MDM4AU 336 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article....RTICLE_ID=48450 Sunday, January 22, 2006Jesus Christ's existence going on trial this week Priest faces lawsuit by atheist to prove Nazarene indeed real By Joe Kovacs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Atheist Luigi Cascioli alleges Jesus never existed in his book, 'The Fable of Christ' A small Italian town is expected to be the epicenter of worldwide focus this week as legal proceedings begin in a lawsuit over the existence of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Viterbo, Italy, north of Rome, is the venue where Rev. Enrico Righi is being sued by his childhood friend, atheist Luigi Cascioli, for deceiving people into thinking Jesus was an actual historical figure. "This complaint does not wish to contest the freedom of Christians to profess their faith, sanctioned by [article] 19 of the Italian Constitution," says Cascioli, "but wishes to denounce the abuse that the Catholic Church commits by availing itself of its prestige in order to inculcate – as if being real and historical – facts that are really just inventions." The author of "The Fable of Christ" claims the priest violated local laws against deception when he stated in a 2002 parish gazette "that the historic figure of Jesus was the son of Joseph and Mary (two totally imaginary characters and therefore historically non existing [claims Cascioli]); of having the same Jesus been born in the village of Bethlehem and of having grown up in Nazareth." Lawyers for Righi are slated to appear in court Friday to discuss preliminary motions on evidence proving the historicity of the man who is now worshipped as God by millions of Christians across the globe. On his website, Cascioli alleges the person as Jesus is "for the most part based on the figure of John of Gamala, son of Judas, downright descendant of the Asmoneian stock." Rev. Righi says the existence of Jesus is "unmistakable" due to a wealth of both pagan and Christian evidence pointing to his reality. "Cascioli maintains that Christ never existed. If he doesn't see the sun at midday, he can't denounce me just because I do. He should denounce all believers!" Righi told the London Times recently. Among his examples are the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, thought by scholars to be the most important non-Christian source on the issue. One of his passages of "Jewish Antiquities," a work completed in A.D. 93, mentions the execution in A.D. 62 of "the brother of Jesus the so-called Christ, James by name." Cascioli declares he is not intent on having the matter be decided by a court of law, saying, "I wrote to [Righi] an open letter, stating that I would withdraw the lawsuit if he were capable of supplying proof, just one proof, of the historical existence of Jesus." Cascioli has since turned to Archbishop Giacomo Biffi of Bologna, Italy, to avoid the appearance of picking on a poor, local cleric. In an open letter to the archbishop, Cascioli writes: "In the certainty that you are fully aware of how much more damaging any further silence, the silence of a bishop would be for the Church, than that of a lowly country parish priest, I have nothing else to do, but wait for your proof of the existence of Jesus, called The Christ. Proof that, besides satisfying your two diocesan followers and relieving don Enrico Righi of his legal obligations, would spare the Church a probable catastrophe." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigsixfive 328 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Hopefully this doesn't last long, because it has been proven time and time again by sources other than the Bible that Jesus was in fact a real historical figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AURaptor 1,126 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Good to know all the other world's problems have been solved and that we can now take up time and effort to tackle this issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarTim 3,457 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 In the words of one of my favorite old Gospel songs: "You ask me how I know He lives? HE LIVES- WITHIN -MY HEART." That is more than enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 13,000 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 In the words of one of my favorite old Gospel songs:"You ask me how I know He lives? HE LIVES- WITHIN -MY HEART." That is more than enough for me. 213858[/snapback] Maybe you can be a witness for the defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,440 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 They nailed the guy to a cross and persecuted his apostles. Is this really any different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,050 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 In the words of one of my favorite old Gospel songs:"You ask me how I know He lives? HE LIVES- WITHIN -MY HEART." That is more than enough for me. 213858[/snapback] Maybe you can be a witness for the defense. 213869[/snapback] Well you can bet your assssss there won't be a democrat testifying. On second thought maybe Howard Dean and John Kerry could go since they both know the Bible so well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasTiger 13,000 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 In the words of one of my favorite old Gospel songs:"You ask me how I know He lives? HE LIVES- WITHIN -MY HEART." That is more than enough for me. 213858[/snapback] Maybe you can be a witness for the defense. 213869[/snapback] Well you can bet your assssss there won't be a democrat testifying. On second thought maybe Howard Dean and John Kerry could go since they both know the Bible so well. 213922[/snapback] You even manage to make this partisan. Your brain is stuck and skipping like an old vinyl record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrnfanatc 6 Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 They nailed the guy to a cross and persecuted his apostles. Is this really any different? 213894[/snapback] Sadly, no it is not any different really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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