There is, Of Course, No God

Judge Orders Priest to Prove Existence of Christ

A judge in an Italian court has ordered a priest to prove that Jesus Christ was a real person. The case involves an action brought against Fr. Enrico Righi by Luigi Cascioli, a retired agronomist who once studied for the priesthood, but then became an atheist. Mr. Cascioli wrote a book entitled, The Fable of Christ, which Fr. Righi challenged in his parish newsletter for questioning the existence of our Lord Jesus Christ in history.

Cascioli asserts that there is no reliable evidence for the existence of Christ, apart from the Scriptures – and, therefore, no historical basis for the Christian faith. He adds that all other works cited for the existence of Christ, such as the histories of Josephus and Tacitus, were written “long after” the period in which Christ lived as an earthly man, and so are not reliable witnesses, but rather merely report hearsay evidence. He has also said that the Gospels themselves are full of inconsistencies – for example, they do not agree on the names of the 12 apostles. He claims that early Christian writers confused our Lord with someone he calls “John of Gamala,” supposedly an anti-Roman activist in first century Palestine.

Cascioli 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.

Where is the proof for the claim that “John of Gamala” was a real person, with a “real” basis in history? It’s a wonder – and another bit of evidence of the hatred that exists against our Lord Jesus Christ to this day – that the judge only ordered proof of His existence. What about the proof of the existence of Moses, or Abraham? (But that would be anti-Semitic!) What about proving the existence of Lao Tze, or Gautama Buddha? Did Mohammed really exist? Prove it!

And how, one wonders, will Cascioli or Judge Gaetano Mautone, prove their existence 100 years from now? Or 2000 years from now? Assuming, of course, anyone (beyond their families and friends) cared to even ask…