Search Results for: vespasian propaganda

Conclusion of feedback on the Atwill-Murdock video about the Roman Conspiracy to invent Christianity

In the previous post we ended with the Video’s fabricated claim that 12. Josephus tells us Romans rounded up writers of alternate histories and executed them. Only the official history of Josephus was to survive. All the copies of those alternate histories were destroyed. This assertion is entirely fiction. There is no evidence for any … Continue reading “Conclusion of feedback on the Atwill-Murdock video about the Roman Conspiracy to invent Christianity”

Why and when “Mark” wrote the first gospel: a new explanation

We have another argument (I don’t mean evidence-free speculation) for when and why somebody sat down and wrote the first gospel, the one we know as the Gospel According to Saint Mark. I’m going to have to set several of these arguments (beginning with William Wrede and on up through Burton Mack, Dennis MacDonald, and … Continue reading “Why and when “Mark” wrote the first gospel: a new explanation”

How the Roman World Received the News of Jerusalem’s Destruction

Just as I finished reading Steve Mason’s A History of the Jewish War, AD 66-74 an article Why Did Vespasian and Titus Destroy Jerusalem? by David Gurevich appeared in TheTorah.com (h/t Jim Davila’s PaleoJudaica). Gurevich’s views make an interesting comparison with Mason’s. Both align with the view that the emperor Vespasian presented the destruction of … Continue reading “How the Roman World Received the News of Jerusalem’s Destruction”

How Do You Spot a Messiah? — Myth of Jewish Messianic Expectations continued

I continue to examine the arguments mounted in favour of the view that Jewish messianic expectations at the time of the founding of what became Christianity as set out by Richard Carrier. Even ‘John the Baptist’ (at least as depicted in the Gospels) was a mes­sianic figure (e.g. Jn 1.20; Lk. 3.15), or otherwise telling … Continue reading “How Do You Spot a Messiah? — Myth of Jewish Messianic Expectations continued”

Sifting fact from fiction in Josephus: John the Baptist as a case study

The Jewish historian Josephus writes about both genuine historical persons and events and mythical characters and events as if they are all equally historical. Adam and Vespasian, the siege of Jerusalem and the last stand at Masada, are all documented in a single work of ancient historiography. Is there some method or rule that can … Continue reading “Sifting fact from fiction in Josephus: John the Baptist as a case study”

Jesus out-spitting the emperor

An interesting thing happened to me while I was on my way to write this post this evening. (I was intending to expand on the discussion relating to another post but now have something much more interesting to write about.) I saw a reference online to a scholarly article that was suggesting that Mark’s account … Continue reading “Jesus out-spitting the emperor”