From: user6340@newsgrouper.org.invalid   
      
   I'm not claiming that the following is proof of Jesus,   
   but I am claiming that it is some very good evidence   
   of the existence of Jesus.   
      
   There are many references to the coming Jesus in the   
   Old Testament, especially in the Book of Isaiah. Here   
   are a few examples:   
      
   Isaiah 7:14: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you   
   a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,   
   and will call him Immanuel [God with us]".   
      
   Isaiah 9:6: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son   
   is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder.   
   And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty   
   God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."   
      
   Isaiah 53:5: "But He was pierced for our transgressions,   
   He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastisement for   
   our peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed."   
      
   There are other examples in other books of the Old Testament,   
   but this one is particularly noteworthy:   
      
   Proverbs 30:4: "Who has ascended into heaven and descended?   
   Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped the   
   waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of   
   the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name?   
   Surely you know!"   
      
   The following is from Moses, as he told the people that   
   there would be another prophet after him:   
      
   Deuteronomy 18:15: "The Lord your God will raise up for   
   you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers —   
   it is to Him you shall listen."   
      
   So those are just a few examples of the many references to   
   Jesus that appear in the Old Testament. During the time that   
   Jesus lived, and while he never left the Holy Land during   
   His three-year ministry, Jesus knew that the Gospel would   
   be preached throughout the world as the End Times approached   
   (as He claimed in Matthew 24:14),   
      
   How could He have known that His ministry (conducted entirely   
   in one tiny part of the world) would become known throughout   
   the world -- unless He really is who He said he is?   
      
   After the three-year ministry of Jesus was concluded, much   
   was written about Jesus in the ensuing years -- and those   
   writings are not confined to the Gospel accounts. There   
   are several high-profile secular historians who wrote about   
   Jesus. In doing so, they confirmed that Jesus was a real   
   person and a historical figure. Here are some examples:   
      
   Tacitus, a first century Roman politician and historian   
   who was not friendly to Christians or Christianity. In   
   his writings titled "Annals", he wrote that Jesus was   
   executed by Pontius Pilate. Why would a Roman politician   
   and historian waste time writing about a supposed "myth"   
   (unless Jesus was real), when Rome was concerned about   
   the growing popularity of Christianity and wanted to   
   crush it?   
      
   Pliny the Younger, a first century Roman governor (in   
   what is today northern Turkey), who wrote to Emperor   
   Trajan asking how he should deal with the growing number   
   of Christians. He stated his concern that they worshipped   
   "Christ as a god." Obviously something real was happening,   
   not just some random "myth".   
      
   Suetonius, a first century Roman biographer who was also   
   not a friend of Christianity. He wrote about disturbances   
   in Rome among Jews who were divided over Jesus. The early   
   Christians were, of course, Jews -- as was Jesus. Suetonius   
   wrote that these disturbances were caused by "Chrestus"   
   (meaning Christ).   
      
   And probably the best known of the secular sources who   
   documented the existence of Jesus is Flavius Josephus, a   
   first century Jewish historian who wrote about Jesus in   
   "Antiquities of the Jews". There are claims that some of   
   his writing may have been tampered with -- but what is   
   undisputed is that he DID write about Jesus as a historical   
   figure.   
      
   There are other examples of secular historians who wrote   
   about Jesus, but I'll stop here for now to keep this from   
   getting too long. But anyone who cares to really study this   
   topic  will soon realize that there is enough evidence of   
   the existence of Jesus from secular sources (in addition   
   to the Gospels themselves) that make it difficult to   
   believe that Jesus was merely a "myth".   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)