Got this from the flickr pool of the US National Archives. This was created by the US Information Agency in 1953. Sixty years hence and the message is still so (shamefully) relevant. Our heroes must be restless in their graves.
\
The Crucifixion (1622) by Simon Vouet; Church of Jesus, Genoa
While there may be no scientific way to determine if the supernatural event at the heart of Christianity, Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, really occurred, historians have established some facts about his life:
1. His birth … in a manger?Most historians believe Jesus was a real man. To test the veracity of biblical claims, historians typically compare Christian accounts of Jesus’ life with historical ones recorded by Romans and Jews, most notably the historians Flavius Josephus and Cornelius Tacitus. And though a manger may or may not have figured prominently in the birth, scholars do agree that Jesus was born between 2 B.C. and 7 B.C. as part of the peasant class in a small village called Nazareth in Galilee. Historians also back the claim that Joseph, Jesus’ father, was a carpenter, meaning Jesus would have gone into the family profession as well.
2. A mystical baptism
One of the pivotal moments in the New Testament is Jesus’ baptism in the wilderness by a radical mystic named John the Baptist. Most historians believe this event actually occurred, and that Jesus experienced some sort of vision that led him to begin preaching. In the New Testament, Mark 1:10 (The New American Bible, Revised Edition) describes Jesus seeing “the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him.” Jesus is then tempted by Satan in the wilderness for 40 days, the passage continues. The Jewish historian Josephus mentions the mystical activities of John the Baptist, as well as his execution by King Herod. [History's 10 Most Overlooked Mysteries]
Read the rest at LiveScience: Easter Science: 6 Facts About Jesus, by Tia Ghose
A recently decoded Egyptian text that dates around 1,200 years relays part of Jesus’ crucifixion with (doubtful) twists that have never been seen before.
Written in the Coptic language, the ancient text tells of Pontius Pilate, the judge who authorized Jesus’ crucifixion, having dinner with Jesus before his crucifixion and offering to sacrifice his own son in the place of Jesus. It also explains why Judas used a kiss, specifically, to betray Jesus — because Jesus had the ability to change shape, according to the text — and it puts the day of the arrest of Jesus on Tuesday evening rather than Thursday evening, something that contravenes the Easter timeline.
Read the rest at LiveScience: Shape-Shifting Jesus Described in Ancient Egyptian Text, by Owen Jarus
