Historical Jesus, Biblical Jesus

[Dancefortwo]

I am not missing the point at all. You are missing mine.

My point is about "just cause." My position is that there was no 'just cause" for any of them to refer to the TF in any of their discussions. The context of their discussions simply had no need to refer to the TF since none of their discussions dealt with proving the existence of Jesus or proving that Josephus wrote anything about Jesus. 

It's that simple.

Oh for shits sake!  Yes they DID have just cause to refer to the TF because they were trying to spread Christianity and convert others  through every means possible.  We know they referred to Antiquities  because their writings have survived but they never refer to  the TF.    Here's  Origen's dissertation in Contra Celsus in which he referrs to Antiquities but NOT to the TF.  

http://www.documenta-catholica.eu/d_0185...-%20EN.pdf

Here is Justin Martyr's, Dialogue With Trypho, in which he's making every effort to convert a Jew to Christianity.  Why would he NOT refer to the TF? 

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/te...rypho.html



Geesh!

You are making massive completely unsupported assumptions here. If you think you have a point, then by all means please produce any paragraph or even an entire page of any of the ancient works you are referring to and demonstrate how the TF could have been used in the context.

I have made this challenge to several people who hold your position over the years and after more than 20 years not one of you have met the challenge.

It's very easy to find your crap online as this piss-poor argument is a favorite of the "jesus never existed" idiots.

It's bad enough that it's an argument from silence, but what's even worse is that it's a logical fallacy because you do not provide any support for it.

Therefore provide the evidence I requested or your argument is dismissed.

Oh, for chrissakes!  You haven't  read what I've written and you didn't read my links, did you.  

I'm not a mythicist. Take that up with Bucky.  I think the guy existed but the Jebus of the bible is  a highly embellished story and his life was backwritten to fit what the writers thought was a messiah.   I'm talking just about the TF and nothing else.  The TF has been  a well known forgery for centuries but  it's only been in the last 30 or 40 years that Christians, mostly Fundis and Evangelicals,  have trotted out this ridiculous paragraph.    

The early christian fathers read Josehpus' Antiquities, they studied it, they quoted from it, but never quoted the TF.   Early Christians looked everywhere, throughout the writings of the time  for any mention of Jesus being "the Christ".   They NEVER once quoted nor made mention that paragraph. Not once.     The Jews of the time kept a copy of Antiquities and never mention TF.  But damned if it doesn't pop up in the 3rd century when Eusebius, the liar for Jesus and who even admitted it was ok to lie,  has a copy with the insertion and it  just happens  to be in his style of writing.  For Eusebius a little   pious fraud was justified.  Even after that, into the 8th century,  the majority of hand copies of Josephus' Antiquities never contain the TF  paragraph. 

Theophilus, c 163 d.180, who read Josephus' works  never mentions TF
Irenaeus  130- 202 A prolific writer who read Josephus, never mentions the TF
Clement  Of Alexandria  b.150 d. 215  Same thing
Hyppolytus  b.170 d. 235   Same thing. 

These early christians were zealots who  read  and wrote voraciously and  who  were intent on converting others. if the TF had existed, without fail,  they would have quoted it time and again.