Estudos Temáticos: Jesus realmente existiu? - Parte II (dentro da série "O Jesus Histórico", com link para o artigo anterior desta série).
Graça e Paz.
Flávio Josefo (nascido no ano 37 ou 38 e falecido no ano 100) nasceu em Jerusalém, na então província romana da Judeia e, mais tarde, tornou-se cidadão romano.
Suas obras abordam tanto a história dos judeus quanto o início do Cristianismo.
Página do livro Antiguidades Judaicas, de Flávio Josefo
Em sua obra Antiguidades Judaicas (trecho abaixo, na tradução em inglês), Josefo faz uma clara referência a Jesus e a seu Irmão Tiago (James, em língua inglesa e Jacov, no hebraico), afirmando que Jesus era chamado Cristo.
Obviamente, há quem discorde de tal afirmação, interpretando de outra forma os originais em latim.
É bom lembrar que é preciso saber a língua latina para conseguir ler no original essa obra de Flávio Josefo. Abaixo, tem-se apenas a tradução para a língua inglesa.
Como já diziam os romanos: tradução é traição...
Josephus' reference to James the brother of Jesus
And now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood, and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus. Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king, desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrin without his consent. Whereupon Albinus complied with what they said, and wrote in anger to Ananus, and threatened that he would bring him to punishment for what he had done; on which king Agrippa took the high priesthood from him, when he had ruled but three months, and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest.
(Texto conhecido como Testimonium Flavianum, parte do livro Antiguidades Judaicas, de Flávio Josefo)
2 - Tácito
Estátua de Tácito (56-120), localizada no Parlamento Austríaco, em Viena
Tácito (nascido em 56 e falecido em 120) foi um importante historiador e político romano, além de ter sido um grande orador.
No livro 15, em seu capítulo 44, de sua obra Os Anais, ele faz referência a Jesus Cristo, a quem chama Christus.
Como sempre, há contestações ao fato de Jesus ter realmente sido citado por Tácito no trecho mencionado dos Anais.
Cópia da obra Anais, onde Tácito escreve sobre Jesus Cristo
Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.
(In Latin: ergo abolendo rumori Nero subdidit reos et quaesitissimis poenis adfecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Chrestianos appellabat. auctor nominis eius Christus Tibero imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio adfectus erat; repressaque in praesens exitiablilis superstitio rursum erumpebat, non modo per Iudaeam, originem eius mali, sed per urbem etiam, quo cuncta undique atrocia aut pudenda confluunt celebranturque. igitur primum correpti qui fatebantur, deinde indicio eorum multitudo ingens haud proinde in crimine incendii quam odio humani generis convicti sunt.[2])
Passagem dos Anais, onde Tácito faz referência à perseguição dos cristãos por Nero e à existência histórica de Jesus Cristo
3 - Suetônio
Ilustração representando Suetônio
Suetômio escreveu a obra As Vidas dos Doze Césares.
Note-se que ele odiava Nero e Calígula e, por isso, carregou nas tintas, por assim dizer, quando abordou as vidas desses dois césares, retratando-os de forma por vezes distorcida, que foi referência para os historiadores que vieram depois e fez com que esses dois imperadores romanos tornassem-se verdadeiros demônios encarnados, no imaginário popular.
É bom que se lembre, no entanto, que ele não nutria esse ódio todo pela figura de Jesus, a quem se refere como Chrestus.
Página da obra As Vidas dos Doze Césares, obra essa em que Suetônio teria feito referência a Jesus Cristo, chamando-o de Chrestos, que teria instigado os judeus a praticarem distúrbios, sendo, então, expulsos de Roma.
Não é difícil que Suetônio considerasse, dadas as circunstâncias históricas e culturais da época, um agitador, algo como um subversivo.
Naturalmente, há os opositores a essa tese de que Chrestos seria Jesus Cristo como, aliás, existe a respeito de qualquer outra referência a sua existência histórica, feita por esses quatro grandes historiadores do Império Romano.
He rearranged the military career of the knights, assigning a division of cavalry after a cohort, and next the tribunate of a legion. He also instituted a series of military positions and a kind of fictitious service, which is called "supernumerary" and could be performed in absentia and in name only. He even had the Fathers pass a decree forbidding soldiers to enter the houses of senators to pay their respects. He confiscated the property of those freedmen who passed as Roman knights, and reduced to slavery again such as were ungrateful and a cause of complaint to their patrons, declaring to their advocates that he would not entertain a suit against their own freedmen.[70] When certain men were exposing their sick and worn out slaves on the Island of Aesculapius[71] because of the trouble of treating them, Claudius decreed that all such slaves were free, and that if they recovered, they should not return to the control of their master; but if anyone preferred to kill such a slave rather than to abandon him, he was liable to the charge of murder. He provided by an edict that travellers should not pass through the towns of Italy except on foot, or in a chair or litter. He stationed a cohort at Puteoli and one at Ostia, to guard against the danger of fires.
