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Disclaimer
- It should be noted that this gallery is not deliberately blasphemous, nor is it intended to cause offense to or refute Christianity. All information presented here is factual, and not a matter of opinion.
© Getty Images
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Celsus
- The 2nd-century Greek philosopher Celsus wrote a book called ‘A True Discourse’ (c. 175 to 181 CE) in which he criticized and refuted early Christianity.
© Getty Images
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Evidence
- The book is a lost work, the text itself only known of because quotes from it appear in another book, Contra Celsum ('Against Celsus').
© Public Domain
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‘Contra Celsum’
- This second book was written by Origen of Alexandria, a Christian, about 70 years after the publication of ‘A True Discourse.’
© Getty Images
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Not so virginal, according to Celsius
- Celsus argues that Jesus was born from a poor Jewish woman, who “was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been convicted as guilty of adultery, and she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera.”
© Public Domain
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Babylonian Talmud reference
- Another reference to this version can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, where Jesus is referred to as “Yeshu ben Pantera” (“Jesus, son of Pantera”).
© Getty Images
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Jerusalem Talmud reference
- Jesus is also mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud, referred to as “ha hu” (“that one”).
© Getty Images
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Who was Panthera?
- But who was this mysterious Roman soldier named Panthera Celsius, who claimed to be the biological father of Jesus? His full name was Tiberius Julius Abdes Panthera (sometimes spelled Pantera or Pandera).
© Getty Images
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Roman soldier
- Panthera was a Roman-Phoenician soldier born in Sidon (modern-day Lebanon) circa 22 BCE.
© Getty Images
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Non-native Roman
- Panthera was a non-native Roman of Semitic origin who didn’t become a Roman citizen until after he had served Emperor Tiberius (14 to 37 CE) for 25 years.
© Getty Images
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Citizenship granted
- His military service to the empire granted him citizenship and consequently, "Tiberius Julius" was added to his name.
© Getty Images
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Military career
- Panthera was known to be the standard bearer of the "1st Sagittariorum cohort" of Roman archers, a position he held for 40 years, until his death at the age of 62.
© Getty Images
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More evidence
- All historical evidence mentioned previously derives from a tombstone (pictured) found in Bingerbrück, Germany, in 1859.
© Public Domain
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Inscription
- The Latin inscription on the tombstone reads: Tib(erius) Iul(ius) Abdes Pantera Sidonia ann(orum) LXII stipen(diorum) XXXX miles exs(ignifer?) coh(orte) I sagittariorum
h(ic) s(itus) e(st). Which translates to “Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera from Sidon, aged 62 years served 40 years, former standard bearer (?) of the First Cohort of Archers lies here.”
© Public Domain
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Archeological evidence
- Panthera’s tombstone can be found at the Museum Römerhalle in the town of Bad Kreuznach, Germany.
© Shutterstock
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Not an unusual name
- Panthera was a common name among soldiers, especially in the Roman province of Judaea. The standard bearer of a Roman unit wore animal fur on their head (usually a predatory cat), and Panthera's responsibility was just that, according to his tombstone inscription.
© Getty Images
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Could Panthera be a satirical name?
- In this case it's been suggested that the name Panthera was a satirical connection between the Greek words panthēr ("panther") and parthenos, which means "virgin."
© Public Domain
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Historical timeline
- According to scholars’ calculations, it’s estimated that Panthera was born between 45 and 22 BCE. Jesus is believed to have been born in 7 BCE, and Panthera's cohort of archers are reckoned to have passed through Palestine from Germany anywhere between 6–9 CE. So there is a mathematical chance that a Roman soldier named Panthera could have met Mary at the time.
© Getty Images
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Alternative version of the story
- According to The Times of Israel, Panthera fell for a young Jewish girl named Miriam (Mary). There is some dispute about whether they had consensual intimacy or not. Either way, the story goes that they did engage in intimate relations regardless.
© Getty Images
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The pregnancy
- When the rabbis discovered Mary’s pregnancy, they “declared her a sotah, an adulteress woman.“ Her fiancé, Joseph, refused to marry her.
© Getty Images
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Divine intervention
- Then, the angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph and convinced him to marry Mary, as the baby would be the savior of their people.
© Getty Images
21 / 30 Fotos
Yeshu
- Yeshu (Jesus) was born and declared a mamzer (a child born of an illicit relationship). Yeshu went on to claim to be the Son of God “when such a thought was anathema to all strains of Jewish belief and thought.”
© Getty Images
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Outcast
- The fact that Jesus was not a prophet offended Jews and indeed violated written Jewish law. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, which was forbidden. And his miracles were interpreted as Egyptian magic.
