Proving the historicity of Jesus to the unbeliever is often a difficult, but important hurdle which must be overcome. Having proved to them that Jesus existed as an historical figure, it is a relatively easy progression to then demonstrate that the New Testament records are true and accurate, and that the teachings of Jesus Christ demand our response. But can we prove his historicity? Are we able to give concrete evidence on this matter?
The answer to these questions is a definite ‘yes’ and it is now our purpose to pursue one particular line of evidence — the ancient historians.
It would be wrong to assume that the historians are our only ‘external’ source of proof, because there are many others. These would include the records of government officials, other Jewish sources, Gnostic sources, the so-called ‘lost works’ (e.g. “The Acts of Pontius Pilate“), and ancient, non New Testament, Christian sources. However, we shall limit ourselves here to a consideration of the historians who make mention of Jesus in an historical sense — evidence to which an unbiased mind must attach some weight.
Many people mistakenly believe that it is the historians who have given rise to the notion of a ‘Christ-myth.’ However, nothing could be further from the Truth. F.F. Bruce (Professor of Biblical Criticism, University of Manchester) writes:—
“Some writers may toy with the fancy of a ‘Christ-myth,’ but they do not do so on the ground of historical evidence. The historicity of Jesus Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. It is not the historians who propagate the ‘Christ-myth’ theories.”1
Let us then allow the historians to speak.
1. Tacitus
Cornelius Tacitus (ca. 55-120 A.D.) was a Roman historian who lived through the reign of several Emperors. His works are highly regarded by scholars, and he has generally been termed ‘the greatest historian of ancient Rome.’ In his writings, he makes several references to Jesus and early Christianity, the most important of which alludes to the death of Jesus and to the existence of Christians at Rome.
” … consequently, to get rid of this report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations — called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name has its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilaf us, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular … “2
This quotation is important for several obvious reasons. It was written in A.D. 115, less than 20 years after John wrote the Book of Revelation in Patrnos, and is perhaps the single most definitive and authoritative quotation we have available.
2. Suetonius
Little is known about Suetonius except that he was the chief secretary of the Emperor Hadrian (117-138 A.D.) and that he had access to the imperial records. Writing about the same time as Tacitus, Suetonius remarked concerning Claudius:—
“Because the Jews of Rome caused continuous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from the city.”3
‘Chrestus’ is a variant spelling of Christ, and is virtually the same as Tacitus’ Latin spelling. It is also very interesting to note the exact corroboration between this event, and Acts 18:2.
Suetonius makes another reference to the Christians who were tortured by Nero.
“After the great fire at Rome … Punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous belief.”4
Notice how similar these words are to those of Tacitus which were quoted earlier.
3. Josephus
Flavius Josephus was a Jewish historian born in 37 or 38 A.D. and died in 97 A.D. He was born into a priestly family and became a Pharisee at the age of 19. After surviving a battle against the Romans, he served Commander Vespasian in Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 he moved to Rome, where he became the court historian for Vespasian. The following is the more important of his two references to Jesus. The ‘popular’ rendition of this quote is hotly disputed, but this version, from an Arabic manuscript, is generally accepted.
“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 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.”5
4. Thallus
Although the actual manuscripts of this historian have been lost, he is quoted by other writers. Thallus is an important link in our evidence, because his history is totally contemporary with the life of Jesus. Around A.D. 52 he wrote a history of the eastern Mediterranean world from the Trojan War to his present time.
Julius Africanus (A.D. 221) quotes Thallus on the subject of the darkness that covered the land at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.
“Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun — unreasonably, as it seems to me.”6
(It was unreasonable, of course, because a solar eclipse could not occur during the time of the full moon at Passover.)
So from these contemporary, and post-contemporary historical records, it is plainly obvious that Jesus Christ is not an historical myth; but rather, he is well documented and consistently portrayed by the historians, who all, in essence, agree with the New Testament concerning his life.
- Bruce, FF: “The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?” Revised Edition, Inter-Varsity Press, 1972.
- Tacitus, Cornelis: Annals 15:44.
- Suetonius: Life of Claudius 25:4.
- Suetonius: Lives of the Caesars 26:2.
- Josephus, Flavious: Antiquities 18:3.
- Bruce, FF: The New Testament Documents, Page 113
The Kingdom of God has been a cornerstone of the gospel from the earliest church