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The Historicity of Jesus: Sources from Non-Christian Writings

Introduction: Atheist, skeptics and people of other faith often claim that Jesus is a mythical
character who is not real person outside the Bible. Is there are any sources outside the bible to
support the existence of Jesus? This chapter deals with different sources which support the
existence of Jesus as a real historical character. Non-Christian sources that are used to study and
establish the historicity of Jesus include Jewish sources such as Josephus, and Roman sources
such as Tacitus. These sources are compared to Christian sources such as the Pauline Epistles
and the Synoptic Gospels. These sources are usually independent of each other (e.g. Jewish
sources do not draw upon Roman sources), and similarities and differences between them are
used in the authentication process. In this chapter, we will see different sources including
disputed sources.

Historian Flavius Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews Book 18 & 20: The writings of the 1st
century Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus include references to Jesus and the origins of
Christianity. Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, written around9394 CE, includes two references
to Jesus in Books 18 and 20.Of the two passages in Book 20 is used by scholars to support the
existence of Jesus, the Testimonium Flavianum in Book 18 his crucifixion. The passage attests to
the existence of Jesus as a historical person and that some of his contemporaries considered him
the Messiah. This passage specifies that this Jesus was the one "who was called Christ"
(Messiah). Modern scholarship has almost universally acknowledged the authenticity of the
reference in Book 20, Chapter 9, 1 of the Antiquities to "the brother of Jesus, who was called
Christ, whose name was James", and considers it as having the highest level of authenticity
among the references of Josephus to Christianity. The Testimonium Flavianum (meaning the
testimony of Flavius [Josephus]) is the name given to the passage found in Book 18, Chapter 3, 3
of the Antiquities in which Josephus describes the condemnation and crucifixion. The references
found in Antiquities have no parallel texts in the other work by Josephus such as the Jewish War,
written twenty years earlier, but some scholars have provided explanations for their absence,
such as that the Antiquities covers a longer time period and that during the twenty-year gap
between the writing of the Jewish Wars (c. 70 CE) and Antiquities (after 90 CE) Christians had
become more important in Rome and were hence given attention in the Antiquities.

Tacitus: Annals, Book 15, Chapter 44.Tacitus was a patriotic Roman senator and a Roman
historian , He referred to Christ, his execution by Pontius Pilate and the existence of early
Christians in Rome in his final work, Annals (written ca. CE 116), book 15, chapter 44. The
relevant passage reads: "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 one of our
procurators, Pontius Pilatus." Scholars generally consider Tacitus's reference to the execution of
Jesus by Pontius Pilate to be both authentic, and of historical value as an independent Roman
source about early Christianity that is in unison with other historical records. The consistency in
the references by Tacitus, Josephus and the letters to Emperor Trajan by Pliny the Younger
reaffirm the validity of all three accounts.

Letter of Stoic Philosopher Mara bar Sarapion: Mara (son of Sarapion) was a Stoic
philosopher from the Roman province of Syria. Sometime between 73 CE and the 3rd century,
Mara wrote a letter to his son (also called Sarapion) which may contain an early non-Christian
reference to the crucifixion of Jesus. The letter refers to the unjust treatment of "three wise men":
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the murder of Socrates, the burning of Pythagoras, and the execution of "the wise king" of the
Jews. The author explains that in all three cases the wrongdoing resulted in the future
punishment of those responsible by God and that when the wise are oppressed, not only does
their wisdom triumph in the end, but God punishes their oppressors.

Roman historian Suetonius (c. 69 after 122 CE): Lives of the Twelve Caesars
The Roman historian Suetonius (c. 69 made references to early Christians and their leader in his
work Lives of the Twelve Caesars (written 121 CE).The references appearin Claudius 25 and
Nero 16 which describe the lives of Roman Emperors Claudius and Nero. The Nero 16 passage
refers to the abuses by Nero and mentions how he inflicted punishment onChristians - which is
generally dated to around CE 64. This passage shows the clear contempt of Suetonius for
Christians - the same contempt expressed by Tacitus and Pliny the younger in their Writings, but
does not refer to Jesus himself. In Claudius 25 Suetonius refers to the expulsion of Jews by
Claudius and states:"Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus,
he expelled them from Rome." The reference in Claudius 25 involves the agitations in the Jewish
community which led to the expulsion of some Jews from Rome by Claudius, and is likely the
same event mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (18:2). Most historians date this expulsion to
around CE 49-50.Suetonius refers to the leader of the Christians as Chrestus, a term also used by
used by Tacitus, referred in Latin dictionaries as a (amongst other things) version of 'Christus'.

