Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

I will be honest and say that my interest in early Christian history drops off dramatically, almost to zero, after the 1st century AD. If you try to use Christian materials from the third and fourth centuries in order to discover truths about the first century, I think that you are on the wrong path...

I previously cited two very solid statements that Josephus made about Pontius Pilate. The first was that he was removed in at 37 which no one disputes. The second is that he served for 10 years which no one disputes. I think those are so solid that to entertain any other theory that concerns Gratis'...

well, from Josephus we know that Pilate was removed from office in AD 37. This would give him if you started in AD 19 of almost 17 years, which is also contradicted in Josephus who said he served for about 10 years. I think that Hagen goes into this subject very reasonably in his "Year of the P...

Stephen, I think you don't give yourself enough credit. There are not that many primary sources out there on this subject. Read them yourselves and come to your own conclusions.

If they think Pilate took office in A.D. 19, and seriously believe it and not just publishing for tenure, then they are not impressive at all. Josephus is clear on Gratus' and Pilate's tenure. Dismiss Josephus and you are left with nothing. Except your instincts. I guess that's something. But let's ...

I would like to see this official Roman text.

If the author was caught up in a series of persecutions and is executed along with the principal character, then the abrupt ending makes all the more sense and is more dramatic when the document is then discovered after the fact-as was the case with Acts of the Apostles. In fact AD 63 was a very int...

In the end, it is all speculation. We will never know for sure what really happened in those days. What you accept as probable all depends on your level of comfort and confidence in the sources used.

Wow, 63 A. D. Josephus was in Rome, the same year Luke was there? This is all hypothetical, of course. Luke himself is hypothetical. it is hypothetical if you assume Josephus and his writings are hypothetical and Luke and his writings are hypothetical. That is a lot of hypotheticals. in his autobio...

It is interesting to read what Josephus writes about Poppea, the wife of Nero. She had a secret salon devoted to mysticism and the occult. In A.D. 63, Josephus probably attended more than one of their gatherings. Astrology was officially outlawed, though the aristocracy practiced it and Tiberius was...