Original Contemporary Testimonies:
Josephus (A.D. 75) - Jewish Historian
"Besides these [signs], a few days after that feast, on the
one-and-twentieth day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,]
a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared;
I suppose the account of it would seem to be a fable, were
it not related by those that saw it, and were not the events
that followed it of so considerable a nature as to deserve
such signals; for, before sun-setting, chariots and troops
of soldiers in their armour were seen running about among
the clouds, and surrounding of cities. Moreover, at that
feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by
night into the inner [court of the] temple, as their custom
was, to perform their sacred ministrations, they said that,
in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard a great
noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great
multitude, saying, "Let us remove hence" (Jewish Wars,
VI-V-3).
A supernatural apparition was seen, too amazing to be
believed. What I am now to relate would, I imagine,
be dismissed as imaginary, had this not been vouched
for by eyewitnesses, then followed by subsequent disasters
that deserved to be thus signalized. For before sunset
chariots were seen in the air over the whole country,
and armed battalions speeding through the clouds
and encircling the cities.
Tacitus (A.D. 115) - Roman historian
"13. Prodigies had occurred, but their expiation by the
offering of victims or solemn vows is held to be unlawful
by a nation which is the slave of superstition and the
enemy of true beliefs. In the sky appeared a vision
of armies in conflict, of glittering armour. A sudden
lightning flash from the clouds lit up the Temple.
The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman
voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it,
and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their
departure. Few people placed a sinister interpretation
upon this. The majority were convinced that the ancient
scriptures of their priests alluded to the present as the
very time when the Orient would triumph and from
Judaea would go forth men destined to rule the world."
(Histories, Book 5, v. 13).
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It's hard to stumble when you're down on your knees.
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