Danes feel Obama is greater than Jesus

[--Pete]

Hi,

Ignoring the written pre-Christian and early Christian sources, I'd say that historical corroboration amongst Roman, Jewish, and Pagan historical writings at the time lends credibility that there was a Rabbi named Jesus, who was baptized by John, had a brother James, was a charismatic healer who raised the ire and suspicion of the Sanhedrin, and was brought to Pontius Pilate for execution by crucifixion.

Do you have any sources or references for this? Because in my readings, I've found that most of the Jesus tale is uncorroborated by anything else. The few parts that are corroborated are individual events, not necessarily attributed to the same person, and sometimes anachronistic for someone whose ministry would have been around 30 CE. The mentions of Jesus in pagan and Jewish sources that I know of all date from the end of the first century CE on -- they are not contemporary with his life. What is said in those accounts is simply a repetition of what was said in the gospels which may very well have been the sources of those accounts.

As for the crucifixion, a consensus of scholars believe he was put on the cross Thursday morning and died sometime early Friday April 3, 33 AD.

Again, where are you getting this? While *some* scholars do postulate a Thursday crucifixion, they do so primarily to satisfy the 'three days in the grave' prophecy. A Thursday crucifixion, Friday death still leaves you a day short (as does a Friday crucification and death).

The story recounts that Roman soldiers were about to shorten the length of his suffering through crurifragium, but the thrust of a spear piercing of the pericardial sinus secondary to cardiac tamponade convinced them that he was already dead.

Right. Because sticking a spear into somebody and having a clear liquid seep out is a valid test for life. The Romans were not in the habit of taking corpses down from crosses -- indeed, the denial of a traditional burial was an important part of the punishment.

I actually agree that more people should delve deeper into understanding the text and authorship of these early religious writings.

If approached skeptically, yes. Great claims require great proof.

For myself and many of the people that I know, giving <strike>your</strike> our life to Christ means much more than a warm fuzzy spiritual good feeling in <strike>your</strike> our gut. For us it means dedication to using <strike>your</strike> our time and effort to affect a positive change such as was done by that radical Jewish Rabbi some 2000 years ago. To be willing to walk away from <strike>your</strike> our own wealth and self succor to feed and clothe the poor, and to care about the downtrodden.

Please be consistent in your use of the first person -- I don't want you using *my* time and effort to do anything. And I surely do not want you to give *my* life to Christ -- it has been done far too often by your predecessors to mine and I have no desire to perform an Auto da Fé.

--Pete