© Max Rossi / Reuters
To make matters worse, Khan made the remarks at a conference celebrating the birthday of none other than the Prophet Mohammed. Praising the greatness of the Muslim prophet, the politician suddenly delved deeper into religious history than anyone was expecting.
"Moses does find some mention but we don't find mention of Hasrat Isa [Jesus Christ] in human history," Khan said.
The video of the speech went viral, with many observers left baffled by Khan's sudden authority on Bible matters. Some mocked him, accusing him of ignorance.
Comment: These people's ignorance is embarrassing. Even Christian scholars admit that Jesus is not mentioned by any contemporary historians. Neither is he present in the archaeological record, unlike actual historical figures like Caesar, Augustus, or the Jewish historian Josephus. Christianity is mentioned in the generations after the Apostle Paul lived and wrote, but aside from the religious texts written at least a generation to two or three after Jesus was supposed to have lived, there is not mention of Jesus in other sources that isn't a later Christian forgery (as in Josephus). People criticizing Khan for making this basic point should get informed if they don't want to look like idiots: On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt
Commenters rushed to remind the PM that Jesus is even mentioned multiple times in the Quran.
"Jesus Christ is by far the most mentioned both verbally & written individual in history," Senator Tahir Hussain Mashhadi wrote.
Comment: That is obviously not what Khan meant. Of course Jesus has been 'mentioned' repeatedly for 1900 years. So has Hercules - for longer. And yet there is no mention of Hercules in "history" - i.e., historical references that would suggest he was an actual human and not a mythological figure.
Other said that attacking Jesus is not something a leader of a Muslim-majority country should do, and noted that these types of statements offend Pakistan's Christian community.
Some commenters, however, came to Khan's defense, saying his words were taken out of context and what he meant is that there's no mention of Jesus in the historical records.
Reader Comments
I suppose Josephus or Tacitus did not exist, either. These are the best known historian at that time that mention him.
The New Testament letters are the most widely read historical documents of that time.
There are far fewer documents to attest that Anaxagora or Plato existed!
Pakistan's PM is a Muslim. Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary are the most revered persons after Mohamed. Jesus will judge muslims according to Coran. What does this say about him, as a Muslim? Maybe Mohamed also was not a historical person. Same with Coran, maybe is a recent document!