thentian

I agree with you that where all 4 gospels say the same thing it increases the probability that they are historical on that point. Also, if Pilate regarded Jesus as a political threat, then that could be reason enough to send a report to Rome (and would also explain the execution method, which I understand was usually reserved for rebels and traitors).

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Hmm... he would send it in Greek if his native thongue was Greek? Not in latin since it was to the senate of Rome? I'm pretty sure he would have to know latin in order to get that job... This doesn't seem plausible to me at all.

I also bolded something in your post: it is clear that Pilate knew the actual name of Jesus (if we are to take the gospels at face value here). I think this significantly decreases the propability that Jesus would be referred to as Christus in such a report, without the report also mentioning his actual name. However, in Annals, Tacitus seems to be under the impression that Christus is the actual name of Jesus...

FathomFFI

Latin was not yet the "official" language of Rome at that time. It was still Greek, and Greek didn't get over-taken by Latin until near the end of the century. Eventually, Latin pretty much disposed of the Greek over the next few hundred years.

To identify him accurately, the title of "Christos/Christus" would be used, since it refers to the Messiah of the Jews, who would be considered a king according to Jewish beliefs.

spamandham

I don't doubt it considering how worthless most of your one liner posts are.

But in this case the spelling mistake is relevant, because 'Magnus' is a common spelling mistake made by people who just read about him for the first time, just as 'Origin' is a common mistake made by newbies to 'Origen'. Google comes up with millions of hits for '"simon magnus" -magus', almost all of which are junk hits by people who have no idea what they're talking about.

These are not simply typos. They indicate an utter lack of knowledge - which is fine as long as no pretense is being made to the contrary.

FathomFFI

And you have evidence to support those assertions? Where?

Since my response to you could only come from me reading about it, then how could I be ignorant? If I Googled it, how then did I get the info with the wrong spelling?

Think ... but not too hard.

aa5874

But, all four gospels, including the epistles, claim Jesus ROSE from the dead. Does this make the resurrection historical? Of course not.

The Jesus stories in the NT appear to be from a single source but was re-worked and written long after the supposed events.

FathomFFI

How does the personal beliefs of the writers make everything else false in the Gospels?

When you watch a movie that is based on real events, we often here about how the movie itself was not entirely true to the real life event.

So does that mean everything in the movie was not true?

thentian

Do you have a reference for this? I'm not aware that Greek was ever the official language of Rome. Rather, I was under the impression that Greek was only known by a few members of the upper class.
In a report to a roman audience at the time Pilate is supposed to have written this report? And from whom did Pilate get the idea of Jesus as "the anointed one"?

FathomFFI

Sure.

There was two primary types of Latin; Classical, and Vulgar. Classical was used almost exclusively as a written literary style for writers. Vulgar was the common spoken language, but it really didn't start taking flight until the 2nd century.

But Koine Greek was in fact the primary language of the Roman empire up until about the mid 1st century. Classical Latin was used to write romance literature, but not used in an official capacity. It was the Vulgar Latin that was used as the official language, and it began to take shape mid 1st century and took over in the 2nd.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Greek

http://greek-language.com/historyofgreek/

Perhaps he never did? All he would know is that someone called Christ was professing himself to be a king. That's enough for Pilate to execute him. It be like ...

"So you think you're a king, eh? Somebody get a rope! Somebody named "Christ" thinks he's the King of the Jews!"

lol

spamandham

Do I really need to plug '"simon magnus" -magus' into google for you and link to the results? I suspect you're capable of doing that on your own.

Of course you read about it. Everyone here discussing has read about it, obviously. But it's a rookie mistake easily recognized as such.

FathomFFI

And you can prove that?

As has been discussed, Simon Magus regarded himself as one who was "Great in the power of God."

Do you know that in Latin "Magnus" means "Great?"