Hi and welcome back! It’s Friday, and that means our attention turns to history. Specifically, we focus on a voice from the 1st century to see if they said anything about Jesus or Christianity during Jesus’ supposed lifetime. This time around, that voice is female. Pamphile of Epidaurus wrote some excellent Read more
Today, let’s look at what Thallus wrote — or rather, at what later Christians said Thallus wrote, and why it’s just not convincing as a source.
This time, our focus centers on some names that often get included in such lists, but maybe shouldn’t be on them. These writers either didn’t write anything that even vaguely touched on religious or philosophical topics, or didn’t write anything that survived. Today, let’s look at some of them: Phaedrus, Columella, and Marcus Servilius Nonianus. And I’ll show you why they don’t make my cut.
Today, our focus rests upon Gaius Plinius Secundus, more popularly known as Pliny the Elder. As he lived between 23/24 CE – 79 CE and was good friends with Emperor Vespasian (who ruled from 69-79 CE), he was very well-placed to know all about this stuff. Let’s see if he did.
Hi and welcome back! It’s Friday, and that means it’s time to meet another writer on our 1st-century list. Today, our lucky winner is Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger, aka Seneca. This illustrious Roman lived between 4 BCE and 65 CE and spent his life as a philosopher, statesman, writer, Read more
Hi, y’all! Welcome back. It being Friday again, let us turn our attention to another 1st-century writer. This time, our subject is Marcus Velleius Paterculus (19 BCE – 31 CE). This Roman historian lived through the wildest years of the early Roman Empire. Thus, he wrote during those critical years Read more
Hi and welcome back! For today’s 1st-Century Friday, we have a treat in store: Philo of Alexandria, also called Philo Judaeus. He lived smack in the middle of that critically-important period we’ve identified as the 30s, roughly. Not only that, but he was also Jewish and highly-placed in court circles. Read more
Today, we’ll see what Livy wrote — or rather, didn’t — about the wild-eyed rock star apocalypse-huckster supposedly stirring things up in Jerusalem.
Today, let’s check out this fascinating rival for 1st-century affections — and check out what we can of his writings.
We’re about to start a new topic that I expect to last a while: 1st-century writers. First, though, let me show you why this topic is so important to me. See, these 1st-century writers’ utter silence about one particular subject rattled my faith in Christianity in a way that I would never recover.