© Getty Images
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Questions and interpretations
- Jesus mingled with the Samaritans, who were excluded by rabbinic Judaism. He also questioned the rabbis and made his own interpretations of Jewish law.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Jesus wasn't the founder of Christianity
- “Jesus did not found a new religion. He was born and died a Jew. The movement of early Christianity was created by Saul (Paul) of Tarsus, the only disciple who never met nor heard the voice of Jesus,” alleges Esor Ben-Sorek, a former professor of Hebrew, Biblical literature & history of Israel.
© Getty Images
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Convincing the Greeks
- Furthermore, Paul convinced the Greeks that Jewish religious practice was not required, nor was circumcision. He also insisted that Jewish dietary laws be relaxed, Ben-Sorek adds.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
Toledot Yeshu
- The 'Toledot Yeshu' is a Jewish text on the life of Jesus. The disputed biography also portrays Jesus as an illegitimate child. The ‘Toledot Yeshu’ is not considered canonical or normative within Rabbinic literature.
© Getty Images
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Prodigy
- Jesus may have been a prodigy, regardless of who his father really was. If Panthera was indeed his biological father, he didn’t live to see his son.
© Getty Images
28 / 30 Fotos
Fact or fiction?
- Ultimately, whether this remarkable story has any historical truth to it or was simply fabricated in an attempt to discredit Christianity, is still up for debate. Sources: (Times of Israel) (Grunge) (Museum.de) (A True Discourse) (Kehila News) (Robin Helweg-Larsen) (Imperium Romanum)
© Getty Images
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© Getty Images
0 / 30 Fotos
Disclaimer
- It should be noted that this gallery is not deliberately blasphemous, nor is it intended to cause offense to or refute Christianity. All information presented here is factual, and not a matter of opinion.
© Getty Images
1 / 30 Fotos
Celsus
- The 2nd-century Greek philosopher Celsus wrote a book called ‘A True Discourse’ (c. 175 to 181 CE) in which he criticized and refuted early Christianity.
© Getty Images
2 / 30 Fotos
Evidence
- The book is a lost work, the text itself only known of because quotes from it appear in another book, Contra Celsum ('Against Celsus').
© Public Domain
3 / 30 Fotos
‘Contra Celsum’
- This second book was written by Origen of Alexandria, a Christian, about 70 years after the publication of ‘A True Discourse.’
© Getty Images
4 / 30 Fotos
Not so virginal, according to Celsius
- Celsus argues that Jesus was born from a poor Jewish woman, who “was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been convicted as guilty of adultery, and she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera.”
© Public Domain
5 / 30 Fotos
Babylonian Talmud reference
- Another reference to this version can be found in the Babylonian Talmud, where Jesus is referred to as “Yeshu ben Pantera” (“Jesus, son of Pantera”).
© Getty Images
6 / 30 Fotos
Jerusalem Talmud reference
- Jesus is also mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud, referred to as “ha hu” (“that one”).
© Getty Images
7 / 30 Fotos
Who was Panthera?
- But who was this mysterious Roman soldier named Panthera Celsius, who claimed to be the biological father of Jesus? His full name was Tiberius Julius Abdes Panthera (sometimes spelled Pantera or Pandera).
© Getty Images
8 / 30 Fotos
Roman soldier
- Panthera was a Roman-Phoenician soldier born in Sidon (modern-day Lebanon) circa 22 BCE.
© Getty Images
9 / 30 Fotos
Non-native Roman
- Panthera was a non-native Roman of Semitic origin who didn’t become a Roman citizen until after he had served Emperor Tiberius (14 to 37 CE) for 25 years.
© Getty Images
10 / 30 Fotos
Citizenship granted
- His military service to the empire granted him citizenship and consequently, "Tiberius Julius" was added to his name.
© Getty Images
11 / 30 Fotos
Military career
- Panthera was known to be the standard bearer of the "1st Sagittariorum cohort" of Roman archers, a position he held for 40 years, until his death at the age of 62.
© Getty Images
12 / 30 Fotos
More evidence
- All historical evidence mentioned previously derives from a tombstone (pictured) found in Bingerbrück, Germany, in 1859.
© Public Domain
13 / 30 Fotos
Inscription
- The Latin inscription on the tombstone reads: Tib(erius) Iul(ius) Abdes Pantera Sidonia ann(orum) LXII stipen(diorum) XXXX miles exs(ignifer?) coh(orte) I sagittariorum
h(ic) s(itus) e(st). Which translates to “Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera from Sidon, aged 62 years served 40 years, former standard bearer (?) of the First Cohort of Archers lies here.”
