Quote Originally Posted by Bilbo View Post
Sigh.

OK I insist Jesus really did exist.

Exhibit 1, Please disprove this at your own leisure.

Tactius, the greatest Roman historian mentioned him in his Annals.

Contrary to your belief, Tacitus did not live 300 years after Jesus but was born in AD 50, on 20 years or so after the crucifixion.

He wrote in his Annals about the great fire of Rome in Nero's day in AD60 and noted the persecution of the followers of one 'Christus', a little superstitious cult whose followers called themselves Christians. He wasn't a fan, he thought it was a cult but he confirmed historically that his followers were active and being persecuted as early as AD 60, just 30 years after Christ's death.

Knock yourself and visit wikipedia here

Tacitus on Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No serious scholar in the world rejects the authenticity of Tacitus' account and as he confirms that people were historically being martyed for belief in Christus as early as AD 60 your attempts to pass it off as a myth from 300 years later is completely and utterly disproved.

I'm off out to see my nephew now for a few hours, I'm teaching him to play chess.

Good night.
I never claimed that Tacitus lived 300 years after Jesus, it is not my belief. It is like i said when your Christian church was formed, completely and utterly disproving your claim that the church arose immediately following this Jesus death
First Council of Nicaea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

from your quoted reference on Tacitus

Scholars have also debated the issue of hearsay in the reference by Tacitus. Charles Guignebert argued that "So long as there is that possibility [that Tacitus is merely echoing what Christians themselves were saying], the passage remains quite worthless".[44] R. T. France states that the Tacitus passage is at best just Tacitus repeating what he had heard through Christians

Tacitus on Christ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

as for Josephus

The Antiquities of the Jews survives only in medieval copies. The manuscripts, the oldest of which dates from the 11th century, are all Greek minuscules, and all have been copied by Christian monks

Josephus on Jesus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

you still haven't answered the question