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Originally posted by NOTurTypical
If it "didn't really matter" you wouldn't have know-it-alls stating the year is currently 2008 "CE".
When that isn't what it truly is, it has only been called that recently to again, deny Christ.
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
No one says that's PROOF Christ exists, however, it is just 1 more brick of evidence in the wall.
Originally posted by sir_chancealot
What year is it again?
In answering that question, you'll have all the proof you need.
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
Heck, it's one thing to deny Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, years ago people just simply claimed "He was just a man, not God". That's not good enough nowadays, now the growing consensus is to claim he never existed whatsoever!
Because there's nothing substantial that supports his existence.
Originally posted by TruthParadox
reply to post by OldThinker
As I've said before, all that proves is that people read the gospels. There is no way they witnessed any of it as all of those dates are atleast 70 years after the fact. So we are left to conclude that they are talking about the gospels, and that their words mean no more than if someone today talked about the gospels. So we goto the gospels. We learn that the gospels were also written after the fact. We learn that during the time that Jesus actually lived, there was no record of him. NONE. This is a fact that many Christians can not seem to grasp or do not like to think about, but it's a fact nonetheless.
Originally posted by TruthParadox
Yes there are things written about Jesus AFTER the gospels, but they are obviously written by people who READ the gospels and did not witness anything first hand. So it all comes down to the gospels, which were written years and years after the fact. If I'm a man of consistency, I can put no more stock in Jesus' existence then I can Hercules.
After studying with a leading rabbi in Jerusalem, Saul becomes closely linked with the religious authorities in the city and zealously helps to suppress the Jewish heresy which is being spread by the followers of the crucified Jesus. He watches with full approval the stoning of Stephen, a leading Christian, and then he sets off to Damascus to seek out and arrest any Christians in that city.
On the road to Damascus he sees a blinding light and hears a voice saying 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' The voice goes on to add: 'I am Jesus'.
The first missionary: AD c.35-c.55
Instead of persecuting the Christians of Damascus, Saul is baptized by them and stays among them for some three years. Later he returns to his home town in southern Turkey, preaching the Christian faith.
Then, probably in the second half of the 40s, he begins the great series of missionary journeys (using by now the name Paul) which give the young church its first sense of being a widespread community. They also give it, incidentally, its earliest written records.
Originally posted by TruthParadox
reply to post by OldThinker
As I've said before, all that proves is that people read the gospels. There is no way they witnessed any of it as all of those dates are atleast 70 years after the fact.
Originally posted by fmcanarney
How about the reality that we are living today with a calendar that began the year that Jesus was born. Which puts his birth at 2008 years ago. Is there anyone else in that era of history that could have that impact upon time?
In about C.E. 523, the papal chancellor, Bonifatius, asked a monk by the name of Dionysius Exiguus to devise a way to implement the rules from the Nicean council (the so-called "Alexandrine Rules") for general use.
Dionysius Exiguus (in English known as Denis the Little) was a monk from Scythia, he was a canon in the Roman curia, and his assignment was to prepare calculations of the dates of Easter. At that time it was customary to count years since the reign of emperor Diocletian; but in his calculations Dionysius chose to number the years since the birth of Christ, rather than honour the persecutor Diocletian.
Dionysius (wrongly) fixed Jesus' birth with respect to Diocletian's reign in such a manner that it falls on 25 December 753 AUC (ab urbe condita, i.e. since the founding of Rome), thus making the current era start with C.E. 1 on 1 January 754 AUC.
How Dionysius established the year of Christ's birth is not known (see section 2.10.1 for a couple of theories). Jesus was born under the reign of king Herod the Great, who died in 750 AUC, which means that Jesus could have been born no later than that year. Dionysius' calculations were disputed at a very early stage.
When people started dating years before 754 AUC using the term "Before Christ," they let the year 1 B.C.E. immediately precede C.E. 1 with no intervening year zero.
Note, however, that astronomers frequently use another way of numbering the years B.C.E. Instead of 1 B.C.E. they use 0, instead of 2 B.C.E. they use -1, instead of 3 B.C.E. they use -2, etc.
It is frequently claimed that it was the venerable Bede (673-735) who introduced B.C. dating. Although Bede seems to have used the term on at least one occasion, it is generally believed that B.C. dates were not used until the middle of the 17th century.
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
and AD has always meant the years "After Dominion".
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
Because there's nothing substantial that supports his existence.
Are you serious? How about CHRISTIANITY???? It has over 1.6 Billion adherents, 2 major holidays, and you expect me to believe that all started because 11 men were liars???
David Koresh had more than 11 disciples. Where is his massive religion? Alexander the Great claimed to be a deity, do we celebrate his birthday every year? Are there Billions of people who are Alexandriacs?
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
That's absurd, how do we have Christianity today if Jesus never walked the Earth? You mean to tell me 11 men lied about him, (unto death), for a MYTH????
Do you know a single person that would maintain Bigfoot is real with a gun to their head?
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
Jesus didn't tell his disciples "Write about me". he said "Follow me..."
Secondly, virtually all Jews were illeterate.
Thirdly, the Pharisees and Scribes wanted to "cover their tracks" in essence, when they wrote about him in their Talmud they changed his name, or refused to name him altogether, I.E. 'that man'.
I speak English u troll, not Midieval Latin.
Originally posted by Iasion
Hia,
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
and AD has always meant the years "After Dominion".
False.
A.D. does NOT stand for "After Dominion".
It stands for "Anno Domini".
Don't you ever check ANYTHING?
Iasion
Originally posted by mhc_70
This would support his knowledge of Jesus, the Christ, from the Roman perspepective and records at the time would have reflected this, otherwise, why was Saul employed by the Romans?
Originally posted by TruthParadox
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
Jesus didn't tell his disciples "Write about me". he said "Follow me..."
Secondly, virtually all Jews were illeterate.
Thirdly, the Pharisees and Scribes wanted to "cover their tracks" in essence, when they wrote about him in their Talmud they changed his name, or refused to name him altogether, I.E. 'that man'.
This scenario is possible, I'm not denying that. But it's certainly not probable. Iasion has already mentioned a few people during this time that would have written about Christ. Also, why wait so many years after Jesus' death to write an account of what you had witnessed? Surely the writer would know that this would cut his credibility in half. Anyone in such a situation would have written something before then. Not to mention all of the supposed miracles that thousands had witnessed (such as the baskets full of bread). These people may not have written about it, but they sure as Hell would have talked about it. They would have told everyone, at which time the news would have spread and someone would have written something about these alleged miracles.
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
The Pharisees did write about these miracles... they said they were done with magic from Egypt.
Originally posted by NOTurTypical
Bro, relax, if you don't want ot believe, you don't HAVE TO.
This isn't China, if you don't want to believe, fine, that is your choice.
Originally posted by TruthParadox
reply to post by OldThinker
As I've said before, all that proves is that people read the gospels. There is no way they witnessed any of it as all of those dates are atleast 70 years after the fact. So we are left to conclude that they are talking about the gospels, and that their words mean no more than if someone today talked about the gospels. So we goto the gospels. We learn that the gospels were also written after the fact. We learn that during the time that Jesus actually lived, there was no record of him. NONE. This is a fact that many Christians can not seem to grasp or do not like to think about, but it's a fact nonetheless.