I would like to know if anyone has sources which assert clearly and authoritatively that Nazareth was not a town or that Nazareth was not the name of a town in biblical times, during the lifetime asserted to be that of Jesus.

The Encyclopedia Britannica refers to the Nazareth problem, as does Gordon Stein in An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism, but neither give their source(s).

Hi Bob

I covered this off in a post a while back. Here it is again:

"Despite Nazareth's obscurity (which had led some critics to suggest that it was a relatively recent foundation), archeology indicates that the village has been occupied since the 7th century B.C., although it may have experienced a 'refounding' in the 2nd century B.C."
A Marginal Jew : Rethinking the Historical Jesus : The Roots of the Problem and the Person, by John P. Meier, pg. 300-1. Quoting from Archeology, the Rabbis, and Early Christianity, Meyers and Strange Abingdon:1981. pp.56-57

"Despite the Hellenization of the general region and the probability that Greek was known to many people it seems likely that Nazareth remained a conservative Jewish village. After the Jewish war with the Romans from AD 66-70 it was necessary to re-settle Jewish priests and their families. Such groups would only settle in unmixed towns, that is towns without Gentile inhabitants. According to an inscription discovered in 1962 in Caesarea Maritima the priests of the order of Elkalir made their home in Nazareth. This, by the way, is the sole known reference to Nazareth in antiquity, apart from written Christian sources... (next paragraph) Some scholars had even believed that Nazareth was a fictitious invention of the early Christians; the inscription from Caesarea Maritima proves otherwise."
Behind the Scenes of the New Testament, Paul Barnett, pg. 42

Here is my webpage on that topic.

WEll I don't have the link now. But here's how to find it. Go to my web site and click on Jesus and it will be listed on that sub menue.

Doxa Theology and Apologetics

offa, great website! My computer took too long to load, graphics and all. I wished I knew how to do that.
But, alas, wrong Nazareth. I see that Josephus was mentioned. He tells the alert reader that Galilee was located on the northwest corner of the Dead Sea. BTW, the infamous cliff was actually near the buriel cave of Christ, and, Judas Iscariot was thrown over this cliff "and his bowels gushed out". And, this same Judas was "satan" who offerred Jesus "the world".

P.S. Jesus was not dead and he left that cave and was actually buried near Ephesus.