www.nbcnews.com/id/26972493/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/earliest-reference-describes-christ-magician/

Earliest reference describes Christ as 'magician'
Bowl dated between late 2nd century B.C. and the early 1st century A.D.

By Jennifer Viegas
Discovery Channel

A team of scientists led by renowned French marine
archaeologist Franck Goddio recently announced that they have found a bowl, dating to between the late 2nd century B.C. and the early 1st century A.D., that is engraved with what they believe could be the world's first known reference to Christ.

If the word "Christ" refers to the Biblical Jesus Christ, as is speculated, then the discovery may provide evidence that Christianity and paganism at times intertwined in the ancient world.

The full engraving on the bowl reads, "DIA CHRSTOU OGOISTAIS," which has been interpreted by the
excavation team to mean either, "by Christ the
magician" or, "the magician by Christ."

"It could very well be a reference to Jesus Christ, in that he was once the primary exponent of white magic," Goddio, co-founder of the Oxford Center of Maritime Archaeology, said.

He and his colleagues found the object during an
excavation of the underwater ruins of Alexandria's
ancient great harbor. The Egyptian site also includes the now submerged island of Antirhodos, where Cleopatra's palace may have been located.

Both Goddio and Egyptologist David Fabre, a member of the European Institute of Submarine Archaeology, think a "magus" could have practiced fortune telling rituals using the bowl. The Book of Matthew refers to
"wisemen," or Magi, believed to have been prevalent in the ancient world.


In the first century, Pliny the Elder wrote about a sect of Jews who practiced magic. Moses was probably their greatest magician. Moses and Aaron had gained fame by tricks performed for the Pharaoh. The staff that became a snake when Aaron cast it on the ground was probably a known species of Egyptian cobra that can be made stiff and motionless by pressure in back of the head. The trick has been repeated by modern Egyptian wizards.

After being ejected from Egypt, perhaps as the result of his deceits, Moses called upon miracle after miracle to keep the people together during their wanderings in the desert. When he entered the Tabernacle, a tent that was pitched each night outside camp for Moses to use to speak with God, smoke and sparks would greet his entry.

The Bible reports that Jesus was accused of practicing magic, and that his following resulted from his ability to perform miracles. The second century Roman philosopher Celus is quoted in the writings of the early Christian apologist Origen as saying that Jesus learned the arts of magic on Egypt, and then returned to his own country with these acquired skills.

We will probably never know. But applying law of parsimony, which demands that rational people assume the simplest hypothesis in explaining events, it seems very likely that Jesus, if he exited, was a talented magician.

DjAndroid:
May God have mercy on all of you above me^^^

menesheh:
You failed to recognize the magic of reality all around you but you are here dancing to the tune of yet-to-explain illusion.

Science magical wonders have out paced those magical fantasies written in the bible.


Imagine fly an intelligently designed object in the sky.
Imagine placing a call to a far distance place
Imagine space exploration
Imagine computer simulations
Imagine all wonders of science realities that we use and interact with everyday, rather than magical performance by a presumed medium that doubters continued arguing and debating about its authenticity everyday. That has no evidence to back it up.