Evidence of Jesus’ Existence
There is a good deal of written evidence for Jesus existence about 2,000 years ago. Jesus is not a myth but a reality who walked on the surface of this earth and reliable historical records outside the Bible affirms this. Interestingly all the major religions whom these authors have not made any attempt to discredit have had their founders giving credit to a man who had lived and was called Jesus Christ. They may not believe as He being the Son of God but they knew Him as one who attained a high level of spirituality or one who was a great and beloved prophet of God.
Again, there is a lot of evidence that Christians were persecuted by these Roman emperors – so why will they persecute these Christians they themselves have created. why would Nero kill them and ban the religion his forebears had created? That is assuming it was created by earlier emperors other than the Flavian emperors as suggested by Artwill.
Some also ignorantly make mention of Constantine as the originator of Christians. For their information, before Constantine came into power as an Emperor (AD 306-337), Christians already existed.
What do Christian Writings Tell us?
The value of Christian writings as evidence is that it is both early and detailed. The first Christian writings to talk about Jesus are the epistles of St Paul, and scholars agree that the earliest of these letters were written within 25 years of Jesus’s death at the very latest. While the detailed biographical accounts of Jesus in the New Testament gospels date from around 40 years after he died. These all appeared within the lifetimes of numerous eyewitnesses and provide descriptions that sit with the culture and geography of first-century Palestine.
What did Non-Christian Authors Say about Jesus?
One of the first authors outside the church to mention Jesus is the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who wrote a history of Judaism around 93 AD. Flavius Josephus was a 1st-century Jewish historian (37 – 100 AD). He has two references to Jesus. One of these is controversial because it is thought to be corrupted by Christian scribes (probably turning Josephus’s negative account into a more positive one), but the other is not suspicious, where he made a reference to James, the brother.
Josephus offers us a most fascinating reference to Jesus. Indeed, it is the earliest reference to Jesus outside the New Testament, and its rather matter of fact, neutral reporting, makes it all the more valuable to the historian. It goes like this:
“At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And 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 recounted wonders.”
Among other things, the authenticity of this passage would help make sense of the later reference in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews Book 20, Chapter 9, where Josephus refers to the stoning of “James the brother of Jesus”.
Watch out for part 3 of this series!
References
Bromiley, G. W. (1959). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 4. Eerdmans.
Carrington, P. (2011). The Early Christian Church (Vol. 1). Cambridge Univ Press.
Gathercole, S. What is the historical evidence that Jesus Christ lived and died? Viewed on https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/14/what-is-the-historical-evidence-that-jesus-christ-lived-and-died. Accessed it on December 2, 2021.
Galli, M. (1990). Persecution in the Early Church: A Gallery of the Persecuting Emperors. Viewed from https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-27/persecution-in-early-church-gallery-of-persecuting-emperors.html. Accessed on 18th January 2022.
Josephus, F., & Haverkamp, S. (1900). Complete works of Josephus; Antiquities of the Jews, The wars of the Jews, Against Apion, etc. etc. New York: Bigelow, Brown.
Josephus, F., Maier, P. L., & Josephus, F. (1994). Josephus, the essential works: A condensation of Jewish antiquities and the Jewish war. Grand Rapids, Mich: Kregel Publications.
Just, F.(2005). Persecutions of Christians in the Early Roman Empire. Viewed on https://catholic-resources.org/Bible/History-Persecutions.htm. Accessed on 18th January 2022.
Klein, C. The Bible Says Jesus Was Real. What Other Proof Exists? https://www.history.com/news/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence. Accessed it on December 2, 2021.
Vermes, G. (2011). Jesus in the Jewish World. SCM Press.
