Alleged Evidence For Jesus

I see there has been some discussion about whether Jesus really existed as a historical person. I see many posters claim there is "Roman records" for Jesus, and other historical evidence. Being interested in history, I have checked this evidence, and present the results here as a list of writers or documents who are claimed to be evidence for Jesus, along with analysis of how significant they are.

JOSEPHUS (c.96CE)

 

The famous Testamonium Flavianum (the T.F.) in the Antiquities of the Jews is considered probably the best evidence for Jesus, yet it has some serious problems :

the T.F. as it stands uses clearly Christian phrases and names Christ as Messiah, it could not possibly have been written by the devout Jew Josephus (who remained a Jew and refused to call anyone "messiah" in his book, which was partly about how false messiahs kept leading Israel astray.),

The T.F. comes in several variant versions of various ages,

The T.F. was not mentioned by any of the early CHurch fathers who reviewed Josephus.

Origen even says Josephus does NOT call Jesus the Messiah, showing the passage was not present in that earlier era.

The T.F. first showed up in manuscripts of Eusebius, and was still absent from some manuscripts as late as 8th century.

The other tiny passage in Josephus aparrently refers to Jesus, son of Damneus. The phrase "so-called Christ" may have been a later addition by a Christian who also mis-understood which Jesus was refered to.

An analysis of Josephus by Earl Doherty can be found here:

http://jesuspuzzle.humanists.net/supp10.htm

So,

this passage is possibly a total forgery (or at best a corrupt form of a lost original.)

But, yes,

it COULD just be actual evidence for Jesus - late, corrupt, controversial but just POSSIBLY real historical evidence.


TACITUS (c.112CE)

Roughly 80 years after the alleged events (and 40 years after the war) Tacitus allegedly wrote a (now) famous passage about "Christ" - this passage has several problems however:

Tacitus uses the term "procurator", used in his later times, but not correct for the actual period, when "prefect" was used.

Tacitus names the person as "Christ", when Roman records could not possibly have used this name (it would have been "Jesus, son of Joseph" or similar.)

This passage is paraphrased by Sulpicius Severus in the 5th century without attributing it to Tacitus, and may have been inserted back into Tacitus from this work.

This evidence speaks AGAINST it being based on any Roman records -

but merely a few details which Tacitus gathered from Christian stories circulating in his time (c.f. Pliny.)

So,

this passage is NOT evidence for Jesus, it's just evidence for 2nd century Christian stories about Jesus.
http://oll.libertyfund.org/ToC/0067.php


PLINY the Younger (c.112CE)

About 80 years after the alleged events, (and over 40 years after the war) Pliny referred to Christians who worshipped a "Christ" as a god, but there is no reference to a historical Jesus or Gospel events.

So,

Pliny is not evidence for a historical Jesus of Nazareth,
just evidence for 2nd century Christians who worshipped a Christ.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/pliny.html

SUETONIUS (c.115CE)

 

Roughly 80-90 years after the alleged Gospel events, (about 75 years after the war) Suetonius refers to a "Chrestus" who stirred the Jews to trouble in Rome during Claudius' time, but:

this "Chrestus" is a Greek name (from "useful"), and is also a mystic name for an initiate, it is not the same as "Christos"

this Chrestus was apparently active in Rome, Jesus never was.

So,
this passage is not evidence for Jesus, it's nothing to do with Jesus, it's evidence for Christians grasping at straws.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/suetonius.html


IGNATIUS (107CE? 130-170CE?)
 The letters of Ignatius are traditionally dated to c.107, yet:

it is not clear if he really existed, his story is suspicious,

his letters are notoriously corrupt and in 2 versions,

it is probable that his letters were later forgeries,

he mentions only a tiny few items about Jesus.

So,
Ignatius is no evidence for Jesus himself, it is 2nd century evidence to a few beliefs about Jesus.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ignatius.html

 

QUADRATUS (c.125CE)

 

Quadratus apparently wrote an Apology to Hadrian (117-138), but:

we have none of his works,

it is not certain exactly when he wrote,

all we have is 1 sentence quoted by Eusebius much later ("But the works of our Saviour were always present, for they were genuine:-those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also always present; and not merely while the Saviour was on earth, but also after his death, they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day.")

So,
Quadratus is not evidence for Jesus, but evidence of Christian beliefs from about a century later.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/quadratus.html

 

THALLUS (date unknown)

We have NO certain evidence when Thallus lived or wrote, there are NONE of Thallus' works extant.

