babble home
rabble.ca - news for the rest of us
today's active topics


Post New Topic  Post A Reply
FAQ | Forum Home
  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» babble   » current events   » international news and politics   » Italy: judge orders priest to prove Christ existed

Email this thread to someone!    
Author Topic: Italy: judge orders priest to prove Christ existed
Hephaestion
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 4795

posted 05 January 2006 10:23 AM      Profile for Hephaestion   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
(Rome) An Italian judge has ordered a priest to appear in court this month to prove that Jesus Christ existed.

The case against Father Enrico Righi has been brought in the town of Viterbo, north of Rome, by Luigi Cascioli, a retired agronomist who once studied for the priesthood but later became a militant atheist.

Signor Cascioli, author of a book called The Fable of Christ, began legal proceedings against Father Righi three years ago after the priest denounced Signor Cascioli in the parish newsletter for questioning Christ's historical existence.

Yesterday Gaetano Mautone, a judge in Viterbo, set a preliminary hearing for the end of this month and ordered Father Righi to appear. The judge had earlier refused to take up the case, but was overruled last month by the Court of Appeal, which agreed that Signor Cascioli had a reasonable case for his accusation that Father Righi was "abusing popular credulity".

Signor Cascioli's contention -- echoed in numerous atheist books and internet sites -- is that there was no reliable evidence that Jesus lived and died in 1st-century Palestine apart from the Gospel accounts, which Christians took on faith. There is therefore no basis for Christianity, he claims.

Signor Cascioli's one-man campaign came to a head at a court hearing last April when he lodged his accusations of "abuse of popular credulity" and "impersonation", both offences under the Italian penal code. He argued that all claims for the existence of Jesus from sources other than the Bible stem from authors who lived "after the time of the hypothetical Jesus" and were therefore not reliable witnesses.

Signor Cascioli maintains that early Christian writers confused Jesus with John of Gamala, an anti-Roman Jewish insurgent in 1st-century Palestine. Church authorities were therefore guilty of "substitution of persons".

The Roman historians Tacitus and Suetonius mention a "Christus" or "Chrestus", but were writing "well after the life of the purported Jesus" and were relying on hearsay.

[...]

Signor Cascioli said that the Gospels themselves were full of inconsistencies and did not agree on the names of the 12 apostles. He said that he would withdraw his legal action if Father Righi came up with irrefutable proof of Christ's existence by the end of the month. The Vatican has so far declined to comment.

[ 05 January 2006: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]


From: goodbye... :-( | Registered: Dec 2003  |  IP: Logged
fern hill
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3582

posted 05 January 2006 10:30 AM      Profile for fern hill        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hehe. I've seen this subject over on the Dark Side for a couple of days now, but didn't click on it, thinking it was another wild anti-xian conspiracy fantasy.

Man, gotta love those Italians. Get out the popcorn.


From: away | Registered: Jan 2003  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
guilty-pleasure
Babbler # 3469

posted 05 January 2006 10:33 AM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I wonder... could they legally declare Jesus to be fictitious?

God I'd love that.


From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
voice of the damned
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6943

posted 05 January 2006 11:11 AM      Profile for voice of the damned     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Depending on the evidence presented, I'd be quite willing to go either way on the question of Christ's existence. However, I really don't think this is something that should be settled in a courtroom, at taxpayers' expense.

And this law about abusing public credulity strikes me as rather dubious. Do Italian astrologers get hauled into court as well?


From: Asia | Registered: Sep 2004  |  IP: Logged
retread
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9957

posted 05 January 2006 11:17 AM      Profile for retread     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This one is pretty funny ... sort of the same league as one of the American states legislating pi to be equal to 3.0

Got to love it when courts are used to solve non-legal issues


From: flatlands | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273

posted 13 February 2006 03:58 AM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Italy judge throws out Jesus case

Predictably, the Judge threw the case out of court. But Cascioli said he was now considering taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights.


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged

All times are Pacific Time  

Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic    Move Topic    Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
Hop To:

Contact Us | rabble.ca | Policy Statement

Copyright 2001-2008 rabble.ca