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.....we must ask, who was Josephus and what was his background? And did this background affect the way in which he viewed both his, as well as the Roman world? To better understand the man’s motives, we must first understand the man........
By applying the basic rules of historical research to Josephus’ accounts, we must conclude that; Josephus’ accounts cannot be corroborated by other sources. The archeological evidence contradicts some of Josephus’ accounts. The author’s own writings contradict themselves. And Josephus’ “histories” were self-serving, containing several examples of embellishing by the author. It is therefore within the light of these facts that we should disregard Josephus as a source in his entirety. ............
Originally posted by mick1423
For centuries Rome control world population with religion, religion that manipulated Christians to belief in their Roman roots and history. Proto brought us out of our comfort zone when he exposed the real past of Rome and it scared some and made TPTB Starts the War Drums against him. Proto was Tapped ( After having seen what he did here, we now understand why...) by an insider of the Elite Cabal who probably choosed his personal values instead of Power or did what his conscience told him and this thread as shown that indeed...'' All Roads Lead to ROME ''
Originally posted by xuenchen
It is possible that Flavius (or a “Flavius” character) was the real “Father” of Christian belief structures.
Another “account” of Caesar’s death was written by a Greek born historian and philosopher Nicolaus of Damascus. Most of his “works” have all been lost except for “fragments” (of course !). He also wrote His own auto-biography. He bears much similarity to a Gospel character named Nicodemus, a Jewish Pharisee. Both Nicodemus and Nicolaus of Damascus are most likely fabrications of Josephus Flavius and/or HIS “fabricators” and “successors”.
There is no definite evidence of Nicodemus's existence outside the Bible. However, there are two people called Nicodemus, one in Josephus's Antiquities (14:37), and one in the Babylonian Talmud. Both were members of the ben Gurion family, 'in which...' as Blomberg says, '... only a handful of 'first' names reappear over the generations.' (The implication is that Nicodemus is one such name.)
Josephus's Nicodemus was alive in 64 BC, so he certainly cannot be the person John writes about. The Nicodemus of the Babylonian Talmud was a rich man who lived in Jerusalem during the war with Rome, i.e. the late 60s AD. The Nicodemus of John's Gospel could have been the uncle of this Naqdimon ben Gurion of later Jewish history.
The picture of Nicodemus in John's Gospel fits what we know of the ben Gurion family: they were rich, they were pharisees, they were teachers of the law and members of the ruling class. This is not proof - but it does mean that the account in John's Gospel fits the historical circumstances very closely.
www.facingthechallenge.org...
I. INTRODUCTION
MOST commentators on the reference to Nicodemus in John 3: draw attention to the rabbinic traditions about a wealthy Jerusalem aristocrat called Naqdimon (Nicodemus) b. Gurion, and quickly conclude either that there can be no connection between the two or that it is impossible to know whether there was. (1) But occasionally the two have been identified, (2) while the latest significant discussion, by J.A.T. Robinson, suggests that John's Nicodemus was the grandfather of the rabbis' Naqdimon. (3) A few scholars have also discussed occurrences in Josephus of the names Nicodemus and Gurion, borne by prominent Jerusalem citizens, and the possibility that some or all of these were members of the same family as Naqdimon b. Gurion. (4) Finally, commentators on John sometimes also refer to the puzzling rabbinic tradition of the five disciples of Jesus, which seems, in a way that has never been satisfactorily explained, to link the Johannine Nicodemus and the rabbinic Naqdimon. (5) The latter was also known as Buni, and the five disciples of Jesus include both Naqqai (which could be short for Nicodemus/Naqdimon) and Buni.
These issues merit a much more thorough investigation. In the course of an examination of all the relevant material in Josephus and rabbinic traditions--important parts of which have not previously been noticed as relevant--we shall show that there was in the first century AD a very prominent Jerusalem family in which the names Gurion and Nicodemus were repeated as characteristic family names. This argument will make a contribution to our knowledge of the ruling elite in pre-70 Jerusalem, which is of interest and significance quite apart from its relevance to the Fourth Gospel. We shall also argue that John's Nicodemus must have belonged to this family, and, in the light of this, we shall offer a new solution to the hitherto unsolved riddle of the five disciples of Jesus.
Nicodemus and the Gurion family.(Critical essay)
Originally posted by SuperTripps
reply to post by Extant Taxon
i never said i totally believed that too