Archaeologists believe they've found cross of Jesus of Nazareth

[Warren DeMontague]

183. If ALL the evidence is coming from Christianity, which incorporated this narrative into its

collective mythos certainly by the yr. 100 or 200 at the latest, then why is that?

(If you have non-Christian historical sources for evidence available that I haven't seen, of course, I'm interested to hear about it)

And there are the deep similarities between Christianity- not just Christianity, but the story of Jesus- and other mystery/divinity cults, like that of Mithras, which predated Jesus by 500 years or so. Why, again?

I don't have a dog in this hunt, other than to say that the evidence simply isn't there, outside of "Christian" sources. Now, lack of evidence isn't evidence of lack, of course.. however it is worth noting that other historical events involving the Romans or Judea have been corroborated by many sources independently. By most accounts, Jesus was a "troublemaker" who caught the attention both of the Roman and Judean authorities. Yet, no mention, anywhere. Nothing about temple disturbances, or the rest of it.

Doesn't mean it didn't happen. DOES mean that the creation of the narrative later on is a distinct possibility.

I recommend "The Jesus Puzzle" as one resource. But, like I said, I don't have a dog in this hunt and I don't hold a great expectation of anything being "proven" one way or another at this point in time. (If the Romans were crucifying people regularly, however, one would think there would be a LOT of cross bits out there, only a very small amount of which would have come from that particular cross, right?)

Lastly, it's DU. If you don't bring your kevlar vest even into the most innocuous of threads, you're just not using your imagination enough.