They were talking about someone who had been dead for 300 years. There is no evidence that the Gospels were written by the " authors " except that someone wrote their name on the scroll or " claimed " it was from John or one of the others.
Remember we are talking thousands of years ago when reading and writing was not known by the common man. In fact, in many societies it would get you the death penalty if you got caught teaching an unauthorized person how to read or do arithmetic or write.
Those skills and that knowledge was reserved for scribes and the royalty and perhaps heads of the military.
It is VERY unlikely that ANY of the Apostles knew how to read or write. When they talk about a letter from John or someone, if it even existed it was written by a scribe that was paid to write it.
We forget how PRIMITIVE those times were.
They didn't even have glass for windows.
So try to remember to keep that in mind when pondering whether something is " claimed " to have been written by someone or some event is " claimed " to have happened --- there was NO PROOF that it was or did.
You just had to take someone's word on it.
The used car salesman of the year 342.
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Correct. The Romans were notorious record keepers and anyone who raised as much hell as Jesus supposedly caused would have been in their records.
THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE HISTORICAL REFERENCE TO JESUS ANYWHERE.
Not one.
The Bible does NOT count as a historical record.
First, it was written by men.
Second it was actually compiled by priests who picked and chose what books would be put in it according to their own desires.
The people who compiled the Bible DIDN'T WRITE ANY OF IT.
Well except when they didn't like something and erased it or decided to leave a book out because they didn't like what it said.
And when the Protestant Reformation came they COMPLETELY REWROTE the King James version and that's why they call it the King James version because IT HAD BEEN ALTERED to allow the king to divorce his wife and marry his mistress.
The supposedly sacred unchangeable Bible has actually been changed / altered MANY times to suit kings and other powerful people.
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The New Testament in its entirety is hearsay as it relates to claims about Jesus Christ. I am not aware that we have any verified direct testimony from the Apostles or any other of Christ's contemporaries.
There are no serious ancient historians that believe Jesus did not live. Theories that He did not live are fringe Atheistic goofball nonsense.
Why doesn't the witness accounts of the Gospels and the various letters written by Apostles and sanctioned by the church from the First century count as historical relevant records? Why doesn't Josephus' record about Jesus count? Why doesn't the various mentions of Jesus by Roman secular historians count?
You toss out all the evidence then try to build a case on the lack of such evidence; classic cherry picking!