What we DO have is a 9th century reference by George Syncellus who quotes the 3rd century Julianus Africanus, who, speaking of the darkness at the crucifixion, wrote: "Thallus calls this darkness an eclipse".

But,

there is NO evidence Thallus made specific reference to Jesus or the Gospel events at all, as there WAS an eclipse in 29. This suggests he merely referred to a known eclipse, but that LATER Christians MIS-interpreted his comment to mean their darkness. (Also note the supposed reference to Thallus in Eusebius is a false reading.)

Richard Carrier the historian has a good page on Thallus:

http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/thallus.html

So,
Thallus is no evidence for Jesus at all,
merely evidence for Christian wishful thinking.
 

PHLEGON (c.140)

Phlegon wrote during the 140s - his works are lost. Later, Origen, Eusebius, and Julianus Africanus (as quoted by George Syncellus) refer to him, but quote differently his reference to an eclipse. There is no evidence Phlegon actually said anything about Gospel events, he was merely talking about an eclipse (they DO happen) which LATER Christians argued was the "darkness" in their stories.

So,

Phlegon is no evidence for Jesus at all -
merely evidence for Christian wishful thinking.


VALENTINUS (c.140CE) 

In mid 2nd century the GNOSTIC Valentinus almost became Bishop of Rome, but:

he was several generations after the alleged events,

he wrote of an esoteric, Gnostic Jesus and Christ,

he mentioned no historical details about Jesus.

So,

Valentinus is no evidence for a historical Jesus.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/valentinus.html

 

POLYCARP (c.155CE)

Polycarp wrote in mid 2nd century, but :

he is several generations after the alleged events,

he gives many sayings of Jesus (some of which do NOT match the Gospels),

he does NOT name any evangelist or Gospel.

So,
Polycarp knew sayings of Jesus,
but provides no actual evidence for a historical Jesus.
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/polycarp.html

 

LUCIAN (c.170CE)

 

Nearly one-and-a-half CENTURIES after the alleged events, Lucian satirised Christians, but :

this was several generations later,

Lucian does NOT even mention Jesus or Christ by name.

So,

Lucian is no evidence for a historical Jesus, merely late 2nd century lampooning of Christians.
 

GALEN (late 2nd C.)

Late 2nd century, Galen makes a few references to Christians, and briefly to Christ.

This is far too late to be evidence for Jesus.

 

NUMENIUS (2nd C.?)
In the 3rd century, Origen claimed Numenius "quotes also a narrative regarding Jesus--without, however, mentioning His name" - i.e. Numenius mentioned a story but said nothing about Jesus, but by Origen's time it had become attached to Jesus' name.

This not any evidence for Jesus, it's just later wishful thinking.

TALMUD (3rd C. and later)

There are some possible references in the Talmud, but:

these references are from 3rd century or later, and seem to be (unfriendly) Jewish responses to Christian claims.

the references are highly variant, have many cryptic names for Jesus, and very different to the Gospel stories (e.g. that "Jesus" was born about 100BC, that he learned black magic in Egypt, that he worshipped a brick-bat, that he was stoned to death in Lydda, that he had 5 disciples Matai, Nekai, Netzer, Buni, and Todah.)

So,

the Talmud contains NO evidence for Jesus, it merely has much later Jewish responses to the Gospel stories - responses which vary much from the Gospel accounts.

　

 

MARA BAR SERAPION (date unknown)

A fragment which includes -

"... What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King?",

in the context of ancient leaders like Socrates. It is NOT at all clear WHEN this manuscript was written, nor exactly who it is referring too, but there is no evidence it is Jesus.

　

SUMMARY

In short,

there are no Roman recods of Jesus,

there is no contemporary evidence for Jesus,

the claimed evidence is very weak - late, forged, suspect or not about Jesus at all.

the T.F. is probably the best "evidence", but it is at best corrupt, at worst forged.

　

Early Writers who should or could have mentioned Jesus

 

A well-known list of early writers from Remsburg is much bandied about by sceptics. This list names a large number of early writers who lived about the time of Jesus, but who failed to mention him. Some of the names on the list do not belong, because they just could not be expected to have mentioned Jesus. The Remsburg list is also without dates and subjects and places, and is unclear in identifying some authors. So, I have updated and improved this list, taking it up to the mid 2nd century. Some of the writers listed need more details.

