Did Jesus exist? Italian court to decide By Phil Stewart


ROME (Reuters) - Forget the U.S. debate over intelligent design versus evolution.

An Italian court is tackling Jesus -- and whether the Roman Catholic Church may be breaking the law by teaching that he existed 2,000 years ago.

The case pits against each other two men in their 70s, who are from the same central Italian town and even went to the same seminary school in their teenage years.

The defendant, Enrico Righi, went on to become a priest writing for the parish newspaper. The plaintiff, Luigi Cascioli, became a vocal atheist who, after years of legal wrangling, is set to get his day in court later this month.

"I started this lawsuit because I wanted to deal the final blow against the Church, the bearer of obscurantism and regression," Cascioli told Reuters.

Cascioli says Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first is "Abuso di Credulita Popolare" (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime, he says, is "Sostituzione di Persona", or impersonation.

"The Church constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala," Cascioli claimed, referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army.

A court in Viterbo will hear from Righi, who has yet to be indicted, at a January 27 preliminary hearing meant to determine whether the case has enough merit to go forward.

"In my book, The Fable of Christ, I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure. He must now refute this by showing proof of Christ's existence," Cascioli said.

Speaking to Reuters, Righi, 76, sounded frustrated by the case and baffled as to why Cascioli -- who, like him, came from the town of Bagnoregio -- singled him out in his crusade against the Church.

"We're both from Bagnoregio, both of us. We were in seminary together. Then he took a different path and we didn't see each other anymore," Righi said.

"Since I'm a priest, and I write in the parish newspaper, he is now suing me because I 'trick' the people."

Righi claims there is plenty of evidence to support the existence of Jesus, including historical texts.

He also claims that justice is on his side. The judge presiding over the hearing has tried, repeatedly, to dismiss the case -- prompting appeals from Cascioli.

"Cascioli says he didn't exist. And I said that he did," he said. "The judge will to decide if Christ exists or not."

Even Cascioli admits that the odds are against him, especially in Roman Catholic Italy.

"It would take a miracle to win," he joked

cant wait to see the outcome
sounds like a waste of time and money tbh. (just my opinion thou)

*~^^ i agree~*

I don't need a court to decide if Jesus exists. I believe he did and does

we were having a debate about this in the office this morning
saying that surely jesus rose from the dead on a specific date so why does the date for easter change every year?

althou i do believe that there is a god or some kind of higher power that created the world and controls/watches over everything in it

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kirsty,

quote:

Originally posted by Epiphoneman:
I don't need a court to decide if Jesus exists. I believe he did and does

I agree

quote:

Originally posted by Epiphoneman:
I don't need a court to decide if Jesus exists. I believe he did and does

I agree.

I don't believe in the courts dregged up by humanity.

ignorance is bliss,faith divine.

wow thats a really great idea. ...lol id love to do the research on that case. ...

quote:

Originally posted by Unique Dog:

quote:

Originally posted by Epiphoneman:
I don't need a court to decide if Jesus exists. I believe he did and does

I agree.

i agree w/ this too...however id like to see if they can find evidence ...id tell them that faith is really evidence in my mind

why is there a need for this? Does it actually "prove" anything? People have their faith....even if it is not religious-based, it is there in some form or another. I feel that this is completely unecessary, as it depends on the views of each person as an individual.

B.S.

It's a classic case of arguing ancient text against ancient text. I don't believe EITHER pieces of evidence are compelling, and that this [as kirsty said] is a waste of time and money.

I will believe in what I believe...no matter what they say.
What a worthless court case...challenging people's beliefs.

However, the Catholic Church has suffered a tremendous amount of bad publicity.

Someone called me a Child molester because I was Catholic. That says a lot...Even when abuse exists in every denomination of religion, the public school system, the workplace, etc....

So my say is that I don't know what this world is coming to.

yeah i agree ...i would just like to see how they argue it ...lol *

Come on that's SH1T! I'm a Roman Catholic and I do NOT need "evidence" to come to the conclusion that Jesus Christ existed. Once you feel that you have enough faith, I like I do, you don't need that sh1t. That pisses me off. I'm sorry, that's just me.

Communism

1. A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.

I am afraid one day all gov. everywhere MAY try to inflict this. I think they can shove their decision right up thei ARSE!

They have already taken Jesus' name out of schools. People want Gods name of of our currency.. They want to take "Christ" out of Christmas" WTH! AMERICA needs to have a reality check!!! A handfull of morons that want to stir up trouble here and there.. BS.

JESUS ISSSSSSSSSSS REAL! JMO. no one go crazy please.