© Public Domain
14 / 30 Fotos
Archeological evidence
- Panthera’s tombstone can be found at the Museum Römerhalle in the town of Bad Kreuznach, Germany.
© Shutterstock
15 / 30 Fotos
Not an unusual name
- Panthera was a common name among soldiers, especially in the Roman province of Judaea. The standard bearer of a Roman unit wore animal fur on their head (usually a predatory cat), and Panthera's responsibility was just that, according to his tombstone inscription.
© Getty Images
16 / 30 Fotos
Could Panthera be a satirical name?
- In this case it's been suggested that the name Panthera was a satirical connection between the Greek words panthēr ("panther") and parthenos, which means "virgin."
© Public Domain
17 / 30 Fotos
Historical timeline
- According to scholars’ calculations, it’s estimated that Panthera was born between 45 and 22 BCE. Jesus is believed to have been born in 7 BCE, and Panthera's cohort of archers are reckoned to have passed through Palestine from Germany anywhere between 6–9 CE. So there is a mathematical chance that a Roman soldier named Panthera could have met Mary at the time.
© Getty Images
18 / 30 Fotos
Alternative version of the story
- According to The Times of Israel, Panthera fell for a young Jewish girl named Miriam (Mary). There is some dispute about whether they had consensual intimacy or not. Either way, the story goes that they did engage in intimate relations regardless.
© Getty Images
19 / 30 Fotos
The pregnancy
- When the rabbis discovered Mary’s pregnancy, they “declared her a sotah, an adulteress woman.“ Her fiancé, Joseph, refused to marry her.
© Getty Images
20 / 30 Fotos
Divine intervention
- Then, the angel Gabriel appeared to Joseph and convinced him to marry Mary, as the baby would be the savior of their people.
© Getty Images
21 / 30 Fotos
Yeshu
- Yeshu (Jesus) was born and declared a mamzer (a child born of an illicit relationship). Yeshu went on to claim to be the Son of God “when such a thought was anathema to all strains of Jewish belief and thought.”
© Getty Images
22 / 30 Fotos
Outcast
- The fact that Jesus was not a prophet offended Jews and indeed violated written Jewish law. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, which was forbidden. And his miracles were interpreted as Egyptian magic.
© Getty Images
23 / 30 Fotos
Questions and interpretations
- Jesus mingled with the Samaritans, who were excluded by rabbinic Judaism. He also questioned the rabbis and made his own interpretations of Jewish law.
© Getty Images
24 / 30 Fotos
Jesus wasn't the founder of Christianity
- “Jesus did not found a new religion. He was born and died a Jew. The movement of early Christianity was created by Saul (Paul) of Tarsus, the only disciple who never met nor heard the voice of Jesus,” alleges Esor Ben-Sorek, a former professor of Hebrew, Biblical literature & history of Israel.
© Getty Images
25 / 30 Fotos
Convincing the Greeks
- Furthermore, Paul convinced the Greeks that Jewish religious practice was not required, nor was circumcision. He also insisted that Jewish dietary laws be relaxed, Ben-Sorek adds.
© Getty Images
26 / 30 Fotos
Toledot Yeshu
- The 'Toledot Yeshu' is a Jewish text on the life of Jesus. The disputed biography also portrays Jesus as an illegitimate child. The ‘Toledot Yeshu’ is not considered canonical or normative within Rabbinic literature.
© Getty Images
27 / 30 Fotos
Prodigy
- Jesus may have been a prodigy, regardless of who his father really was. If Panthera was indeed his biological father, he didn’t live to see his son.
© Getty Images
28 / 30 Fotos
Fact or fiction?
- Ultimately, whether this remarkable story has any historical truth to it or was simply fabricated in an attempt to discredit Christianity, is still up for debate. Sources: (Times of Israel) (Grunge) (Museum.de) (A True Discourse) (Kehila News) (Robin Helweg-Larsen) (Imperium Romanum)
© Getty Images
29 / 30 Fotos
Was Jesus the biological son of a Roman soldier?
What we know about Jesus' supposed father
© Getty Images
The story of how Jesus Christ came into the world is a cornerstone of the Bible, and indeed of the Christian faith. The immaculate conception of the Son of God is an important concept which lays the foundations of the holiness of the Virgin Mary and her son, Jesus. But as it turns out, a second-century philosopher named Celsius disagreed. And his (unpopular) opinion that Jesus had a biological father is backed up by other sources and archeological evidence. So if true, who is this individual?
Click on and find out who was supposed to have fathered Jesus.
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