Michael Nugent – Page 3 – Atheism, Reason, Happiness

Do gods exist? 44 Biblical and historical Jesus

Here’s an overview of the Biblical stories of Jesus and the independent records of Jesus by Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny, Suetonius, and Thallus.

Do gods exist? 43 Jesus by Suetonius and Thallus

Image adapted from reconstruction of face of Jesus by Richard Neave

A fourth independent record of the possible existence of Jesus was written in about 120 AD by Gaius Suetonius, a Roman historian who worked for Pliny and various Emperors.

Do gods exist? 42 Jesus by Pliny

A third independent record of Jesus was written in about 110 ad. Pliny the Younger was a Roman politician who published ten books of his Letters.

Golfgate

It is outrageous that our Covid restrictions were collectively breached by numerous politicians, a Government Minister, the deputy chair of the Seanad, a Supreme Court Judge, a European Commissioner, a bank lobby chief executive, and a retired RTE political presenter.

Ideally, this cartoon collection of conflicts of interest should not have been socialising together under the auspices of the Oireachtas Golf Society in the first place. That they did so in breach of pandemic guidelines that ordinary citizens are obeying is beyond comprehension.

Do gods exist? 41 Jesus by Tacitus

A second independent record of Jesus was written about 110 ad by Gaius Tacitus, a Roman Consul who turned his attention to writing in his forties.

Do gods exist? 40 Jesus by Josephus

Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, in his Jewish Antiquities of 93 ad, was the first independent historian to refer to the existence of Jesus.

Do gods exist? 39 The historical Jesus

Image: reconstruction of face of Jesus by British medical artist Richard Neave

If Jesus existed as a human being and did so many amazing things, surely somebody at the time would have written about him? Well, actually, no.

The right to not attend religious instruction

Atheist Ireland has obtained a legal opinion from barrister James Kane on the Constitutional right to not attend religious instruction under Article 44.2.4.

The State religion course is not objective

The state Religious Education course developed by the NCCA is not objective, and it disrespects the rights of atheists and humanists.

The Match of the Day theme tune is 50

Fifty years ago today, on 15th August 1970, BBC introduced a new theme tune for Match of the Day. It would become an iconic part of British culture.