Hey everyone, I'm back. I went traveling in Europe for three months. It was awesome. Ask me about it sometime. But anyways, there was this news story recently...there is this old Hebrew stone they recently (re)discovered, and it appears to be a gospel, written before the birth of Jesus, describing a remarkably similar man. Similar at least at the end of his life, where he was executed, raised from the dead after three days, stuff like that. If true, this would lend credence to the thought that the tale of Jesus is a compilation of mythical beliefs and old plots devices. Not necessarily the man, but the stories about his life and divinity. Thoughts? On a similar note, I have heard from a couple of sources that nothing was written about Jesus until 50 years after he died. Does anyone know anything about that?
Oh, PS - Link to one of many articles: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008035408_biblical06.html
I saw this on another forum as well and I've read the article. From the article, it appears to be too early to make any claims for or against pre christ notions of resurrections. It certainly leads to the conclusion that there was a common resurrection theme within the Jewish community at least 100 years prior to Christ. Whats not conclusive is if the tablet is talking about Jesus (which it doesn't appear to mention but some text is also missing) or some guy named Simon. Obviously some christians will see this as a prophecy, confirming or justifying the Christ story, but this could be a blow to the uniqueness of the theology in general if it talks about a guy named Simon, which we may never know. Then there is always the possibilty that like with most ALL artifacts of the biblical nature, it will turn out to be a forgery. (Think ossuary of James, brother of Jesus fake)
It all seems pretty iffie.: "it may speak..", "if such a description really is there...", ""Much of what it says is open to debate..." So is this a non-Christian counterpart to the Shroud of Turin?
While it sounds interesting, forgeries of this type abound in Israel. I'd withhold any opinion until its been throughly tested. x
