Orthodox_Freethinker

Author's Background
Thallus (circa AD 52) wrote a history about the middle east from the time of the Trojan War to his own time. The work has been lost and the only record we have of his writings is through Julius Africanus (AD 221). Below Julius Africanus refers to Christ's crucifixion and the darkness that covered the earth prior to his death.

Reference To Jesus Christ
This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as it appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the passover on the 14th day according to the moon, and the passion of our Savior falls on the day before the passover; but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. And it cannot happen at any other time but in the interval between the first day of the new moon and the last of the old, that is, at their junction: how then should an eclipse occur when the moon is almost diametrically opposite the sun?
Phlegon records that in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth — manifestly that one of which we speak." - The Extant Writings of Julius Africanus 18

Conclusion
This reference reveals several key things:
1) Darkness covered the earth at Christ's death.
2) The only question was: "What caused it?"
3) The time of the darkness agrees with Matthew 27:45.
4) An eclipse cannot account for the darkness - this was a miracle.
http://www.neverthirsty.org/pp/hist/thallus.html

Peace.

Diogenes the Cynic

See here for Richard Carrier's critique of the Thallus and Phlegon citations.. You are greatly overstating your evidence. Your date of 52 CE for Thallus is completely without support. It is not known when Thallus lived, and in fact the circumstancial evidence suggests that he lived more than a century BCE. Thallus does not mention Jesus or associate any eclipse with the crucifixion.

Phlegon mentions an eclipse in 32 CE which occurred several hundred miles from Jerusalem in Bithnya on the Black Sea. Contrary to Africanus' claims, Phlegon did not say that the eclipse occured during a full moon or that it occurred between the 6th and 9th hours. Those claims are contradicted both by Origen and by Eusebius (who quotes Phlegon in full).

Moreover, a date of 32 CE for the crucifixion would be too late according to the Gospels. If Jesus was born during the reign of Herod (who died in 4 BCE) and was crucified at 33 years of age, then (according to your Bible) he could not have been crucified any later than 30 CE. So an eclipse in the Black Sea region in 32 CE would offer you no support at all as to proving Matthew's "darkness." Either that or Matthew was lying about when Jesus was born.

I suggest that you read Carrier's piece on this for more details and you will see that your list of conclusions ranges from the dubious to patently false to ridiculous.

Orthodox_Freethinker

Why would he? What matters is whether or not he reported an event which occurred during the crucifixion.

Yes, perhaps I'll have to check that out.

Peace.

John A. Broussard

Since they are, in fact, contradictory, historically unreliable and just generally a hodge podge of fantasies, how can we assume what you are asking for.

Why not assume that two plus two is forty-seven?

Orthodox_Freethinker

You've never heard of allowing presupposition for the sake of philosophical discourse? Furthermore, the contradictions of the Gospels are insignificant historical standards, their supposed historical unreliability is only a construct of your mind.

Peace.