 

How Likely was a mention of Jesus?
 

The issue is really HOW LIKELY they would be to mention Jesus.

Factors which increase the expectation that Jesus would be mentioned in a work include :

a large work (i.e. one which has large index of names)

a work on an issue somehow related to Jesus or the Gospel events,

a work whose genre tends to frequently mention or allude to many subjects and people,

　

I have thus classified these writers into broad categories -

writers who surely SHOULD have mentioned Jesus (5),

writers who PROBABLY SHOULD have mentioned Jesus (4,3),

writers who COULD have mentioned Jesus (2,1, or even 0.5),

writers who WOULDN'T have mentioned Jesus (0)

I have given each writer a WEIGHT out of 5 as indicated.

Of course, one writer who didn't mention Jesus means nothing.

But,

when DOZENS of writers from the period in question fail to mention anything about Jesus (or the the Gospel events or actors), this argues against historicity.

The argument is sometimes made that these writers could not possibly have mentioned Jesus - because he was a minor figure and unrelated to the issues at hand. This assumes that no such writer ever mentions a minor figure in passing, that they never make an aside about other events or figures who are not specially related to the subject. Of course, this is not true, as the evidence below shows that many of the writers mentioned make many references to many other minor figures and often make excurses about other subjects and events and people.

I have also included astronomers on the list who might have mentioned the Star of Bethlehem and/or the darkness at the crucifixion - if they had heard of them.

 

Summary of Results

 

The results of my current classifications is:

1 writer who surely SHOULD have mentioned Jesus (Philo.)

4 writers who PROBABLY SHOULD have mentioned Jesus (Seneca, Plutarch, Justus, Juvenal.)

31 writers who COULD have mentioned Jesus.

　

(19 writers who could not be expected to.)
　

Writers who should have mentioned Jesus

 

PHILO (20 BCE - 50 CE)

Philo Judaeus wrote very many books about Jewish religion and history in the 30s and 40s of the 1st C. CE, lived in Alexandria, and visited Jerusalem.

Philo was contemporary with Jesus and Paul,

Philo visited Jerusalem and had family there,
he developed the concept of the Logos and the holy spirit,
he was considered a Christian by some later Christians,
he wrote a great deal about related times and peoples and issues.

If Jesus had existed, Philo would almost certainly have written about him and his teachings.

Rating: SHOULD have mentioned Jesus or his teachings, but did not.
Weight: 5

Writers who probably should have mentioned Jesus

 

SENECA (4 BCE - 65 CE)

 

Lucius Annaeus Seneca wrote many philosophic (Stoic) and satirical books and letters (and Tragedies) in Rome.

Seneca wrote a great deal on many subjects and mentioned many people. He was a Stoic, a school of thought considered sympathetic to Christian teachings.

In fact,

early Christians seemed to have expected him to discuss Christianity - they FORGED letters between him and Paul.

How else to explain these forgeries, except as Christian responses to a surprising VOID in Seneca's writings?

Rating: PROBABLY SHOULD have mentioned Jesus or his teachings, but did not.

Weight: 4

PLUTARCH (c. 46 CE - 120 CE)

Plutarch of Chaeronea wrote many works on history and philosophy in Rome and Boetia in about 90-120 CE.

Plutarch wrote about influential Roman figures, including some contemporary to Jesus,

Plutarch wrote on Oracles (prophesies),
Plutarch wrote on moral issues,
Plutarch wrote on spiritual and religious issues.

If Plutarch knew of Jesus or the Gospel events, it is highly likely he would have mentioned them.

Rating: PROBABLY SHOULD have mentioned Jesus or his teachings, but did not.
Weight: 4
　

JUSTUS (late 1st C.)

Justus of Tiberias wrote a History of Jewish Kings in Galilee in late 1st century.

Photius read Justus in the 8th century and noted that he did not mention anything: "He (Justus of Tiberias) makes not one mention of Jesus, of what happened to him, or of the wonderful works that he did."

It is surprising that a contemporary writer from the very region of Jesus' alleged acts did not mention him.

Rating: PROBABLY SHOULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 3

JUVENAL (late 1st C. - early 2nd C.)

Decimus Junius Juvenalis wrote sixteen satires in Rome in early 2nd century.

