Historical Evidence for Jesus

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR JESUS

If you spend enough time reading or watching debates, podcasts, youtube, and other media between Christians and non-Christians, you will without a doubt hear someone say that there is no evidence for Christianity. This statement has always driven me crazy because anyone who would say that apparently does not know the definition of evidence. This is something that is taught not just in the first year of law school, but in the first week. Evidence is defined in the law as anything that makes a proposition more or less likely. That is correct. Evidence can be anything. Now some evidence may not be admissible, but that does not make it evidence. Some evidence may be more probative than other evidence, but it does not mean that something doesn’t tend to make a proposition more or less likely.

In most states, a person can be convicted of a felony simply based upon another person’s testimony. In Court, the factfinder, a judge or jury, has to determine whether the evidence that is put on in a case is substantial enough to carry whatever burden of proof is applicable to the given case. In philosophical discussion, there is no proposition whatsoever that can be proven to a 100% certainty. I cannot absolutely prove to you that we are not living in the matrix and that Neo is not trying to save us all. The discussion that you will hear most often where apologetics is involved is the proof of something beyond a reasonable doubt. This is the highest standard of proof in American jurisprudence. That is the measure that we will discuss today.

The Gospels

The primary and oldest writings with regard to Jesus are in the New Testament. While the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, have the most about the actual life of Jesus, The writings of Paul, Peter, James, and the book of Acts, would be considered by many to have been written before the Gospels. It is generally agreed that Paul, Peter and James all died in the mid-60’s of the first century. While many dispute whether the writings attributed to Peter and James were actually written by those Biblical figures, there is a strong consensus that many of the letters that bear Paul’s name were, in fact, written by the person we know as the Apostle Paul. The first letter of Paul that is included in the canon is disputed but I Thessalonians and Galatians are both strong candidates. The first of these writings would be dated to around 50 ad.

The four Gospels themselves are generally dated to the mid-70’s to the late 90’s by most skeptics. The primary reason for the late dating of these works is that in the Gospels Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. Because skeptics do not believe that such a precise prophecy could happen, they do not believe that the first of the Gospels, generally agreed to be Mark, could have been written before the destruction of the temple in 70 ad.

The problem with this dating is that the text of some of the writings would lead one to believe that the Book of Luke was written prior to some of the writings of Paul as it appears that in I Timothy 5:17-18, Paul is quoting from the Book of Luke. This would put the Book of Luke having been written before 60 ad, and Acts after that. This makes sense historically as Acts tells much of the story of the ministry of Paul, but ends with Paul in prison in Rome well before his death. With Mark generally considered to have been written before Luke, we must back Mark up many years, as it was more than likely written in Rome based upon other historical writings.

The reasoning behind including this information is that there is question whether the New Testament was written within the lifetime of those who actually witnessed Jesus and the things that he said and did, such that the writings would have faced some type of opposition if they lacked historical value. See Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Frank Turek and Norman Geisler, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ, and most importantly Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. Bauckham’s writing is a scholarly work that examines the writings of the Gospels to determine whether they were intended to be historical, eyewitness accounts.

Other First Century Writings

Josephus is considered one of the greatest historians of antiquity. He was a Jew, but not a Christian. When the Romans came to put down the Jewish rebellion of the mid-60’s, Josephus, who was a general, surrendered in 67 to the Roman army. He was the translator of Titus during the siege of Jerusalem in ad 70. The works of Josephus provide a source for such Biblical figures as Jesus, Pontius Pilate, Herod, James, the brother of Jesus, John the Baptist and others.

In Book 20, Chapter 9 of Antiquities, Josephus refers to James, the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. He further describes the death of James for not renouncing Jesus as the Christ. Josephus also describes the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist, in Book 18, Chapter 5, of Antiquities.

His most discussed reference to Jesus is in Book 18 and is called the Testimonium Flavianum. The quote that we have today is as follows:

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.

While most scholars agree that this writing was added to by one or more Christian scribes around the fourth or fifth century, it is very widely agreed that the majority of this text is a genuine first century description of Jesus by Josephus. There also exists commentary about this section of Antiquities in which it is quoted or discussed by later Christian writers. A significant consensus would argue that the following is the authentic writing of Josephus based upon internal and external evidence:

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and many of Greek origin. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, condemned him to the cross, those that loved hi at the first did not forsake him. And the tribe of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct at this day.

Tacitus was a Roman senator and historian. There is broad consensus that the discussion of Jesus by Tacitus is authentic as it is extremely negative toward the Christians. This mention is from Tacitus’s Annals, book 15, chapter 44:

But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, call 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 one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only I Judea, the first source of the evil, but even I Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.

Mara bar Serapion was a Stoic philosopher from Syria sometime between 73 ad and 200 ad. He wrote a letter in which he decries the murder of what he refers to as “three wise men.” These three wise men are Socrates, Pythagoras and “the wise king of the Jews.” Most scholars believe that this letter is a non-Biblical reference to the killing of Jesus.

