(06-26-2022, 02:31 PM)jimhabegger Wrote: Consider these two explanations for why we have the gospels, letters, Tacitus, Josephus, Pliny the Younger etc.:
- Because a man named Jesus, regarded as a Christ by many, was crucified by Pilate circa CE 33
- Because at the time those were written some people believed, rightly or wrongly, that a man named Jesus, regarded as a Christ by many, was crucified by Pilate circa CE 33.
What makes the first explanation better than the second? That's an actual question, not a rhetorical one.
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Nobody thought of Jesus as 'Christ' in his lifetime, nobody had even thought of or heard of that word. Some may have thought that he was some kind of Meshiah come to bring justice, safety and security for them. A huge % of the people were of the low classes, and any middle class was very small....... people wanted what people want today, a little or a lot more.
Some folks thought that Jesus could gain that for them, I think.
