Yes, those are the bios given in the book. But there is no proof that any of those people existed. You can't use the book to prove the existence of anything in the book. That's like me saying that Batman is real. There are truckloads of stories about Batman! We know his origin story and his secret identity. We know he fights crime in Got…
Yes, those are the bios given in the book. But there is no proof that any of those people existed. You can't use the book to prove the existence of anything in the book. That's like me saying that Batman is real. There are truckloads of stories about Batman! We know his origin story and his secret identity. We know he fights crime in Gotham City, and we know he exists because Commissioner Gordon, Robin and Alfred have all seen him and interacted with him. It's all in the stories!
It's exactly the same thing. Different proof must be presented to prove the people in the Bible existed and the events happened. To prove someone existed in the ancient world, historians discuss standards of proof. Let's take Julius Caesar. We are sure enough that he existed because we have a great deal of historical evidence. To wit: 1) we have his own prolific writings, 2) contemporary figures such as Cicero, who actually lived during Caesar's time, attested to his deeds and wrote about them, 3) biographies were written after his death (such as by Plutarch), and 4) there is a lot of archaeological evidence such as his image on coinage, statuary, and the Temple of Julius
Caesar.
There is nothing outside of the book to prove the existence of the characters or events in the book.
Only one statement, Imagine if Jesus had not existed and the events of his death, Resurrection and the Acts of the Apostles had not happened. Then two generations of Romans were executed by the State for believing in His message. That is the basis of my faith,, that he motivated so much devotion that his message has survived and expanded until today.
Also, Jesus’ message is the only one that will give Mankind a chance to survive his own evil.
People thought he existed, like people thought the Greek pantheon or the Norse gods existed. Those people did things in the name of their beliefs, too, but believing something is true doesn't make it so.
(Jesus doesn't own that message, either.)
This is a contentious issue, so I will drop it for now. Thanks for playing, John!
Yes, those are the bios given in the book. But there is no proof that any of those people existed. You can't use the book to prove the existence of anything in the book. That's like me saying that Batman is real. There are truckloads of stories about Batman! We know his origin story and his secret identity. We know he fights crime in Gotham City, and we know he exists because Commissioner Gordon, Robin and Alfred have all seen him and interacted with him. It's all in the stories!
It's exactly the same thing. Different proof must be presented to prove the people in the Bible existed and the events happened. To prove someone existed in the ancient world, historians discuss standards of proof. Let's take Julius Caesar. We are sure enough that he existed because we have a great deal of historical evidence. To wit: 1) we have his own prolific writings, 2) contemporary figures such as Cicero, who actually lived during Caesar's time, attested to his deeds and wrote about them, 3) biographies were written after his death (such as by Plutarch), and 4) there is a lot of archaeological evidence such as his image on coinage, statuary, and the Temple of Julius
Caesar.
There is nothing outside of the book to prove the existence of the characters or events in the book.
Only one statement, Imagine if Jesus had not existed and the events of his death, Resurrection and the Acts of the Apostles had not happened. Then two generations of Romans were executed by the State for believing in His message. That is the basis of my faith,, that he motivated so much devotion that his message has survived and expanded until today.
Also, Jesus’ message is the only one that will give Mankind a chance to survive his own evil.
People thought he existed, like people thought the Greek pantheon or the Norse gods existed. Those people did things in the name of their beliefs, too, but believing something is true doesn't make it so.
(Jesus doesn't own that message, either.)
This is a contentious issue, so I will drop it for now. Thanks for playing, John!