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Dec. 25, 2005 I am beginning to wonder if Tracey Stevens is mentally competent. First of all, he keeps insisting that I declared that the existence of Jesus was a complete and total fabrication, alleging that I have no evidence to substantiate my position. I have never declared that Jesus’ existence was a fabrication. I have only suggested that it is possible that Jesus’ existence was fictitious. I don’t need any evidence to make that suggestion. All I need to know is that there is no cogent evidence to prove that Jesus did exist as an historical person. If you want to prove to me that Jesus existed, the burden of the proof is upon you. Show me the irrefutable evidence and I will admit graciously that you are right. But never in my life has anyone shown me any real evidence to substantiate the claims of miraculous powers that Christianity is supposed to invest in people. Nor have I seen any really convincing documentary evidence that Jesus existed even as a man. So Tracey trots out some passages from Tacitus and Josephus that we discussed at length before. Has he forgotten? I simply cannot believe that he is bringing these passages up again. I have known about the passage from Tacitus for 25 years and the one from Josephus for 12 years. I have even written an article on each, and, if I say so myself, my articles are fairly well researched and entirely intelligible. But Tracey, in his far substandard English, adduces the passages again anyway. What he really needs to do is to get some tutoring in English before he attempts to pose as a Biblical scholar. Here, for the second or third time, are the articles I wrote. http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/apr/article273.html http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/apr/article242.html The passage from Tacitus is undoubtedly genuine but dates from around 115 AD. The passage from Josephus has been altered, as even the Roman Catholic Church admits, and no one can say how the original version may have read, if the passage was not a downright interpolation. Anyway it dates from 93 AD. What kind of evidence is this? Christians try to pass off random scraps written decades after the supposed time of the life of Christ as absolute proof of his existence. Tracey also alludes to a letter written by Pliny in 112 AD about Christian rites in his province, arguing that people would not have worshipped Jesus at that time if there had not been any Jesus. Hasn’t Tracey ever heard of the Book of Mormon? By his reasoning, Utahns would not believe in the Book of Mormon if angels hadn’t descended to Earth to dictate it to Joseph Smith. But the question of whether Jesus existed as a man is secondary to the question of whether Jesus was God or the son of God, wielding supernatural powers of which anyone might also avail himself by faith in Jesus. What kind of lame, nonsensical rationalizations can this grammatical laggard possibly invent to convince me that the ability to heal the sick, raise the dead, move mountains, multiply fish and loaves, and walk on water is something to which any faithful Christian might aspire? Actions speak louder the words. Tracey talks that talk, but can he walk that walk? This simpleton chooses to cast aspersions upon my articles on permittivity and permeability, as if he has even the vaguest conception of what these phenomena are, but I do know what I am talking about, as anyone knowledgeable in this sort of thing will readily understand, and I provide difficult calculations that demonstrate it. Can you compare this with copying an article by search engine on a subject that you are not even faintly qualified to discuss, as Tracey did? Unfortunately, Tracey Stevens is not much more coherent than Dennis Siluk, and therefore defends Siluk’s illiteracy by suggesting that I criticized Siluk only because I begrudged his being voted writer of the year. Tracey does not realize that my articles on Siluk go back as far as June, 2005, long before the contest. I wish Tracey would stop making foolish statements about things that he doesn’t know anything about. http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/june/article023.html Tracey compares the insertion of the single word “metaphorically” in a whole volume written by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century with the insertion or mutilation of a single paragraph in a volume written by Flavianus Josephus 1900 years ago, suggesting that because I maintain that the latter passage is not dependable, I should also cast out the theory of evolution, which I never even mentioned in the first place, but which Tracey apparently insists on maintaining that I have been defending. This man, Tracey Stevens, just does not make sense! ------------ About the author Thomas Keyes: I have written two books: A SOJOURN IN ASIA (non-fiction) and A TALE OF UNG (fiction), neither published so far. I have studied languages for years and traveled extensively on five continents. Email: udikeyes@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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