GaryP

a poster with whom I am currently having a discussion about the historical record for Jesus has made the point that there are no contemporary accounts regarding Alex. the Great either..

I have tried to google this and so far she seems to be correct...does anyone know of such accounts?

and if not accounts perhaps some artifacts that confirm Alex's existence?

and if this seems to be the incorrect fora, please accept my apology and please direct it to the correct destination.. thanks!

Civil1z@tion

Well, I'm not sure about written records from his time, but we do have coins with his name on it and made during his life. http://rg.ancients.info/alexander/

French Prometheus

I personally own coins in his name that were minted during his lifetime or soon after his death.

The nonexistence of Alexander would make it hard to explain how Persian sigloi were suddenly replaced by tetradrachms with ALEXANDROY BASILEWS written on them. It'd also be difficult to explain why those coins were suddenly minted in Egypt (until 305 when Ptolemy took the title of king and put his own name on the coins) and Babylon where previously coins had rarely been used at all.

I'm not a MJer but I think that comparing the respective historicity of Alexander the Great (a king and major military leader of his time) and Jesus (one of many obscure preachers in Roman Judaea) is preposterous. The former completely changed the face of the mediterranean world during his lifetime. Before 336 BCE, there was a huge and powerful Persian empire. After 323 BCE, this empire was replaced by a Macedonian empire that quickly broke into several hellenistic kingdoms. And Alexander was the son (and a general in the army) of a famous king who vassalized all of continental Greece (we still have contemporary testimonies). Erase Alexander and you have A LOT to explain away.

On the other hand, Jesus had close to zero impact on his neck of the wood, let alone the ancient mediterranean world, during his lifetime.

GaryP

yeah I am not sure if I am a MJer myself but that sure sounded fishy to me

thanks bunches!

Keith&Co.

While at the other end, the nonexistence of Jesus would better explain the dearth of contemporary references to him, to his alleged miracles, to the zombies rising up after his death and walking through the city, and other problems with the gospel narrative.

sourdough

even if that was true,so what,
no ONE is trying to force you to believe and worship this Alex dude!

XOVER

The burial mound of Alexander's father has been located, excavated, and turned into a museum.

Not exactly on point, I know, but still I offer it up because it's pretty close to point.

Toto

This question is a perennial one in BCH.

There are no surviving contemporary accounts of Alexander, but there are later accounts based on accounts by people who knew him. So we are only one step removed from contemporary witnesses.

In contrast, no one who knew Jesus wrote anything that we have any record of. NT theologians have been reduced to claiming that there must have been a period of over 50 years when stories about Jesus were recounted, and this oral legacy was finally written down - but was still accurate, praise the Lord!

Minimalist

Alex might be worth worshipping. At least he did something.

aa5874

It is of little consequence whether there are extant contemporary accounts of Alexander the Great, provided that whenever historians write about Persia and Macedonia of 4 BCE, they mention Alexander the Great. However, when historians, contemporary or not, write about 1st century Judaea, they never mention Jesus, the ascended one.