mountainman

We may rest assured that the Hellenistic gentiles
actually authored their own collection of gospels and acts.
They are being dug up by archaeologists as we speak.
The fact that they were prohibited and considered heretical
should not allow us to ignore them as evidence of resistance
against the canon itself. The C14 says the gnostic gospels
are fourth century publications. Gnostic gospels exist.

IamJoseph

I'm satisfied the jews never did anything wrong to Christians, nor do they hold deep grudges: Germany and Israel have resolved their past in record time, even as the vatican is beautifying a Pope who advocated genocide on the eve of the Holocaust. Hating is bad for your health - it gives you wrinkles sooner.

Christians should rest secured no one conspired or killed their Lord, and if there is no proof of a Roman trial or of a Judas kiss - they should be happy and jump with joy - more time to believe in God, which is not possible when hatred is harboured for others. The good news is Jews are not born of the devil, and I suspect its going to be very hard to accept Jews cannot be hated as a proof of belief in God or a free ticket to automatic salvation. Why waste anger over a lie - when the truth can set one free?

premjan

The Christian-Jewish split is a theological one mainly. Unfortunate people take these so seriously.

Nero's Boot

Why, yes. Yes it would.

--think about that, the next time you complain of church-state seperation; the door swings both ways NB

storytime

If Rome was setting a certain sum per individual throughout the Empire, "their fair share" would have been that designated amount due.

How many people do you know that voluntarily pay taxes? We have "imperial excesses" today in the form of football stadiums, the arts, whatever else. If we ALL want to enjoy these things we all gotta pay. That's why people vote for tax increases, then complain about it.

premjan

But Rome came over to Israel and imposed their rule there. Did Israelis get representation in the Senate? What sort of legitimacy did the Roman govenment have in a modern sense.

storytime

Yes, the issue concerns history. And you don't get to play the Jewish card to your wicked self-serving intent. Get over it Joseph, there are no halo's on your Jewish heads. The Jews were just as depraved, violent and inhumane as any Romans. Both would have killed atheists for not bowing to their supernatural gods. I think, by the way you post, that you'd do the same to atheists today if you had the chance, that is.

storytime

And why shouldn't Rome have imposed its rule on Israel? Romans were the victors which left all the other peoples, including the Jewish people, to submit to the power of Rome. Should the Jewish people have been treated more delicately than any other people?

The legitimacy of Rome was in its power to conquer.

premjan

But what was Jewish representation in Rome? Did the Jews get a say in what their tax money got used for? Or was it taxation without representation?

storytime

Are you re-writing the OT Joseph? Of course the Jews erected structures, invaded other peoples lives and property. The Jewish God was a monstrous creation and the Jews were violent terrorists. Sane people wanted nothing to do with Jewish terrorists and fought them in self defense, and reading about the army of Jews one is not left to wonder why they were hated. Ripping people up is not a way to make friends. Killing their livestock and destroying their idols is not the way to gain converts. But that's what the bible says the Jews were guilty of. You can't erase it, its part of your history in all its gory details. The Jews believed in the supernatural, magic, self-supremacy, and they handed all their invented gods down to their children and taught their children to hate and kill. Then they tried to force their Jewish laws onto everyone else and of course this didn't set to well with sane people who wanted nothing to do with such a death cult. Then along came the Gentiles in the NT who wanted to be like the Jews and called themselves Christians and tried to enable Jewish laws through ten commandments and this situation seen today. If it were not for us atheists who have actually read the bible crap, we'd all be doomed in the Jewish/Christian death trap.