Jesus ben Pandira, who was said to be a wonder-worker, was stoned to death and then hung on a tree on the eve of Passover during the reign of Alexander Jannæus (106-79 BC) in Jerusalem. And then there is Jesus ben Stada (date ?) suffered the same fate--stoned and hanged on the eve of Passover in Lydda. Is it possible that one/both of these men became, over time, the Jesus of Paul and the Gospels--particularly Jesus ben Pandira, whose legend had plenty of time to grow?

Comments guys?

Kindly,

Sean

interesting. where did you discover this?

Good morning 1618. I've been aware of these two interesting gents since my college days. Couldn't remember much about them, and so I did a little research on WIKI et al. It's obviously a far-fetched theory, but an interesting one. Just curious as to what my fellow UMers think?

WIKI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeshu#ben-Pandera

Jewish Sources (Bottom of page)
http://www.mystae.com/restricted/reflectio...ah/sources.html

Kindly,

Sean

As much as I would love to find the historical jesus and info about his family and virgin mother, etc. I do not see how the men you mention could have inspired any sort of a following, let alone an entire religion.

If Jesus is one of those people, there is a lot of missing info that would tie them together.

Less exciting people have inspired whole religions, L. Ron Hubbard, Ol' Joe Smith, to name but a few.

It's an interesting theory and very possibly some fragments of these men's lives could have been attributed to the Christian depiction of Josh. However, we have no way of knowing what may or may not have been specifically distinct of any of them. Most Christians I've come face to face with are more likely to put faith in the "classic" interpretation of Josh, his deeds and teachings instead of questioning their understandings. Not many people would willingly put forth the efforts to debunk their own beliefs. Mankind, in general, is happy following the simplest understanding of any given subject. Even if some irrefutable evidence was offered to link these men, no good would come of it. Unless it was presented in the right way and time, it would pass from conscious thought sooner than imaginable, though I'm sure many here at UM would be more than willing to quote it as evidence to either bolster or detract from the validity of Christianity. Mankind won't really consider any new evidence concerning Divinity. We've become numb to such things. Self interest is the new religion, like it or not.

Take care!

REPO MAN!

(btw, I am just following truethat's habit of following up posts he agrees with by doing nothing more than typing his nick in all caps followed by an exclamation point)

But it works for Truethat, in an urban sort of way. For you, it just makes you appear even more the fool. Anyone else you'd like to make fun of, aggitate or otherwise insult, Repoman?

This is an interesting post. If you follow the belief that christianity is just a hodgepodge of other religions and ideas all thrown together, then is definately something to consider. (I'm not saying that's what christianity is, I'm just stating an idea). Thanks for bringing this idea out.

Very welcome kind sir!

Sean

That is like me asking you "Are you done beating your wife?".
The original premise of the question was faulty.
I am making fun of/aggitating/insulting nobody.
I like truethat's posts. And I like your posts.


I have never called you a fool or otherwise insulted you. I understand your heart feels hatreds towards me and that is OK. Hopefully you will pray tonight for forgiveness for your sins and then you will love me again - as you surely love all mankind.

Interesting thoughts Sean. I don't know a lot about biblical history, but I did dig up this little article about the Talmud and how it examines who is who in the text.

Looking at this it seems possible that Jesus Ben Pandira and Jesus Ben Stada are one and the same person?



This is an important quote from the article as it mentions the difficulty in making associations from historical sources due to the writings of Jesus in the NT being treated somewhat as a mystery.

Any thoughts on this yourself?

Let's not pretend that either of us has been cordial to the other, that's just insulting. Hatred? No. Annoyance? You bet! Walk your path, Repo, I'll walk mine. For the record, I'm neither a Christian or "ashamed" of my natural human reactions to those who annoy me, so you're not likely going to pull a guilt trip on me with your mockery of dogma. Sorry. But again, you walk your path, I'll walk mine. Good luck!