Suetonius was a Roman historian who lived from 69 ad to 122 ad. He made two references to either Jesus or his followers in his work Lives of the Twelve Caesars. The first does not mention Jesus but describes the Christians being persecuted by Nero. The second refers to Jesus as “Chrestus.” This is a reference to the Jews who followed Jesus being expelled from Rome for not adopting the worship of the Roman gods.

Pliny the Younger, writing to the emperor Trajan in approximately 112 ad, references those who worship Christus. He asks the emperor for guidance in how to deal with those who worship Jesus and refuse to worship the Roman gods.

Although we do not have the writings of either Thallus or of Phlegon, they were both historians, with Thallus writing in the mid to late first century ad, and Phlegon, who lived from 80 to 140, in approximately 140. Neither appears to have mentioned Jesus, but Thallus is quoted as having described a period of darkness at the same time as the crucifixion of Jesus, and Phlegon is said by Julius Africanus to have recorded that “in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth to the ninth hour.” Origen, third century, an early church scholar in his works Origen Against Celsus, writing against the heretical writings of a man named Celsus, quotes Phlegon as saying, “Now, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (32 ad), a great eclipse f the sun occurred at the sixth hour that excelled every other before it, turning the day into such darkness of night that the stars could be seen in heaven, and the earth moved in Bithynia, toppling many buildings in the city of Nicaea.” In other historical records, there is an earthquake and eclipse that are believed to have historically occurred in 29 ad.

Origen, in his writing Against Celsus, quotes a large portion of the works of Celsus, which is considered one of the first philosophical/religious attacks on Christianity. Celsus works have not survived, but he wrote late in the second century ad. Celsus referred to Jesus as a magician and a sorcerer.

The Babylonian Talmud is a Jewish writing, portions of which date to between 70 to 200 ad. There are some references which are in dispute as to whether they refer to Jesus of Nazareth, or some other person as the name, Yeshu, was common during that time period. One reference is very clear in speaking of Jesus as it describes his death on the Eve of Passover by crucifixion and credits him with practicing witchcraft. There are other mentions that are clearly to him in the Talmud, all treating him negatively, and which accuse him of some type of sorcery, including one in which it is said that a man died of a snake bite because he was denied healing in the name of Jesus. There has never been any practice in Jewish circles which denies the existence of Jesus, his death by crucifixion. What is found is Jewish tradition and writings are accusations of sorcery and attempts to discredit him as a false prophet.

The James ossuary is a bone box from the first century ad which contains an inscription that says “James, the son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” It would be almost unheard of to have such an inscription refer to the individual’s brother. This inscription is hotly contested, but in 2012, after a full trial, the owner was found not guilty of forgery. There are numerous writings and videos in the public that discuss this archaeological find.

EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS

The writings of Papias, in the late first century have not survived, but he is quoted extensively by Eusebius, who is considered the greatest of the early church historians. Papias is cited as having written about encounters with various disciples during his lifetime including Andrew, Peter, Philip, Thomas, James, John and Matthew, along with another direct follower of Jesus named Aristion.

Polycarp was a disciple of John the apostle of Jesus. He was the Bishop of Smyrna in what we now know as Turkey. He was martyred because of his faith in approximately 155 ad. A letter describing his martyrdom has survived and is one of the most powerful extant writings describing a Christian dying for his faith. The sole writing of Polycarp that remains is a letter to the church at Phillipi. He very clearly believed in all of the Christian doctrines and teachings about Jesus.

Clement of Rome was the Bishop of the church of Rome in the late first century and is considered by Roman Catholics to have been one of the first Popes. His letter to the church at Corinth has survived and is a testament to his belief in Jesus and his teachings. Tradition holds that Clement was acquainted with Peter and was even ordained to ministry by him, thus giving him a firsthand account of the teachings of Jesus.

An account of early writings would not be complete without showing just how far back in time the teachings of Jesus have continued without any significant modification. It is agreed by almost all scholars today that I Corinthians 15:3-8 contains an early church creed that dates back to within 3 to 5 years of the death of Jesus. The creed states as follows:

For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me.

The existence of this creed completely debunks any notion that the teaching of the life and resurrection of Jesus went through any evolutionary process and shows what was taught from the very beginning of Christianity. It is the same thing that is taught today. The writings of the church fathers are in generally direct alignment with the teachings of scripture and the New Testament could almost be completely reconstructed simply by putting together the writings of the church fathers through the first three centuries following the first century.

CONCLUSION

One of the greatest strengths of the Christian faith is its historical provability. The existence, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus are some of the most provable facts of history. As the reader of this writing, it is your place to look at the evidence presented and decide whether the burden of proof has been met. One of my favorite books is one call What If It’s True by Charles Martin. At one point in Martin’s life, he asked himself if he was actually living as if all of this was true. That question changed his life. Jesus wants to be involved in every single part of your life. The Jesus that actually lived, died and came back. He proved who he was. Now it is up to each of us to decide what we will do if it is true.