Did Jesus exist? Italian court to decide

drkhalsa · #1 (**permalink**) 06-01-2006, 06:22 PM

Did Jesus exist? Italian court to decide
Rome, January 5
Forget the US 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 by 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 said.
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 *** 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.
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.
''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 a 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 decide if Christ exists or not.'' Even Cascioli admits that the odds are against him, especially in Roman Catholic Italy. — Reuters

vijaydeep Singh · #2 (**permalink**) 07-01-2006, 01:18 PM

Gurfateh

It in wrttan in New Testment that one day people will doubt the existance of Lord Jesus.

May Akal forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.

devinesanative · #3 (**permalink**) 07-01-2006, 10:46 PM

Jass Singh must Go to Italy , and do the niptara of the case ....

He has the documented proof with the seal of God.