vid

Regarding Josephus "brother of Jesus called Christ" reference, I encountered claims that it may refer to other person than one meant by christian. I understand Jesus was very common name by that time, and that every priest or ruler could be called 'christ' (annointed).

But are there actually any written examples of clearny non-Jesus people called Christ in contemporary (first few centuries AD) Greek writings? So far I haven't encountered any.

Also side question, is my following reasoning correct? If we have greek text regarding jewish events, and see claim that some was name christ, it means they were called Messiah in original hebrew / aramaic. But messiah has bit different meaning than christ. While 'christ' means simply 'annointed', 'messiah' means 'annointed by god', and didn't refer to common priests and ings, it reffered to prophets. I am not sure about none if these claims, but haven't encountered no opposing evidence, so feel free to correct me.

aa5874

The claim that Jesus Christ had a brother is irrelevant to the existence of Jesus as a human.

In the Epistles, Paul claimed he met the brother of the Lord, yet Paul's Lord was a God, the son of the God of the Jews who was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven. And further, Paul's Lord had no earthly father.

It should be obvious, that if it is claimed Mary had a son named James and falsely claimed she a had son, without sexual contact, the offspring of the Holy Ghost, called Jesus, then it can be said, athough untrue, that Jesus had a brother named James.

So, it can be seen easily that whether or not Mary had real human children, these children's existence or non-existence do not have any relevance or dependence on the conception or birth of Jesus, the offspring of the Holy Ghost.

Achilles had a human father, a king, yet Achilles is accepted as a myth universally.

vid

Actually, in this topic i am only interested in evidence for usage of greek term "christ" to something other than christian Jesus, in relation of greek 'christ' to aramaic/hebrew 'messiah', and in use of term 'messiah'. I don't want to extend topic to Mary, historicity of Jesus, or anything else.

MarkA

Achilles had a goddess for a mother and a god for his two grandfathers. He had no siblings.

I agree that Achilles should be regarded as a myth just as Jesus' divinity should be so regarded.

gstafleu

Yes, "Christ" is Greek for "Messiah," but both mean "anointed." So "Christ" wasn't a name, it was a title. If I remember correctly from another thread, Jewish (high) priests were anointed and hence could bear that appellation. As has also been pointed out before, Jesus means something like "god saves," so Jesus Christ (or Christ Jesus) translates to something like "God's anointed savior," a rather convenient name for an entity who is supposed to be, well, God's anointed savior.

Gerard Stafleu

vid

As I said in first post, I am aware of this, but I am looking for same contemporary case when they actually WERE called like 'annointed'.

By the way I have read that 'messiah' means 'annointed by god' (the 'iah'/yah part), and I am not sure if priests and rulers were considered annointed 'by god'. That's another reason why I am looking for some actual case when this was happened, not just defending option that it COULD happen

Toto

As I recall, Peter Kirby looked for any other person known as "Christ" in the first century, and did not find anyone. But I can't locate a reference.

aa5874

But was a person called Jesus Christ in the first century? I mean a real person.

Even if the the Jesus Christ stories originated in the first century, that does not in any way mean there was an actual person called Jesus Christ in the 1st century.

The reality is that there is no credible evidence for anyone named Jesus Christ in any century.

Toto

Please stop trying to shift the topic back to your hobbyhorse.

There are later authors who refer to a person (whether fictional, mythical, or historical) in the first century as "Jesus Christ." The question here is whether any other (fictional, mythical, or historical) person was referred to as the "Christ."

It's a very limited, specific question.

Cesc

The angel commanded Joseph in Matt. 1:21 to "call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Same as in Eccl. 46:1 where Jesus son of Fish was regarded to be "formed to be according to his name: a 'great salvation' for His chosen people, to take vengeance upon the enemy, and to give an inheritance to Israel."

The English word "salvation" seems to be the same as the Nordic word "annointing" which is "salvning" (probably other languages too).
"Den salvede" means "the chrestos"/"messiah"/"annointed one".
"Salve" meaning "ointment". Dont know if there's anything to it, tho.