Letters of Pliny the Younger: Pliny the Younger (c. 61 - c. 112), the provincial governor of
Pontus and Bithynia, wrote to Emperor Trajan c. 112 concerning how to deal with Christians,
who refused to worship the emperor, and instead worshiped "Christus".

Thallus Account: Thallus, of whom very little is known, and none of whose writings survive,
wrote a history allegedly around the middle to late first century CE, to which Eusebius referred.
Julius Africanus, writing c 221, links a reference in the third book of the History to the period of
darkness described in the crucifixion accounts in three of the Gospels. It is not known whether
Thallus made any mention to the crucifixion accounts; if he did, it would be the earliest no
canonical reference to a gospel episode, but its usefulness in determining the historicity of Jesus
is uncertain.

Phlegon and Eclipse: Phlegon of Tralles, A.D. 80 - 140, similar to Thallus, Julius Africanus
mentions a historian named Phlegon who wrote a chronicle of history around A.D. 140, where he
records: Phlegon records 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. (Africanus, Chronography, 18:1) Phlegon is
also mentioned by Origen (an early church theologian and scholar, born in Alexandria): Now
Phlegon, in the thirteenth or fourteenth book, I think, of his Chronicles, not only ascribed to
Jesus a knowledge of future events . . . but also testified that the result corresponded to His
predictions. (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 14) And with regard to the eclipse in the
time of Tiberius Caesar, in whose reign Jesus appears to have been crucified, and the great
earthquakes which then took place. (Origen Against Celsus, Book 2, Chapter 33)Jesus, while
alive, was of no assistance to himself, but that he arose after death, and exhibited the marks of
his punishment, and showed how his hands had been pierced by nails. (Origen Against Celsus,
Book 2, Chapter59). However, Eusebius in The Chronicon (written in the 4th century AD)
records what Phlegon said verbatim. "Now, in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad [32 AD], a
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great eclipse of the sun occurred at the sixth hour[noon] 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." Phlegon never mentions
Jesus or the 3 hour darkness. He also mentions a solar eclipse, which cannot occur at Passover.
Apart from the year (which may be a corruption), this description fits an earthquake and eclipse
that occurred in North West Turkey on November, 29 AD.

Celsuss document: Celsus writing late in the second century produced the first full-scale attack
on Christianity. Celsus' document has not survived but in the third century Origen replied to it,
and what is known of Celsus' writing is through the responses of Origen. According to Origen,
Celsus accused Jesus of being a magician and a sorcerer. While the statements of Celsus may be
seen as valuable, but they have little historical value, given that the wording of the Original
writings cannot be examined.

Some Disputed Sources: The following sources are disputed, and of limited historical value,
however they are at least proof of Christians existing and being known and talked about in the
first and second centuries.

Lucian of Samosata (born 115 CE), a well-known Greek satirist and traveling lecturer wrote
mockingly of the followers of Jesus for their ignorance and credulity. Given that Lucian's
understanding of Christian traditions has significant gaps and errors, his writing is unlikely to
have been influenced by Christians themselves, and he may provide an independent statement
about the crucifixion of Jesus.[98] However, given the nature of the text as satire, Lucian may
have embellished the stories he heard and his account cannot have a high degree of historical
reliability.

