In yesterday’s devotion we showed how almost all modern historical scholars accept the fact that Jesus was a real historical person as well as state there are ten non-Christian writers that mention Jesus within 150 years of his life. Today I would like to share some of the brief details from a few of these ten non-Christian sources.
Josephus
Without a doubt the greatest Jewish historian of his time, Josephus shares perhaps the most detailed mention of Jesus in his Jewish Antiquities. The original quotation has been hotly debated by many as to its reliability because of its overtly Christian tone, but the quote below, taken from a tenth century Arabic text is believed to be uncorrupted:
“At this time there was a wise man called Jesus, and his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. Many people among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the prophets have reported wonders.”1
Tacitus
The great Roman historian Tacitus in his famous Annals, when writing about Nero mentions the death of Jesus, using a common misspelling of Christ, “Christus.”
“But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the Bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered the conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also…”2
Lucian
In his book, The Death of Peregrinus, hespeaks of Christians quite a bit, and how Jesus “was crucified,” calling him a historical “crucified sage.”3
Pliny the Younger
In his letter to emperor Trajan, he was writing seeking counsel on how to treat Christians. He wrote in part about the Christians:
“They affirmed, however, the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up…”4
According to Geisler and Turek if we take the details from these four sources above and the other six non-Christian sources that mention Christ: “We learn that they admit certain facts about early Christianity that help us piece together a storyline that is surprisingly congruent with the New Testament. Piecing together all ten non-Christian references, we see that:”5
Jesus lived during the time of Tiberius Caesar. (1)
He lived a virtuous life. (2)
He was a wonder-worker. (3)
He had a brother named James. (4)
He was acclaimed to be the Messiah. (5)
He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. (6)
He was crucified on the eve of the Jewish Passover. (7)
Darkness and an earthquake occurred when he dies. (8)
His disciples believed he rose from the dead. (9)
His disciples were willing to die for their belief. (10)
Christianity spread rapidly as far as Rome. (11)
His disciples denied the Roman gods and worshiped Jesus as God. (12)
Again, Geisler and Turek, come to the following conclusion which I believe is spot on:
“In light of these non-Christian references, the theory that Jesus never existed is clearly unreasonable. How could non-Christian writers collectively reveal a storyline congruent with the New Testament if Jesus never existed?
“But the implications run even deeper than that. What does this say about the New Testament? On the face of it, non-Christian sources affirm the New Testament. While the non-Christian authors don’t say they believe in the Resurrection, they report that the disciples certainly believed it.”6
1 Josephus and Jesus – Apologetics (namb.net)
2 What Did Cornelius Tacitus Write About Jesus? (bibleanswers.io)
3 Did Jesus exist as a real historical figure? | BeliefMap.org
4 Pliny Book 10, Letter 96 (English) (vroma.org)
5 Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2004), p. 223.
6 Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2004), p. 223.
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