Theos-Talk Archives (August 1996 Message tl00211)

The text that Abarantes sent written by Haygin ben Yehoshua, that summarizes
the Jewish arguments against the historicity of the Christian Jesus raises
some interesting thoughts re. the HBP / Meade thesis that Jesus lived 100
years earlier.

1. The Haygin ben Yehoshua text is a typical Jewish smear job on
Christianiity. It's clear that the author has an axe to grind - in fact he
says as much.

2. This is a continuation of the smear job dating back to 200 AD when the
Gemara and Tosefta were first written.

3. The fact that the Jews were intent on "smearing" the character of Jesus
(declaring he was a sorcerer of illegitemate birth etc..) indicates that
they ACCEPTED that he did exist. He may have been an unsavory character but
his existence was not questioned by the Jews of that time. In fact, Haygin
ben Yehoshua suggests that Jesus was modeled after Yehuda of Gallilee,
executed 6 AD.

I believe that had the character been a total fiction, or modeled after
someone who lived 100 years earlier (HPB/Meade) the smear job would have
been much easier - in fact irresistable ("Those @#$% Christians totally
invented this guy the Christ -- and he never even existed.."). The fact that
this was not raised and that the Jews intent on smearing the character of
Jesus accepted that Jesus did live around the early part of the first
century AD  - has to be taken seriously.

Paul K.