Emperor Trajan (c. 53 - 117), the Emperor Trajan in reply to a letter sent by Pliny the
Younger "You observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those who had
been denounced to you as Christians. For it is not possible to lay down any general rule to serve
as a kind of fixed standard. They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved
guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian
and really proves it--that is, by worshiping our gods--even though he was under suspicion in the
past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted accusations ought to have
no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping
with the spirit of our age. "Epictetus (A.D. 55 - 135) A possible yet disputed reference to
Christians as "Galileans" in his "Discourses" 4.7.6 and 2.9.19-21 "Therefore, if madness can
produce this attitude[of detachment] toward these things [death, loss of family, property], and
also habit, as with the Galileans, can no one learn from reason and demonstration that God has
made all things in the universe, and the whole universe itself, to be unhindered and complete in
itself, and the parts of it to serve the needs of the whole. (4.7.6)

Numenius of Apamea, second century, a possible allusion to Christians and even Christ may be
contained in fragments of his treatises on the points of divergence between the Academicians and
Plato, on the Good (in which according to Origen, Contra Celsum, iv. 51, he makes an allusion to
Jesus Christ)
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Claudius Galenus (Galen) A.D. 129 - 200) Galen may reference Christ and his followers; From
Galen, De differentiis pulsuum (On the pulse), iii, 3. The work is listed in De libris propriis 5,
and seems to belong between 176-192 AD, or possibly even 176-180 "One might more easily
teach novelties to the followers of Moses and Christ than to the physicians and philosophers who
cling fast to their schools.

The Talmud: The Babylonian Talmud in a few cases includes possible references to Jesus using
the terms "Yeshu", "Yeshu ha-Notzri", "ben Stada", and "ben Pandera". Some of these references
probably dateback to the Tannaitic period (70200 CE). In some cases, it is not clear if the
references are to Jesus, or other people, and scholars continue to debate their historical value.
The passage reflects hostility toward Jesus among the rabbis, It is taught: On the eve of Passover
they hung Yeshu and the crier went forth for forty days beforehand declaring that "[Yeshu] is
going to be stoned for practicing witchcraft, for enticing and leading Israel astray. Scholar like
Craig Blomberg states that the denial of the existence of Jesus was never part of the Jewish
tradition, which instead accused him of being a sorcerer and magician, as also reflected in other
sources such as Celsus.

Gnostic and Apocryphal Literatures: A number of later Christian texts, usually dating to the
second century or later, exist as New Testament apocryphal, among which the gnostic gospels
have been of major recent interest among scholars. The 1945 discovery of the Nag Hammadi
library created a significant amount of scholarly interest and many modern scholars have since
studied the gnostic gospels and written about them. However, the trend among the 21st century
scholars has been to accept that while the gnostic gospels may shed light on the progression of
early Christian beliefs, they offer very little to contribute to the study of the historicity of Jesus,
in that they are rather late writings, usually consisting of sayings (rather than narrative, similar to
the hypothesised Q documents), their authenticity and authorship remain questionable, and
various parts of them rely on components of the New Testament. The focus of modern research
into the historical Jesus has been away from gnostic writings and towards the comparison of
Jewish, Greco-Roman and canonical Christian sources. physical experiences of Jesus (e.g. his
crucifixion) or the physical existence of believers, and was only interested in the secret teachings
of Jesus rather than any physical events.
Similarly, the Apocryphon of John (also part of the Nag Hammadi library) has been
useful in studying the prevailing attitudes in the second century, and questions of authorship
regarding the Book of revelation, given that it refers to Revelation 1:19, but is mostly about the
post ascension teachings of Jesus in a vision, not a narrative of his life. Some scholars such as
Edward Arnal contend that the Gospel of Thomas continues to remain useful for understanding
how the teachings of Jesus were transmitted among early Christians, and sheds light on the
development of early Christianity. There is overlap between the sayings of Jesus in the
apocryphal texts and canonical Christian writings, and those not present in the canonical texts are
called agrapha. There are at least 225 agrapha but most scholars who have studied them have
drawn negative conclusions about the authenticity of most of them and see little value in using
them for historical Jesus research. Scholars differ on the number of authentic agrapha, some
estimating as low as seven as authentic, others as high as 18 among the more than 200, rendering
them of little value altogether. While research on apocryphal texts continues, the general
scholarly opinion holds that they have little to offer to the study of the historicity of Jesus given
that they are often of uncertain origin, and almost always later documents of lower value.