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07-30-2007, 07:23 AM | #11 |
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07-30-2007, 07:28 AM | #12 | ||
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When he says he was "unacquainted with the nature of their crimes" he likely meant "by direct evidence" although I would suspect he had heard secondary accounts that would be considered hearsay in a court. Again, he was completely taken back by the fact that they appeared, under examination, to be a harmless religious cult, and this did not appear in his eyes to justify the extreme measures against them that he understood should be applied. Trajan, interestingly enough, also does not seem to know for sure what they were originally criminalized for, although Pliny does note that their leader was executed by a Roman procurator, which would have been proof enough that they were seditious. Trajan seems to agree that under the circumstances described by Pliny (they are a harmless religious cult), if they reject an opportunity to recant and sacrifice to the emperor, they should be "punished" (executed) for their obstinancy. DCH |
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07-30-2007, 09:56 AM | #13 | |
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Indeed. The "crime" seems to be treason, not being a religious cult. The Romans were notoriously tolerant of cults. |
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07-30-2007, 12:48 PM | #14 | |
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07-31-2007, 11:17 AM | #15 | |
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There is a point usually overlooked in regard to the key phrase in Pliny. From my “Alleged Scholarly Refutations of the Jesus Myth” (Part 3) article:
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07-31-2007, 01:55 PM | #16 | ||
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Thank you DCH. I was unaware of this level of state paranoia under Roman rule. It throws light on the political pressures "authorized" historians like Tacitus must have worked under, and what distortions must have taken place in the authorized histories we have inherited from that time. |
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08-01-2007, 01:17 PM | #17 | |
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08-01-2007, 01:23 PM | #18 | |
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08-01-2007, 01:52 PM | #19 | |
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Why couldn't those ideas have reached Bithynia by 112? Especially if "Mark" did not begin in Palestine. |
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08-02-2007, 01:54 AM | #20 | ||
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