“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist.” (1 John 4:2-3)
GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL
It was like the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Except it wasn’t the Clanton’s versus Wyatt Earp and company.
Instead, one Italian priest and one would-be Italian priest (turned atheist) were in a showdown over whether Jesus really existed or not.
Their names were Enrico Righi and Luigi Cascioli.
CHRIST’S EXISTENCE A MAN-MADE LIE?
The latter filed a lawsuit against the former saying he’d perpetrated the lie of Christ’s existence as part of and representing Roman Catholicism.
According to Reuters, Cascioli said, “Righi, and by extension the whole Church, broke two Italian laws. The first [was] ‘Abuso di Credulita Popolare’ (Abuse of Popular Belief) meant to protect people against being swindled or conned. The second crime [was] ‘Sostituzione di Persona’, or impersonation. ‘The Church [had] constructed Christ upon the personality of John of Gamala,’ Cascioli [claimed], referring to the 1st century Jew who fought against the Roman army.”
Righi, for his part, countered saying there wasn’t much evidence for the existence of Christ and he didn’t quite understand how Cascioli, who attended the same seminary as him, could have come to a different conclusion.
Righi goes on: “‘Cascioli [said Jesus] didn’t exist. And I said that he did. The judge will decide if Christ exist[ed] or not.'” (Reuters)
And, by the way, let me not forget to add how Cascioli happened to have a book on the market at the time entitled: “The Fable of Christ.”
Could it have been the reason he brought his lawsuit – to sell more books?
Ultimately, the judge would throw out Cascioli’s lawsuit. (Reuters)
IRREFUTABLE EVIDENCE OF CHRIST’S EXISTENCE
Of course I didn’t need to wait for a judge’s decision because I’d already looked at the evidence myself as regards Christ’s existence (both Scriptural and historical) and found it to be complete and irrefutable (that’s just a big word for: it can’t be proven false).
Ultimately, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit that Jesus has indeed “come in the flesh.” Amen?
Those who come to a different conclusion are functioning by a different spirit.
(Priests picture file above is in the public domain: click here.)
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