Judge Orders Priest To Prove Christ Exsisted

While many throughout history have argued who Jesus was, few have actually challanged the fact that He never exsisted. That hasn't stopped a judge from ordering Father Enrico Righi of Viterbo, Italy to prove that Christ lived. According to The Times of London, this came as a result of a lawsuit filed against the priest by an athiest Luigi Cascioli. [Article]

According to The Times:

Signor Cascioli, author of a book called The Fable of Christ, began legal proceedings against Father Righi three years ago after the priest denounced Signor Cascioli in the parish newsletter for questioning Christ’s historical existence.

Yesterday Gaetano Mautone, a judge in Viterbo, set a preliminary hearing for the end of this month and ordered Father Righi to appear. The judge had earlier refused to take up the case, but was overruled last month by the Court of Appeal, which agreed that Signor Cascioli had a reasonable case for his accusation that Father Righi was “abusing popular credulity”.

Signor Cascioli’s contention — echoed in numerous atheist books and internet sites — is that there was no reliable evidence that Jesus lived and died in 1st-century Palestine apart from the Gospel accounts, which Christians took on faith. There is therefore no basis for Christianity, he claims.

This comes at a time when in the United States, teaching inteligent design in public schools is being chalanged. Cases in Pennsylvania last month and in California this month on the topic have raised a renewed interest from the press.