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Page 3
We may add that Paul himself didn't know about the virgin birth. In Romans 1:1-3, he claims that Jesus was the son of Joseph, who was established as a descendant of David.
Considering all these facts, the truth is clear: there never was a Jesus who did these miracles and was resurrected. Jesus started as a myth and later became an object of worship. Regardless of whether we believe in God or not, the religion of Christianity, insofar as it is based on the existence of Jesus, is pure historical absurdity. The doctrine of Jesus' existence is a Big Lie (i.e. an absurdity repeated again and again to enforce belief). Here is a short list of writers and historians who lived within the same century as the Jesus myth. Remember that of all these, only one (Josephus) is said to have written anything about it, and it is decried by most scholars as an interpolation : Caius Suetonius, Josephus, Philo-Judæus, Seneca, Pliny Elder, Arrian, Petronius, Dion Pruseus, Paterculus, Juvenal, Martial, Persius, Plutarch, Pliny Younger, Tacitus, Justus of Tiberius, Apollonius, Quintilian, Lucanus, Epictetus, Hermogones, Silius Italicus, Statius, Ptolemy, Appian, Phlegon, Phædrus, Valerius Maximus, Lucian, Pausanias, Florus Lucius, Quintius Curtius, Aulus Gellius, Dio Chrysostom, Columella Valerius Flaccus, Damis, Favorinus, Lysias, Pomponius Mela, Appion of Alexandria, Theon of Smyrna, Justus of Tiberias (John E. Remsburg, "The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidence of His Existence", pp. 24-25) Numerous objections have been raised to such a radical conclusion. The most common one is, "Who would die for a lie?". If Jesus was a myth, then why did the early Christians sacrifice their lives to propagate his words? Why did Christianity persist if Jesus never existed? Actually, a great number of people die for lies. If we look only at Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses die for their doctrine on blood transfusions, a doctrine which has no basis in Biblical facts. Outside of Christianity, many cults have used suicide to die for their beliefs. The people of Heaven's Gate died for a lie. The people of Jonestown died for lies. People die because of charismatic leaders, attractive beliefs and social power, all things which have nothing to do with truth. The claim that no one would die for a lie is hypocrite at best. This objection can be formulated in a more subtle manner. One can claim that Jesus cannot be a myth because the disciples would have known if it hadn't happen, and they wouldn't have died for an absurdity. This is a much stronger argument, but still unconvincing. People can believe things that are reported to have happened near them even if they are false. The Mormons are a good example of this.
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