Oh, yes. Science has made MANY mistakes during the ages… Fortunately science – unlike religion – has NO problem correcting mistakes when better data arrives new observations and new test-results.
And this – the ability to say “Oh, look, THIS is how it works” is what makes science much stronger than religion. Not to mention the fact, that no scientist has EVER prosecuted a religions person based on science – the opposite however, has taken place countless times.
FE> http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/seejesus.html
Which one is correct?
So, you are wrong. There ARE contradictions in Matthew and John. Deal with it.
Or here http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/imprisonment.html
Or here http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/postbaptism.html And here, for a longer account http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/jesus.html
Want me to go on?
However I was referring to the historical errors and flaws as well. Herod died in 4 BC for example. And the census conducted under Quirinius didn’t happen until 6 AD.
Arachnoidfreak> Yeah, I know. Just re-stating the obvious… 😉
Ytaker> I already showed you Testimonium Flavianum isn’t worth a thing. So why do you keep using it?
When Christians try to find any bit of evidence for Jesus outside the NT, they ALWAYS point to the following:
1) Testomonium Flavianum
2) Antiquities
3) Suetonius
4) Cornelius Tacitus
5) Mara Bar Serapion’
6) Pliny the Younger
Can YOU find any other?
Suetonius, writing about AD 120, mentions that emperor Claudius "banished the Jews from Rome, since they had made a commotion because of Chrestus," and that during the reign of Nero (54-68), "punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief."
The second reference is to the existence of Christians. No one disputes the existence of Christians. The first reference may be to Jesus. However, there were many messiahs making their appearance during this period and "Chrestus" was a common name, not necessarily a variant of "Christ." It should be noted that nowhere in his writings does Suetonius specifically mention a Jesus of Nazareth.
Tacitus: Tacitus did not claim to have firsthand knowledge of the origins of Christianity, he is repeating a story which was then commonly believed, namely that the founder of Christianity, one Christus, had been put to death under Tiberius. There are a number of serious difficulties which must be answered before this passage can be accepted as genuine. There is no other historical proof that Nero persecuted the Christians at all. There certainly were not multitudes of Christians in Rome at that date (circa 60 A.D.).
In fact, the term "Christian" was not in common use in the first century. We know Nero was indifferent to various religions in his city, and, since he almost definitely did not start the fire in Rome, he did not need any group to be his scapegoat. Tacitus does not use the name Jesus, and writes as if the reader would know the name Pontius Pilate, two things which show that Tacitus was not working from official records or writing for non-Christian audiences, both of which we would expect him to have done if the passage were genuine.
Perhaps most damning to the authenticity of this passage is the fact that it is present almost word-for-word in the Chronicle of Sulpicius Severus (died in 403 A.D.), where it is mixed in with obviously false tales. At the same time, it is highly unlikely that Sulpicius could have copied this passage from Tacitus, as none of his contemporaries mention the passage. This means that it was probably not in the Tacitus manuscripts at that date. It is much more likely, then, that copyists working in the Dark Ages from the only existing manuscript of the Chronicle, simply copied the passage from Sulpicius into the manuscript of Tacitus which they were reproducing
And the Tacitus quotation wasn’t used by Christians until the 15th century.
Mara Bar Serapion: In the second or third century this gentleman wrote a letter to his son in jail. The letter mentions that the Jews had killed their "wise king." It is not clear who this is referring to. Mar Bar Serapion certainly was not a contemporary of Jesus so it is hard to see how this is a confirmation of Jesus.
Pliny the Younger: Pliny corresponded regularly with the emperor Trajan (98-117). In his letters, Pliny specifically mentions and describes the beliefs and practices of Christians in Asia Minor, and asks Trajan's advice about what action to take against them, if any. Pliny's writings provide no independent confirmation of the events of the New Testament, but just show that there were indeed Christians living in Asia Minor around 100.
SO NO:
1) there is not a ”ton” of evidence outside the Bible, you guys just keep clinging to the same few passages, hoping they will give you evidence, which
2) they do not.