Lucian the Roman satirist DID ridicule Christians (as gullible, easily lead fools) in mid 2nd century. By the later time of Lucian, Christianity obviously was known to the wider Roman community. Whereas Juvenal wrote at a time when Christianity had only just started to rate a few tiny mentions (Pliny the Younger, Tacitus.)

Rating: PROBABLY SHOULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 3

Writers who could have mentioned Jesus
 

 

DAMIS (mid 1st C. - early 2nd C.)

Damis apparently wrote most of what we know about Apollonius of Tyana who was a philosopher and mystic exactly contemporary with Jesus, and who was rather similar to Jesus - enough for some authors to argue they were one and the same person.

If Damis/Apollonius had known of Jesus, he could have easily have been mentioned as a competitor. A story in which Apollonius bested Jesus in debate would not be un-expected.

Rating: COULD easily have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 2

PLINY THE ELDER (23 CE - 79 CE)

Gaius Plinius Secundus wrote a large Natural History in Rome c.70CE

Pliny wrote a great deal - his Natural History mentions HUNDREDS of people, major & minor - writers, leaders, poets, artists - often with as much reason as mentioning Jesus. (Of course like many other writers he talks about astronomy too, but never mentions the Star of Bethlehem or the darkness.)

It is not at all un-reasoble for this prolific writer to have mentioned Jesus or the Gospels events.

Rating: COULD easily have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 2

 

MARTIAL (40 CE - c. 103 CE)

Marcus Valerius Martialus wrote satires in Rome in late 1st century.

Martial wrote a large body of poems about all sorts of things. He mentions many people, places, stories and issues - major and minor, within and without Rome, such as :

Stoic suffering of discomfort and death,

virgin's blood,

Roman funerary practices,

the way accused men look in court,

Roman soldiers mocking their leaders,

anointing the body with oil,

Molorchus the good shepherd,

Tutilius a minor rhetorician, Nestor the wise,

the (ugly) Temple of Jupiter,

This shows Martial mentions or alludes to many and varied people and issues.
He could easily have mentioned Jesus (or the Gospel events).

Rating: COULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 2

 

PETRONIUS (c. 27 CE - 66 CE)

Gaius Petronius Arbiter or Titus Petronius wrote a large novel (a bawdy drama) the "Satyricon" c.60CE.

Petronius mentions all sorts of people and events in this large work, including :

a CRUCIFIXION !

a scene where guards are posted to stop a corpse being stolen,

a tomb scene of someone mistaking a person for a supernatural vision,

gods such as Bacchus and Ceres,

writers such as Sophocles and Euripides and Epicurus,

books such as the Iliad,

Romans such as Cato and Pompey,

people such as Hannibal, and the Governor of Ephesus,

female charioteers, slaves, merchants, Arabs, lawyers

baths, shipwrecks, meals...

This large work, cover MANY topics, including a CRUCIFIXION, and it was written just as Peter and Paul had come to Rome, allegedly. It could easily have mentioned Jesus.

Rating: COULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 2

PAUSANIAS (2nd C.)

Pausanias wrote the massive Guide to Greece in mid 2nd century.

Pausanias' work is vast and the index covers over 70 pages of small print, I estimate a couple of THOUSAND names are mentioned. He mentions a large number of minor figues from within and without Greece.

He even mentions a Jewish prophetess - a figure so minor she is essentially unknown: "Then later than Demo there was a prophetic woman reared among the Jews beyond Palestine; her name was Sabbe." Phokis, Book X, 12, [5]

Pausanias also mentions the Jewish rebellion under Hadrian.

Rating: COULD easily have mentioned Jesus, but did not.
Weight: 2

EPICTETUS (55 CE - 135 CE)

Epictetus is known for several books of Stoic religious and philosophic discourses in the early 2nd century. One of his disciples was Arrian, and thanks to him much of Epictetus' works are extant.

Epictetus DID apparently mention "the Galileans", which could be a reference to :

the early Christians,
or
the revolt under Judas the Galilean in early 1st century.

Either way, this shows quite clearly that Epictetus could refer to a figure such as Jesus.

Rating: COULD easily have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 2

PERSIUS (34 CE - 62 CE)

 

Aulus Persius Flaccus wrote six fairly long satires in Rome in the mid 1st century, of a rather philosophic nature.

The argument that no Roman satirist could be expected to mention Jesus, is proven wrong by the case of a Roman satirist who DID mention Jesus (but only as echoes of later Christian beliefs.)

