“Christus,
the founder of the Christian name, was put to death by Pontius
Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius. But the
pernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again, not
only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the
city of Rome also. Cornelius Tacticus
Tacticus
of course is not writing as a follower or believer. He describes
Christinaity as a superstition.
It's interesting how these ancient historians, like Tacitus, matter-of-factly report the existence of the Man they don't believe in, just as any modern newsman or historiographer. Yet, there are still people who claim either he was just a mushroom (The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross), or never existed but represents ancient pre-Christian mythic heroes (Christianity: An Egyptian Religion, by Ahmed Osman), or was any number of other persons or things He never was. Oh well, even if the passages in Josephus might be later additions, and even if Tacitus hadn't written his notice, the holy gospels were preserved, and faithfully. That's more than enough for me.
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