Dumb question time: What original bible texts do we really have?

[onager]

29. LOL! Pulled that one out of their (Balaam's) asses...

I had been taught that 5000 or so historical references to Christ exist but i didnt read the list. caesar had 1400 and a. the graet had 600. i dont have proof...

That's straight out of the Josh McDowell School of Apologetics Debate - throw out an impressive "academic" stat that sounds authoritative. Then hope nobody checks.

I mean, who's going to go and actually count the damn references? But we do know this...

(pedant mode)

Julius Caesar - Oh, even an amateur dumbass like me could probably find a LOT more than 1400 historical references to Caesar. A master of P.R. and spin, Caesar kept 2 secretaries with him at all times to take down his thoughts, brag about his victories, and re-write his defeats.

He probably started the world's first daily newspaper, the Acta Diurna, and had it delivered to the Roman provinces. Again, full of his sayings and doings.

If you want to really confuse a believer, bring up Caesar's book The Alexandrian War. Which was most likely written by one of his staff officers, Hirtius. You'll find that when Caesar was in Egypt, his biggest supporters were the Jewish communities along the Palestinian coast. They raised money for him and even sent a cohort of 3000 Jewish soldiers - who Caesar thanked profusely in the book.

Watching all that was a kid whose father spearheaded the efforts to help Caesar. That kid grew up to be Herod The Great, famous Rug-Rat-Killer of the New Testament. And try finding a historical reference to THAT! Flavius Josephus hated Herod and practically recorded his every stray belch and fart. But not even he mentions the Massacre Of The Nazarene Brats.

(Double pedant note - Xians, always trying to pull a fast one to support their fairy tales, often refer to Josephus as a "contemporary" of Jesus. But Josephus wasn't born until circa 37 CE.)

Alexander The Great - now what was the name of that city where I lived for 4 years again? Kind Davidia? Jesusia? Why no, it was Alexandria. Where I often amused myself by strolling down Iskander al-Akbar Street. Which is apparently Arabic for "Loser Who Only Rated A Few Contemporary Historical References."

And one of at least 10 cities Alexander The Great named after himself, in a geographical spread ranging from Egypt to Persia to Afghanistan to India. e.g., Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest&quot was located in modern Tajikistan.

Yes, it's true that no written contemporary accounts of Alexander's life have survived, apart from a few fragments. (For that we can partly thank those wonderful folks who liked to burn "pagan" libraries.) But some of the ancient writers, like Arrian, named their sources. So we can be pretty sure they existed.

And like Caesar, Alexander invaded/pillaged a lot of places. Maybe "history is written by the victors," but the sore losers often have long memories about that sort of thing. (Ask a native of Atlanta, GA...) And they leave behind their own kind of evidence.

Speaking of evidence...what's this? A news story from January 2013...

Alexander the Great presence still felt in modern Afghanistan

http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/news/alexander-the-great-presence-still-felt-in-modern-afghanistan.html

(/pedant mode)