Persius wrote a reasonably large body of work that mentions many people and issues.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 2

AELIUS ARISTIDES (117 CE - 181 CE)

Aelius Aristides the mid 2nd century Greek Orator spoke and wrote a History of Rome and other subjects - he seems to refer to the Christians as "impious men from Palestine" (Orations 46.2)

If he could mention people from Palestine, he could easily have mentioned Jesus.

Rating: COULD easily have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 1

FRONTO (c. 100 CE - 170 CE)

Marcus Cornelius Fronto of Rome wrote several letters in mid 2nd century.

According to Minucius Felix, he scandalised rites practiced by Roman Christians - so he could easily have mentioned Jesus.

Rating: COULD easily have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 1

 

DIO CHRYSOSTOM (c. 40CE - c. 120 CE)

Dio Chrysostom (Cocceianus Dio, or Dion Prusa) wrote many works and gave many speeches in various Roman and Greek centres in late 1st century, of which 80 survive e.g. the Euboicus.

Dio wrote a large number of works in the late 1st century - he certainly could have mentioned Jesus, if he knew of him.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 1

MARCUS AURELIUS (c. 212 CE - 180 CE)

Marcus Aelius Aurelius Antoninus wrote the Stoic Meditations in mid 2nd century - he (apparently) refers once to the Christians in XI, 3.

Rating: COULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 1

HIEROCLES (2nd C.)

Hierocles of Alexandria wrote on Stoic philosophy in late 1st century.

Rating: COULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 1

MAXIMUS of TYRE (2nd C. CE)

Cassius Maximus Tyrius, a Greek NeoPlatonic philosopher, wrote many works in mid 2nd century.

Rating: COULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 1

MUSONIUS RUFUS (1st C. CE)

C. Musonius Rufus views on Stoic philosophy in Rome were collected in mid 1st century.

Rating: COULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

LUCIUS APULEIUS (c. 125 CE - c. 180 CE)

Lucius Apuleius wrote the Metamorphoses in mid-late 2nd C. (the Golden Ass or Transformations of Lucius) and many other spiritual, historical, and philosophic works - several survive.

Rating: COULD have mentioned Jesus, but did not.
Weight: 0.5

AULUS GELLIUS (c. 125 CE - c. 180 CE)

Aulus Gellius wrote Attic Nights (Nights in Athens) in mid-late 2nd C., a large compendium of many topics and which mentioned many people.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

ARRIAN (c. 86 CE - 160 CE)

Arrian wrote a History of Alexander c.120CE.

The subject is not related, but Arrian wrote a very large work which mentioned HUNDREDS of people, some not from Alexander's time.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

APPIAN (c. 95 CE - c. 165 CE)

Appian wrote a large Roman History (from the Gracchi to Caesar) in mid 2nd century.

It's not particularly likely that this specific writer would mention Jesus.
But,
he wrote a LARGE work which mentions HUNDREDS of people.
Appian does mention some issues of HIS day (mid 2nd century), e.g. a decision by Hadrian.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

THEON of SMYRNA (fl. 100 CE)

Theon of Smyrna wrote on astronomy/philosophy in early 2nd century.

Theon wrote about philosophy. If Jesus and his teachings were known, it is entirely plausible for to mention them.

Theon also wrote about astronomy. If he had heard about the Star of Bethlehem or the Darkness (as an event, or from the Gospels) he could easily have mentioned it.

Apologists frequently cite Phlegon and Thallus, astronomers who mentioned eclipses (but NOT Jesus or the Gospel events, that is merely later Christian wishful thinking) as evidence for Jesus.

An astronomer could easily be expected to mention those incidents, especially when apologists claim other astronomers of the period did exactly that. The silence of early astronomers about the Star of Bethlehem or the crucifixion darkness argues these "events" were unknown until later.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

QUINTILIAN (c. 35 CE - c. 100 CE)

Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, wrote the "Education of an Orator" in Rome in late 1st century.

One of the things Jesus was allegedly noted for was his PUBLIC SPEECHES - e.g. the Sermon on the Mount, which supposedly drew and influenced large crowds.

If Quintilian had heard of Jesus or the Gospels events, he could have mentioned the allegedly famous speeches of Jesus.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

LUCIUS ANNAEUS FLORUS (late 1st C. CE - early 2nd C. CE)

Lucius Annaeus Florus wrote an Epitome of Roman History.