He forbade men of foreign birth to use the Roman names so far as those of the clans[72] were concerned. Those who usurped the privileges of Roman citizenship he executed in the Esquiline field.[73] He restored to the senate the provinces of Achaia and Macedonia, which Tiberius had taken into his own charge. He deprived the Lycians of their independence because of deadly intestine feuds, and restored theirs to the Rhodians, since they had given up their former faults. He allowed the people of Ilium perpetual exemption from tribute, on the ground that they were the founders of the Roman race, reading an ancient letter of the senate and people of Rome written in Greek to king Seleucus, in which they promised him their friendship and alliance only on condition that he should keep their kinsfolk of Ilium free from every burden. Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus,[74] he expelled them from Rome. He allowed the envoys of the Germans to sit in the orchestra, led by their naïve self-confidence; for when they had been taken to the seats occupied by the common people and saw the Parthian and Armenian envoys sitting with the senate, they moved of their own accord to the same part of the theater, protesting that their merits and rank were no whit inferior. He utterly abolished the cruel and inhuman religion of the Druids among the Gauls, which under Augustus had merely been prohibited to Roman citizens; on the other hand he even attempted to transfer the Eleusinian rites from Attica to Rome, and had the temple of Venus Erycina in Sicily, which had falled to ruin through age, restored at the expense of the treasury of the Roman people. He struck his treaties with foreign princes in the Forum, sacrificing a pig[75] and reciting the ancient formula of the fetial priests.[76] But these and other acts, and in fact almost the whole conduct of his reign, were dictated not so much by his own judgment as that of his wives and freedmen, since he nearly always acted in accordance with their interests and desires.
Capítulo 25 de Cláudio, onde Suetônio teria feito referência a Jesus Cristo, a quem teria chamado Chrestus
4 - Plínio, o Jovem
Capa da edição francesa da obra Cartas de Plínio, o Jovem
Nascido em 61 e falecido em 113; Plínio, O Jovem, foi grande orador, político e historiador.
Sua referência a Jesus Cristo aparece em uma de suas cartas, dirigida ao Imperador Trajano.
Foto de estátua de Plínio, O Jovem (61-113), por JoJan.
Como não poderia deixar de ser, há quem duvide que Plínio estaria a se referir realmente a Jesus, nessa carta ao Imperador de Roma.
Segundo a tradução em inglês abaixo, de tal carta, esse historiador teria chamado Jesus de Cristo.
Pliny the Younger was governor of Pontus/Bithynia from 111-113 AD. We have a whole set of exchanges of his letters with the emperor Trajan on a variety of administrative political matters. These two letters are the most famous, in which P. encounters Christianity for the first time.
Pliny, Letters 10.96-97
Pliny to the Emperor Trajan
It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished.Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.
Soon accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings going on, and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document was published containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition.
I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to check and cure it. It is certainly quite clear that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found. Hence it is easy to imagine what a multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity for repentance is afforded.
Trajan to Pliny
You observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those who had been denounced to you as Christians. For it is not possible to lay down any general rule to serve as a kind of fixed standard. They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it--that is, by worshiping our gods--even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age.Carta de Plínio, O jovem, ao Imperador Trajano, em que o historiador faz referência ao Cristo
Nossa conclusão: por mais que se leve em conta que problemas em traduções podem existir, como de fato existem, seria muito difícil que os quatro grandes historiadores romanos citados neste artigo pudessem estar, todos eles, fazendo referência a alguém que não fosse Jesus, chamado O Cristo.
Ninguém está pretendendo afirmar que os milagres realizados por Jesus, que são relatados no Novo Testamento, possam ser objeto de pesquisa científica, visto a Ciência, nos tempos atuais, não reconhecer o sobrenatural, mas duvidar da existência histórica de um personagem como Jesus, chega a ser até uma ofensa ao legado de tão respeitados e renomados historiadores como Flávio Josefo, Tácito, Suetônio e Plínio, o Jovem.
Este modesto artigo não é nem pretende ser um trabalho nos moldes definidos pela ABNT (Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas) ou qualquer instituição internacional equivalente.
Escrevemos isto simplesmente para abrir um saudável debate sobre a polêmica desnecessária que voltou à tona, sobre uma suposta não existência histórica de Jesus.
As coisas são como são, acreditando-se nelas ou não.
Fica ainda mais estranho o fato de se aceitar, sem grandes problemas, que o filósofo grego Sócrates tenha existido, quando a única fonte conhecida de sua existência histórica foi seu discípulo Platão, que escreveu sobre ele.
Entretanto, mesmo havendo quatro fontes de respeito sobre a existência histórica de Jesus, há quem discorde e ponha dúvida na interpretação em geral dada a elas, no que tange às referências nelas existentes terem sido efetivamente referentes a Jesus, como personagem histórico.
Link para o artigo anterior desta série: Estudos Temáticos: Jesus realmente existiu? - Primeiro artigo da série "O Jesus Histórico" . (com links sobre o Jesus Histórico) - Introdução. (blogsadoutrinachannel.blogspot.com)
Este artigo não deve ser a sua única fonte de informação sobre o tema.
Este artigo não deve ser a sua única fonte de informação sobre o tema.
Graça e Paz.
Missionário Clóvis Marques Guimarães Júnior, do Ministério Cristão Sã Doutrina Channel.
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Links de interesse:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2848 (edição em inglês de Antiguidades dos Judeus, de Flávio Josefo)
http://faculty.georgetown.edu/jod/texts/pliny.html (tradução em inglês da carta de Plínio, O Jovem, para Trajano e a resposta deste)
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Lives_of_the_Twelve_Caesars/Claudius#25 (tradução em inglês do capítulo sobre o Imperador Cláudio, em que Suetônio teria se referido a Cristo como Chrestus)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0077&redirect=true (Os Anais de Tácito, em sua versão original em latim)
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Annals_(Tacitus)/Book_15#44 (tradução em inglês do capítulo de sua obra Os Anais, em que Tácito teria feito referência a Cristo como Christus)
OBS: foram consultados verbetes da Wikipedia, tanto em inglês quanto em português, no que se refere às biografias e às obras desses quatro historiadores onde a figura do Jesus Histórico é mencionada,
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