again, that’s why religions are based on faith.

Originally posted on: Discovery News

14 comments:

  1. “Joseph Atwill, who is the author of a book entitled ‘Caesar’s Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus’, asserts that Christianity did not begin as a religion, but was actually a sophisticated government propaganda exercise used to pacify the subjects of the Roman Empire.”

    Yet his entire written message was the opposite.. I am not writing this to prove their is a God, but to show these people have no clue as to what they are talking about since their whole premise is the exact opposite of what was actually taught.

    Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

    Acts 17:5 But the Jews which believed not, (Did Not Accept Christ's Teaching Of Liberty/ Simplicity / Christ Being King) moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

    6 And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down (Their Belief System) are come hither also;

    7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do ---contrary to the decrees of Caesar---, saying that there is ---another king,(Authority - Ruler - Government) one Jesus.

    Mark 10:42-45: But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered (notice how he uses the term considered..doesn't make it true) rulers (govt) over the Gentiles lord it (rule) over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ---------Yet it shall not be so among you; ------but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

    Luke 22:25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.

    John 19:12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

    13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

    15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

    The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” 16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.[c]

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  2. Surely, no one is surprised by this article. Not to pick on anybody but we've seen the "revelation" of Scientology in our life time, bull shit if there ever was any. Science fiction, some might say. Read the Egyptian, Moslem, native Indian.... legends about why we're all here. It all appears to have been drawn from the same lore and explains nothing. Just be happy, treat people well, try and work together for our mutual survival and protection ("do unto others....") and then daydream about why we're here. this is the lot of
    (wo)mankind but it's still not a bad life!

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  3. Its always Christianity isn't it? I can honestly say that I have never seen any similar articles attacking the authenticity of other religious figures. If Christ is of no importance as all these articles claim, then why keep pushing the point? As a none Christian this is arousing my suspicion.

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    1. Dont worry Anonymous October 18, when you research Islam and Judaism you also find that these too are fake. Islam is based on ancient Arab pagan traditions, Greek philosophy and gnostic christian teachings. Judaism is nothing more than legends and stories from the region consolidated into one book, Genesis, to be used to galvanise a nomadic group of exiles and wanderers under a common identity and law where there was no police of judicial system. All three monotheistic religions were nothing more than civilisations original attempts of a legal system and nothing more. For thousands of years all religions have shared the exact same stories.

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    2. Some believe all three religions Christianity Judaism and Islam are three parts of the same story. Also Christianity is the youngest out of these three religions so i see why it gets attacked the most, I consider myself agnostic because i realize that man tricks man, especially those in control, ticking the masses, watch a video about ancient mechanisms, churches used sciences that the masses didn't know about, to make "miracles" happen. Now with that being said i believe that there COULD be a truth to the mysticism of the bible, and the god i believe could exist would be so righteous he wouldn't be a jealous god, he would be an understanding god. I dont think he would call me a blasphemer and send me to hell over thinking outside the box. On the flip side i do believe that most mainstream religions have been infiltrated, perverted and manipulated to control the masses.

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  4. Fuck you all!! Jesus was a fake, and a fake was he!!! More proof he didn't exist than he did!! Science rules!

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  5. Its actually a simple historical truth that a man named Jesus, who is the subject of Christian literature did indeed walk the earth. Science does rule and science corroborates this. Whether or not you believe the miracles of his tales is a totally different topic. Accepting that fact that he existed is not the same as believing in Christianity. There was a guy named and people wrote controversial things about him...there is nothing miraculous about that in and of itself.

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    1. Where is the historical evidence outside of the bible? Other religious figures have evidence in historical records that they walked the Earth. There is none for Jesus. If you are aware of any outside of the bible, or outside of the Junk Science of people like Hal Lindsay, please present it.

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    2. there are several people named Jesus walking the earth today and one of them cuts my lawn

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    3. Jesus Christ. Google "Tacitus , Christen..." That should pretty much do it. Look around.

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  6. ah! 'religion'; creating differences between us has been the best war tool of the rich/powerful since time began

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  7. Still searching for that hard evidence huh? Guess what? It's because it Jesus doesn't exist.

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  8. For you he doesnt exist and you dont exist for him :)

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  9. THe bible is supposed to be Astro theology. Astrology, numerology and tarot/torat backwards are mythalized into the bible. The Vatican would HAVE to KNOW this as it is the same as MIthraism. Most religions especially christianity has been turned into a Satanic cult of Jesus(who is depicted continually dressed up in Saturnalian symbols). The uninitiated won't recognize this. Jesus is the SUN. Jehova is Jupiter, Satan is Saturn, Magdalene the moon, 12 disciples=12 zodiac, sun walks on water when you look east in the morning, every day the sun walks across, etc... add infinitum. Shame on the Cerce/ church/ swine/ kirke/ turning men into swine...

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