Although not directly on subject, Florus wrote a large work which mentions many names. He could have mentioned Jesus if he had known of him.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

LUCAN (39 CE - 65 CE)

Marcus Annaeus Lucanus wrote the Pharsalia (Civil War) in Rome in mid 1st century.

In his large poem, the Pharsalia, he mentions some events from later times, and he covers many different issues and people in passing.

He:

mentions an event from 56CE,

refers to places as far afield as Sicily and Kent,

refered to Stoic religious beliefs about the end of the world,

refers to many books and myths and persons and events not part of the main story.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.
Weight: 0.5

STATIUS (c. 45 CE - c. 96 CE)

Publius Papinius Statius wrote numerous minor and epic poems (e.g. Ode to Sleep and the Thebaid) in Rome in late 1st century.

Statius wrote many works on several subjects, he could have mentioned Jesus.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

HERO of ALEXANDRIA (c. 10 CE - c. 70 CE)

Hero(n) of Alexandria wrote many technical works, including astronomy in mid-late 1st C.

If he had known of the Gospel stories about Jesus, he could have mentioned them.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5
　

GEMINUS (fl. 1st C. CE)

 

Geminus wrote on mathematics and astronomy in Greece in 1st C. CE.

If he had known of the Gospel stories about Jesus, he could have mentioned them.

 

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

　

ALBINUS (fl. c. 150 CE)

Albinus taught on (neo-)Platonism in early 2nd century, a little survives.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

ARISTOCLES (1st C. CE)

Aristocles of Messene wrote On Philosophy, late 1st century.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

APOLLODORUS (1st C. CE?)

Pseudo Apollodorus compiled a large Mythology in mid 2nd century.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

HEPHAESTION (2nd C. CE)

Hephaestion of Alexandria wrote many works in mid 2nd century.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

SEXTUS EMPIRICUS (c. 160 CE - 210 CE)

Sextus Empiricus wrote Outlines of Scepticism in late 2nd century.

Rating: COULD possibly have mentioned Jesus, but did not.

Weight: 0.5

 

Writers who could not be expected to mention Jesus

 
Paterculus
Ptolemy
Valerius Maximus
Pomponius Mela
Quintus Curtus Rufus
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella
Favorinus
Phaedrus
Babrius
Silius Italicus
Marcus Manilius
Cleomedes
Dioscorides
Sextus Julius Frontinus
Nicomachus of Gerasa
Menelaus of Alexandria
Menodotus of Nicomedia
Tiberius Claudius Herodes Atticus
Valerius Flaccus
　

　

　

The Chess Set

I became interested in chess when I was four years old - after I saw a beautiful carved chess set at friend's house - large pieces of lovely soft wood with felt base that were wonderful to touch, to hold, to caress even.

My Dad taught me to read when I was about five - that is - he taught me my letters. I naively hoped that knowing the letters would open all books to me. It wasn't until I tried reading Alan Moorehead's The Fatal Impact, that I realised what it really meant to 'learn to read'.

So I read The Gingerbread Man many times, and then Dad got me a slim volume called How to Play Chess - easy to read, and small in size, and telling me how to play Chess using simple images with moving icons and linked text. I loved it - it was just what I needed - an early positive reading experience.

Obviously I needed my own set, so there came the day when Mum took me to town to buy my first chess set. Because Chess was God's game, we had to ascend a huge distance up these vast wooden stairs at David Jones' Dept store, but eventually we reached a heaven filled with Chess sets of all sorts of sizes, styles, and materials.

Of course I'd only seen one set before - the set that drew me in, that first attracted me, and so I wanted a copy of that perfect exemplar, and simply sought out the one that looked most similar to that original; with a bemused salesman tagging along with Mum.

But it turned out that the pieces of my new set were not quite identical to my exemplar - the bishops had no slot cut in the head. This omission was so serious to me that I insisted my Dad cut slots to match. I mutilated my new set to match the one that I fell in love with. But the cut slots were not very deep, and used a very thin blade, and now over the years the slots have grown over - nature returning the pieces to their rightful state.

I would play Chess with the neighbourhood kids, but somehow it didn't seem to work out that well, and Mum was always rushing in to break us up, reminding us that Chess was a non-contact sport.

