Christianity was probably created some time in the Dark Ages. The Bible makes weird reference to things like mirrors (they only had polished brass back then). The emperor Constantine (272–337 AD) probably had a hand in it. He is the last emperor of the Classical Period. And then came the Dark Ages. (BTW Constantine's mother, Helena of Constantinople is said to have found Christ's true cross in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Did you know that?) Also the Israelites are never mentioned in any ancient Egyptian scriptures. They probably were there (they go back to at least the Iron Age). But most of their "history" is from oral stories handed down, that also probably originated around the early Middle Ages in Europe. But Jesus probably existed. There were at least a thousand "Messiahs" crucified a year by the ancient Romans. His bones are likely still in Palestine somewhere... Thoughts?
Wrong on almost all counts! The so-called "Dark Ages", or early Middle Ages as most scholars prefer, was from 476-800 C.E., or more broadly 500-1000 c.e. So you're saying Christianity "was probably created then"--400 some years after Saint Paul, Apollos, Peter, Marcion, Bardaisan, etc., were preaching and setting up churches, over 5 centuries after Nero's persecution of Christians, nearly two centuries after Galerius and Diocletian's? Can you cite a single source that agrees with you? And your "evidence" is that the Bible "makes weird mention of mirrors. Hate to break it to you, but the polished brass you refer to were and are regarded as mirrors, albeit not the modern kind. Glass mirrors weren't introduced until the first century when Paul and the gospel authors were writing, but "In Biblical times a mirror was a polished metal surface held in the hand to see the reflection of objects, esp. of the face." Mirror - Encyclopedia of The Bible - Bible Gateway. This is the second thread in which you've speculated that mention of mirrors in the Bible is somehow anachronistic. That's the "weird" thing. Nothin' "weird " about the Bible's references to mirrors. Mirors have been around since the beginning of civilization. The ancient Anatolians had them of polished obsidian stone 8.000 years ago, and the ancient Egyptians, Sumerians and Babylonians developed them as well, using polished copper and bronze. Pliny the Elder tells us of glass mirrors in the 1st century C.E. Who Invented the Mirror? when were mirrors invented - Yahoo Video Search Results when were mirrors invented - Yahoo Video Search Results OT: --Strong as a molten mirror. Job 37:18 --Moreover, he made the laver of bronze with its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Exodus 38:8. --hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils. Isaiah 3:23 NT -- beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord 2 Corinthians 3:18. --For now we see in a mirror darkly, but then face to face; 1 Corinthians 13:12 --"he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror" James 1:23 So tell us, what do you think is so weird about these? If you're talking Constantine the Great, he was not ""the last Emperor of the classical age. " If you're talking last western Roman emperors that would be Romulus Augustus, deposed in 476 C.E. by the Germans--139 years and 33 emperors after Constantine I. The eastern empire, of course, continued until 1453 C.E., when Emperor Constantine XI met his demise. You say "the Israelites are never mentioned in any ancient Egyptian scriptures". Waddabout the Merneptah stele, which is generally considered authentic? (Dever, 2009 "Merenptah's "Israel," the Bible's, and Ours". In Schloen, J. David (ed.). Exploring the Longue Durée.p 89-91 Faust, 2016, Israel's Ethnogenesis, pp. 159-66..The stele is an Egyptian monument dated at 1205 C.E. Some scholars think there may have been earlier mentions. Egyptologisats Görg, van der Veen and Theis think that there was an earlier Egyptian mention on a name ring on the pedestal of a statue, although not all scholars agree. As for those at least 1,000 Messiah's crucified every year by the Romans", that seems to be a wild exaggeration. Varus crucified some 2,000 Jews 4 years before Christ's birth, and Josephus tells thus that the Romans engaged in mass crucifixions. But it's absurd to think many of these were Messianic pretenders. Tabor identifies 11 of these Messianic claimants besides Jesus, and not all were crucified. I am Back–Stay Tuned for Much More! – TaborBlog do agree with you on one point: Jesus probably existed. The whereabouts of His 'bones", though is a matter of speculation. And it is true that Constantine's mother, Helena, is said to have found what she thought was the true cross. "While Helena’s cross probably did come from Jerusalem, and while it almost certainly was a real cross in the sense that it was used for executions, there would have been hundreds, if not thousands of such crosses in Judea. Most of these would have been used for firewood after too many uses. Based on this it is highly unlikely that Helena’s True Cross was the actual cross from the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Verdict: Highly Unlikely". SEVEN THINGS ST. HELENA DISCOVERED (OR NOT) - The Complete Pilgrim - Religious Travel Sites But I like the topic! -
I know the market for revisionist history is large and growing, but don't you think when you open a thread with such a bold assertion about a matter practically all historians disagree with you should provide and explanation and some supporting evidence and/or authority? History isn't rocket science, but we need to have some standards. It's hard to get contemporaneous evidence about the ancient past, particularly in backwater places like Galilee and Judea in the first century C.E., so we have the choice of not messing with it at all or settling with an account that best fits the available evidence. Much of the evidence is sketchy and late, requiring reasonable inference. Historians won't be able to "prove" anything, in the sense of scientific certainty or "beyond a reasonable doubt evidence". But I think they need to support their conclusions with substantial evidence: enough to convince a reasonable person, even though other reasonable people might not be convinced. That's the so-called substantial evidence test used in administrative rule-making to arrive at the regulations governing our lives. 4 CFR § 28.61 - Burden and degree of proof.. Of course, the OP might be a trick question. By "Christianity", do we mean the religion started by Jesus? the one practiced by His earliest followers? the one spread by Paul? the one fleshed out by the four evangelist gospel writers? the one of the canons and writers like St. Augustine? or the Nicene one promoted by Constantine and his successors? Each of these has significant differences from the others. I view each of these as variants, but different enough that someone might reasonably regard them as separate "Christianities". They're all part of the cultural evolution of what we know as "Christianity", and by considering how they developed, we might get a better understanding of the diversity and paradoxes surrounding the religion.
