Italy :: Prove Christ exists, judge orders priest

Hehe, what a quirky story. I've copied it on Gaudiya Discussions for posterity. Made me think a little about making the case for a historical Krishna. I've read the relevant section in Edwin F. Bryant's long introduction to his 'The Beautiful Story of God', but I don't know what to think of it.

Interestingly, Bryant's information has been echoed in an earlier book which I've read, ostensibly titled "Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba and the Kalki Avatar" by Satya Pal Ruhela. I didn't give Ruhela much credence since I've read a few of his texts and found them to be of little more worth than garbage. Obviously he is a devotee of Sai Baba, but funnily enough a few other Sai devotees agreed with my impressions of his works. In my opinion he only tots up a collection of books to make him look like some sort of eminent author, regardless of the fact that his works had little merit, inconsistencies galore and longwinded foppery.

Of course I didn't give his "historical Krishna" information much credence until I read a similar treatment in Bryant's book. Bryant happens to put the information in a much better way, making it more legible and easy to read.

In any case, it's quite a project to prove the historical existence of Krishna. I don't think Mahaprabhu poses much of a problem in that regard. Everyone agrees, even academically, that He was one of the main protagonists of the Bhakti movement of religious devotion that arose out of Bengal.