The day the lights were all green

Many years ago, I did a weekend course - one of those personal development courses, this one was about getting into a relaxed alpha state and useing creative visualisation to learn about oneself or about other things, or to help bring about useful future outcomes. By that I mean getting into the alpha state (rested meditative state) and visualising in the mind's-eye the outcome desired. This technique is pure 'magical-thinking' to a psychiatrist, but it seems to work for me often enough. I can get car-park spots when I need them to this day.

I learned a lot from this course and it was that weekend I had my great Cosmic Consciousness experience, but that's not for now.

On this particular day, my friend Jeff Gray and I were heading to a meeting for the course and we were a little late - late enough that a bad ran of traffic would get us there after the arranged time, but a good run of traffic would see us there on time.

So we set off together on our motorbikes, side-by-side in that unspoken road-dancing camadarie of bikers riding together.

As we approached the first set of lights, I did my thing - I imagined in my mind's eye the light being green for us, and so it was. I said nothing to Jeff about it.

The second set I did the same, and once more, it was green. 'Wonderful' I thought to myself, perhaps Jeff is helping?

The third set of lights were perfect green for us too and I guessed that Jeff and I were both doing the very same thing, although not a word was spoken about this until this very day. Two of us using our mental magic in unison to get green lights when we needed them.

And so it was that on a long ride from Scarborough to Welshpool, a long ride right across the city, at least half an hour, through maybe 50 lights, that literally every single one was green for us. Not a single pause for a light slowed us down. And sure enough we arrived perfectly on time.


That's real magic :-)

Three Strikes and You're Out of Luck

Falling
Back in my twenties I met a nice young couple, the young bloke was in a band, and his girlfriend would go along in support. They say that a woman often chooses her next man before leaving the last one, and I was getting on pretty well with her. So there came a day when we were hanging around the pub while he played, and we shared a drink in the quiet lounge, away from where he was playing. Things were 'going very well', as Kaylee said about Simon Tan in Firefly.

It seems she had chosen me as her next man, and she looked me right in the eye, and cast her romantic net over me, she wanted to catch me. At that moment I actually experienced falling - suddenly the ground seemed to drop out from under me and I felt in my gut like I was falling into a bottomlesss pit. This feeling only lasted for a few moments, but now I know why they say 'falling in love'. I literally felt that falling experience. And the result? I let her slip through my fingers.


Morning Coffee
As a young man I studied Japanese and like many of us Japanese students, we met many Japanese tourists, a natural match - we wanted to practice Japanese and learn, they wanted to interact with sympathetic Aussies. I met one particularly nice young Japanese lass and we shared some nice experiences, including a drive to Northam. I pulled out a joint and had a smoke as we drive along this narrow country rode - but she was terrified as I drove along this winding tiny aussie rode while stoned.

One night we went to a party together, it was a nice relaxed event, some music, some dancing, some talking, some dart games - it was a pleasant night. After a bit, I felt my energies flagging somewhat, so I thought a coffee might be nice, and I asked her "would you like a coffee?" She looked at me in horror, a confused pause of disgust and amazement. I had no idea what was wrong, so I repeated : "I'm going to the kitchen to make a coffee, would you like one too?". Her relief was obvious and palpable and she happily agreed, her shock and horror faded, and we shared a coffee in the kitchen. It was not until later that I realised what had happened - it was common in young Japanese culture to ask something like "shall we share morning coffee together?" as a way of politely asking for sex. Of course, we never did share morning coffee.


See you later
One day while working at the casino, I had a dinner date with a female friend - I don't remember who asked who out, but she was a nice friend and I was happy to spend dinner with her. During the dinner, one of my female work-mates dropped by to say hello, and my date made a point of saying "hey - he's mine for tonight". Well, I was sexually conservative, inexperienced, unconfident, and I didn't really grasp what she meant or intended, and didn't have the confidence to open up about what the evening may involve. I also had a girlfriend in another city and wasn't sure if I had told her - and I would never even consider being unfaithful. I said nothing. Afterwards, we went back to my room, and she had packed her nightie. We got into bed, said goodnight and simply went to sleep. Next morning we politely said goodbye, and that was that. To this day I think of that lost paramour and hope I meet again - not to have sex, but to apologise for my letting her down without explanation.

Cosmic Consciousness

In my twenties I went along to a spiritual growth weekend course - largely based on relaxing into an alpha state and using creative visualisation to learn, or to project a desired outcome. It was a positive experience, and I learnt about myself and the power of visualisation.

