r Basically the proof FOR Jesus's exsistance can be found in the follow sources: Cornelius Tacitus (Annals), Celsus (The True Word), Suetonius (The Lives of the Ceasars), Pliny the Younger (Letters), Thallus (Lost Work), Flavius Josephus (The Antiquities of the Jews), The Talmund, and the Bible itself. We'll go over these one at a time: Cornelius Tacitus (55-120 A.D.) wrote in his annals the following quote: "Christians derived their name and origin from Christ, who, in the reign of Tiberius, had suffered death by the sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate" - (Annals 15.44) Problems: Scholars widely accept this as a Christian interpolation. Pilate is refered to as a procurator - He was a Prefect - A totally different title. He refers to the man as "Christus" which means "Annointed One" or "Messiah" - NOT as Jesus which would have been required to name someone by their NAME instead of their TITLE. It is unlikely that Tacitus would have found reference to a Messiah in Roman Records. Celsus wrote in "The True Word" which was written about 178 A.D. The historicity of Jesus is presupposed. Celsus's account agrees closely with the stories of Jesus found in Talmudic literature, which probably were its major source. Problems: The time that this was written was at least a hundred years too late for it to be a considered source. Since the writings agree with Talmunic literature it was most likely a copy but it is almost surely a forgery or writings based on oral tradition and not fact. Suetonius (69-122 A.D.) wrote in "The Lives of the Ceasars" around 120 A.D. He mentions an agitator named "Chrestus" - "Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus..." The passage has been used to confirm the historicity of Jesus but it is unlikely that it refers to Jesus. Problems: Many scholars maintain that it is likely that Suetonius is not referring to Jesus at all but to some messianic Jewish agitator named "Chrestus". We know on independent grounds that there were Jewish mesianic groups in Rome at this time. Other scholars have suggested that perhaps because of the sameness of the two words Suetonius wrongly was led to believe that the rioters were Christians. But even if he was referring to Christian rioters, this hardly provides any evidence for the historicity of Jesus. (** Continued in Another Message **) (R)eply, (E)mail reply, (F)orum-Op, (T)hread, (P)revious, or (N)ext? .................... ... ...-....1200 N81N ......................... ... ...-....1200 N81N ......................... ... ...-....1200 N81N ......................... ... ...-....1200 N81N ............