Evidence for the Historical Jesus
Let’s begin with “Mary did you know” by Danny Gokey.
Amen
Let’s Pray.
Looking at our puzzle, today we are talking about the Historical Jesus & the Resurrection. This is going to be fun.
There are four major objections about Jesus that skeptics use.
- Was Jesus just a myth or legend?
- Deity Claims
- Death by Crucifixion
- Resurrection of Jesus
Let’s start with the Question was Jesus a real person or a myth. How would you answer this challenge?
Let me introduce you to the minimal facts approach with a video from minimalfacts.org. (Video 2 min)
Let me introduce you to the minimal facts approach with a video from minimalfacts.org. (Video 2 min)
Please understand, not everyone agrees with the minimal facts argument but I want to look at the points of this argument and see what we can reasonably determine and conclude.
Depending on how you count them we have more than forty ancient documents which confirm that Jesus was a real person and most confirm how he died.
This list includes many non-Christian sources including.
- Flavius Josephus (AD37-100) who was a Jewish/Roman historian. Josephus was the Jewish governor of Galilee during the brief time Jews revolted against Roman is AD66-70. Josephus was captured by the Romans and made to be an interpreter. Jewish people consider Josephus to be traitor.
- Tacitus of Rome (AD56-120) Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian and politician. His two major works Annals and Histories examine the reigns of emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and the so call year of the four emperors.
- Lucian of Samosata (AD125-180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician.
- Acts of Pilate (~AD155) This is often referred to as the gospel of Nicodemus exact origin is unknown, some date this 4th or 5th century but sections appear to date to the mid-2nd century.
- Phlegon of Tralles (~AD137) Phlegon of Tralles was Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian. Phlegon’s Chronicles mention Jesus and earthquakes and eclipse. He is mentioned later by Origen of Alexandria as writing about Jesus and Peter.
- Mara Serapion (~AD165) Mara bar Serapion was Syriac Stoic philosopher and refers the execution of the “wise king of the Jews”
- Jewish Talmud (AD 70-200) The Jewish
- Pliny the Elder (~AD24-79) Gaius Plinius Secundus was a Roman writer and personal friend of emperor Vespasian.
- Suetonius (~AD69-122) Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was a Roman historian. He wrote biographies for 12 emperors from Julius Caesar to Damitian.
- Emperor Trajan (~AD98-117)
- Emperor Hadrian (~AD117-138)
That is eleven (11) non Christian sources in the first two centuries. Do you know how many sources we have for Augustus Ceasar in the first two centuries.
About twelve (12) for Julius Ceasar the founding leader of the Roman Empire
Less than ten (10) for Augustus Ceaser
I just showed you eleven (11) nonChristian sources for Jesus of Nazareth.
But that’s not it.
Additionally, we have other PseudoChristian or Christian sources like
- Gospel of Thomas (AD60-AD250) dating varies but this appears to be a very early account of Jesus. It survived in a Coptic language text and is one of the so called Gnostic gospels.
- Apocryphon of John (before AD180) is also called the Secret Book of John or the Secret Revelation of John. This is one of the so called Gnostic Gospels, not scripture canon.
- Treatise of the Resurrection (dating is unknown but is thought to be 2nd century in origin is another of the Gnostic or quasi-Gnostic texts
- Gospel of Truth (AD140-180) is another of the Copic language Gnostic Gospels
- Gospel of Barnabus (Unknown author) along with the unrelated Epistle of Barnabus and Acts of Barnabus all mention Jesus and the early church.
And other early non-Bible Christian writings by
- Polycarp (a student of John the apostle and bishop of Smyrna),
- Ignatius (AD108-140) Ignatius of Antioch who was a friend to Polycarp and disciple of the Apostle John. He became the bishop of Antioch
- Justin Martyr (he was actually just called Justin until he was martyred in Rome
- Quadratus (Quadratus of Athens(AD??-129) Thought to have been the bishop of Athens)
- and there are others.
This list also should include the entire 27 new Testament books. So, there is a lot of historical accounts inside and outside of the Bible that provide very strong evidence for Jesus. And reality is these sources are very early. Far too early for legend or myth to be a reasonable explanation.
More than double the number of sources for any ceesar from the same time period. The obsure carpenter from Nazareth more note worthy than the Roman rulers.
Let’s look at a few of these.
Talmud(AD70-AD200) says, ” On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald … cried, “He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy.”
Yeshu is Jesus obviously.
Josephus (Testimonium Flavianum) says, “About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he … wrought surprising feats…. He was the Christ. When Pilate …condemned him to be crucified, those who had . . . come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared … restored to life…. And the tribe of Christians … has … not disappeared.”
Lucian of Samosata. Who was a Hellenized Syrian satirist said, “The Christians … worship a man to this day – the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account…. [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.”
Tacitus the Roman historian said, “Nero fastened the guilt … on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of … Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome….”
Pliny the Younger who was a Roman official said, “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; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food – but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.”
So that is just a sample of these more than 40 ancient records discussing not only the historical Jesus but the tribe of Christians to which we belong.
Jesus was an historical person. There is actually very little serious debate about this. These accounts are very early, some are within decades of the death of Jesus which is not long enough for legend or myth to develop. Not to mention. People who saw Jesus were still living and could have refuted false claims and they didn’t.
This is the end of How to Defend your Faith Session 9: Historical Jesus & the Resurrection (Part 1 of 4)