And, at the time I was also into astronomy, I had a nice 8inch Meade telescope, and often used it to view the Moon and planets and stars - even Halley's comet when it came past again in the 80s.
I liked to follow the movement of the planets, imagining their orbits and their distance from us. The two planets inside our orbit and thus never seen in the darkest hours - Mercury close to the sun, moving fast and rarely visible; Venus a little slower, a little further out and thus more visible, both the morning 'star' and the evening 'star', depending on it's position.

Then the outside planets which could be seen by naked eye even the darkest hours of the night - Mars, slightly red; Jupiter large and bright and slightly yellow/brown, Saturn less close, with the rings a wonderful sight in the 'scope . I got to know their orbits and movements fairly well over this period - and one night I had a wonderful experience of sight and understanding.

As I looked at several planets, the sun just having set - I saw it - I saw the solar system. I could see the sun was just below the horizon, I could see several planets and their relative distances, and their movement through their orbits. It all fit in my head, and I apprehended the whole solar (almost) system in my mind. It was a wonderful moment of seeing large.

And this moment of seeing large lead to one of the great experiences of my life in the alpha course shortly afterwards.

One of the exercises in this personal development weekend was to visualise one's consciousness growing larger and larger, to imagine one's 'self' was larger than merely the physical body we wear. First we imagined our consciousness expanding to fill the room - to be the room. Then to expand further and be the suburb, then be the city, then Australia, then the solar system. And it really 'clicked' for me - I surmise that the experience I had had in seeing the solar system was the trigger that made it work so well for me. It worked - I was the solar system. I went further, and I was the galaxy, then the whole universe. I had the experience of Cosmic Consciousness, one the sublimely great moments of this incarnation. My consciousness encompassed all of creation.

Afterwards, coming back to the room I was filled with energy and joy to such an extent I could not stop grinning with joy for a good hour or more - indeed my face ached from smiling so long.
Thank you Luc.

The Butterfly and the Rock

I stood upon the rock, the big red rock at Australia's center, Uluru - usually called "Ayer's Rock" by most of us white-fellas. The sun beat down from almost overhead, I could see for miles - the tourist's cars and buses like toy cars below me, the lumpy Olgas in the distance, endless plains of red stretching in all directions. It was hot and still, with very few flies, and just an ocassional bird-call.

I was on a mission. A spiritual mission for The Brotherhood of Angels and of Humanity - a small group dedicated to helping the spirit beings of the mountains. My mission was to plant a talisman, a specially prepared sealed brass tube which contained fragments of various crystals - diamond, emerald, rubies, sapphire etc. all blessed by the elder of our group - our leading Bishop.

My goal was to find a place for the talisman deep inside the rock, where it could radiate for millenia, helping the Angel of the Rock to spread it's energies to the land and the people.

But I felt  not at all spiritual, I felt no connection with the rock or its spirit, I could see no place to plant our talisman, and the gaggle of noisy tourists made the atmosphere the very opposite of quiet and spiritual. I looked for a place to plant my talisman, but all I could find was a little hole full of rubbish, not exactly the right type of place.

I felt silly and insignificant, I felt small and powerless - I was a gnat on the rump of an elephant, I was a grain of sand on a vast beach, I was a mote in God's eye, I was 30 year old child on a rock that was millenia old. I was as nothing compared to this vast rock. I realised I would have to dig deep to make the connection I sought. It was approaching Noon. (Generally I am sensitive enough to feel morning change to afternoon.) Fortune smiled on me, and just then, all the tourists left, and I was alone on the rock, minutes before Noon.

So I lay down flat on the rock, head to the east, undid my shirt, lowered my trousers just a little, so my spine was presssed against the rock, and the sun beat down on all my chakras, my centers of energy. I drew in earth energy, I basked in Sun energy - and I called for assistance as Noon occurred, waiting for a sign.

It came in the the form of a lovely butterfly - I followed him some distance, and it lead me to crack in the rock, a sloping gap where a huge flake of rock was peeling away. The lower end of the crack narrowed and lead down deep in the rock. I knew this was the place.

So I held the talisman in my hand and reached as far and as deep into the crack as I could, and then flicked it down into the crack. I heard it 'tinkle tinkle' as it tumbed down deeper into this crack, ending up deep inside Uluru, where it would be undisturbed for millenia. My mission had succeeded, the butterfly had lead me truly. The talisman is there decades later, helping humans and angels to spread the light.