Lucian of Samosata on the Christians
A hostile pagan satirist, writing to entertain, takes the crucifixion in Palestine and the character of the Christian communities as common knowledge.
Lave'i 'i tu'a mei he Tohi TapuTohi tangata motu'ac. AD 165
A satirist writing to mock a charlatan describes, in passing and with contempt, what Christians were like: they worship a man who was crucified in Palestine for introducing a new cult, they take his teachings on trust, they hold their goods in common, and they are extraordinarily willing to die.
…the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new cult into the world… they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted.
- Na'e 'ilo'i
- Transmitted in medieval manuscripts
- 'Oku tauhi 'i
- Various manuscript collections
- Lea
- Greek
- Na'e a'u mai fēfē kiate kitautolu
- Na'e 'ikai ke tanu — na'e hiki nima, to'utangata ki he to'utangata, kae 'oua kuo a'u ki he pulusi.
Ko e me'a 'oku ne fakahā
Lucian is writing satire, not history, and his interest is in ridiculing gullibility. What he assumes his readers already know is the useful part.
Founga hono ngāue'aki 'e he kau hisitōlia
A standard non-Christian source on second-century Christian practice.
'I he Folofola
Ngaahi ma'u'anga fakamatala
- Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament (2000)
'Oku 'i he lea faka-Pilitānia 'a e ngaahi fakamatala ko 'eni he taimi ni. 'E muimui mai 'a e liliu.