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- Xref: sparky alt.conspiracy:13647 alt.atheism:24789 talk.religion.misc:24964
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- From: muttiah@thistle.ecn.purdue.edu (Ranjan S Muttiah)
- Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy,alt.atheism,talk.religion.misc
- Subject: Re: _Jesus: A Life_ by A.N. Wilson
- Message-ID: <1993Jan3.020047.4096@noose.ecn.purdue.edu>
- Date: 3 Jan 93 02:00:47 GMT
- References: <adams.725991192@spssig> <1993Jan2.233914.2981@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> <adams.726020083@spssig>
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- Organization: Purdue University Engineering Computer Network
- Lines: 42
-
- In article <adams.726020083@spssig> adams@spss.com (Steve Adams) writes:
- >>I agree that Mark being written somewhere in 64-70 AD is possible.
- >>I suspect the first version must have been pretty unadultrated since Mark
- >>was in Rome and he could have checked most of the story with the
- >>official Roman documents (the Romans were notorious for writing everything
- >>down; ex., every legion had a writer/historian).
- >Mark is said to best represent what is thought to be Peter's position.
-
- Well, I think Peter was in Rome for sometime as well, so it is again
- only possible that Mark was influenced by Peter (but it raises the question
- of where Mark got the information about what the various disciplies were
- doing before and after the crucifiction). I don't see many other
- reasons for believing otherwise since the differences among the disciples
- (their positions) were written about later in the Acts.
-
- >Whether he actually used any of the Roman sources is up for grabs. One
- >thing to note is that the enmity between Jesus and the Jewish authorities
- >is not as pronounced as it is in Matthew & Luke.
-
- That is the trouble (about believing even the account in Mark). I don't think
- it would have been difficult for Mark to get his hands on the official documents
- (as per it related to the trial, the Roman treaties with the Sanhedrin etc).
- The question is why doesn't he emphasize that he has checked his story with
- the documents ? I think he had some sort of contact through the wife of a
- high ranking Roman official (can't remember my source :-(). Additionally,
- I think there were means of petitioning the Roman courts to get any document
- to be put on public display. Remember that the Romans were big fans of playing
- by the rules.
-
- About the diferences, I think this again can be partly explained by the
- sack of the Temple. The differences only got pronounced after this; it was
- there all along, however. One was the establishment (only priests could
- enter the Temple) and other against the establishment (anyone should enter
- the Temple).
-
- >While the events would have an effect, since the early dates are possible,
- >and tradition supports them (from the early Fathers) assigning motives is
- >kinda tough. Of course, we can speculate...
-
- We agree then that it was more than (or really much less than :-) divine
- inspiration that drove these people to write their accounts. They must have
- been writing against or for someone or something.
-