Introduction
The following historical statements offer valuable insights into how contemporaries outside the Christian tradition perceived and discussed Jesus. By examining accounts from diverse cultural and religious perspectives, we gain a richer understanding of the socio-political and religious milieu of first-century Judea. Moreover, the fact that figures such as Tacitus, Josephus, Pliny the Younger, and Lucian of Samosata, among others, deemed Jesus worthy of mention underscores the significance of his life and teachings, transcending mere religious boundaries to leave an indelible mark on the intellectual landscape of the ancient world. Through this exploration, we not only affirm Jesus' historical existence but also illuminate the multifaceted nature of his impact on the tapestry of human history.
Direct References to Jesus' Historicity
Josephus (c. AD 93)
Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it is lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. The tribe of Christians named after him is not extinct today (Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. 18, Ch. 3, § 3).
Festus was now dead, and Albinus was, but upon the road, he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others [or some of his companions]. When he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned (Antiquities of the Jews, Bk., 20, Ch. 9, § 1).
Tacitus (c. AD 116)
Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christ, 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 Pilate, 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 center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city as of hatred against humankind (Annals, Bk. 15, Ch. 44).
Talmud (third century)
On Passover Eve, they hung the corpse of Jesus the Nazarene after they killed him by way of stoning. And a crier went before him for forty days, publicly proclaiming that Jesus the Nazarene was going out to be stoned because he practiced sorcery, incited people to idol worship, and led the Jewish people astray. Anyone with a reason to acquit him should come forward and teach it on his behalf. The court did not find a reason to forgive him, so they stoned him and hung his corpse on Passover eve (Sanhedrin 43a:20).
Was Jesus the Nazarene worthy of searching for a reason to acquit him? He was an inciter to idol worship, and the Merciful One states about an inciter to idol worship: "Neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him" (Deut. 13:9). Rather, Jesus was different, as he had close ties with the government, and the gentile authorities were interested in his acquittal. Consequently, the court gave him every opportunity to clear himself, so it could not be claimed that he was falsely convicted (Sanhedrin 43a:21).
Jesus came before Yehoshua ben Perahya several times and said to him: Accept our, i.e., my, repentance. Yehoshua ben Perahya took no notice of him. One day, Yehoshua ben Perahya was reciting Shema [i.e., Deut. 6:4], and Jesus came before him with the same request. Yehoshua Ben Perahya intended to accept his request and signaled to him with his hand that he would wait until he completed his prayer. Jesus did not understand the signal and thought: He is driving me away. He stood a brick upright to serve as an idol and bowed to it. Yehoshua ben Perahya then said to Jesus: Repent. Jesus told him This is the tradition I received from you: Whoever sins and causes the masses to sin is not allowed to repent. And the Master says: Jesus performed sorcery, incited Jews to engage in idolatry, and led Israel astray (Sanhedrin 107b:14).
Darkness & Earthquake During the Crucifixion
Phlegon of Tralles (AD 137)
In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad [i.e., AD 33], there was the greatest eclipse of the sun, and it became night in the sixth hour of the day so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea (Olympiads, Para. 13; cf. Matt. 27:45, 51; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45).
Tertullian of Carthage (c. AD 197)
The Jews were so exasperated by [Jesus'] teaching, by which their rulers and chiefs were convicted of the truth, chiefly because so many turned aside to him, that at last, they brought him before Pontius Pilate, at that time Roman governor of [Judea]; and, by the violence of their outcries against him, extorted a sentence giving him up to them to be crucified. He predicted this, which, however, would have signified little had not the prophets of old done it as well. And yet, nailed upon the cross, he exhibited many notable signs by which His death was distinguished from all others. At his own free will, he, with a word, dismissed his spirit, anticipating the executioner's work. In the same hour, too, the light of day was withdrawn when the sun at the very time was in his meridian blaze. Those unaware that this had been predicted about Christ thought it an eclipse. You yourselves have the account of the world portent still in your archives (Apology, Ch. 21).
Julius Africanus (AD 221)
As to [Jesus'] works severally, his cures affect body and soul. The mysteries of his doctrine, and the resurrection from the dead, have been most authoritatively set forth by his disciples and apostles before us. On the whole, the world there pressed a most fearful darkness; an earthquake rent the rocks, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun. For the Hebrews celebrate the Passover on the fourteenth day according to the moon, and the passion of our Savior falls on the day before the Passover, but an eclipse of the sun takes place only when the moon comes under the sun. And it cannot happen at any other time. Still, in the interval between the first day of the new moon and the last of the old, that is, at their junction, how then should an eclipse be supposed to happen when the moon is almost diametrically opposite the sun? Let that opinion pass, carry the majority with it, and let this portent of the world be deemed an eclipse of the sun, like others, a warning only to the eye. Phlegon records that, in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a total eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth—manifestly that one of which we speak. But what does an eclipse have in common with an earthquake, the rending rocks, the resurrection of the dead, and such great perturbation throughout the world? Indeed, no such event has been recorded for an extended period. But it was a darkness induced by God because the Lord happened then to suffer. The calculation shows that the period of seventy weeks, as noted in Daniel [9:20-27], is completed at this time (Chronography, Pt. 18, § 1).
Indirect References to Jesus' Historicity
Mara bar Serapion (c. AD 73)
What are we to say when the wise are dragged by force by the hands of tyrants, and their wisdom is deprived of its freedom by slander, and they are plundered for their superior intelligence without the opportunity of making a defense? They are not wholly to be pitied. What benefit did the Athenians obtain by putting Socrates to death, seeing that they received retribution for famine and pestilence? Or the people of Samos by the burning of Pythagoras, seeing that in one hour, the whole of their country was covered with sand. Or the Jews by the murder of their wise king [i.e., Jesus], seeing that their kingdom was driven away from them from that very time? For with justice did God grant compensation to the wisdom of all three of them. For the Athenians died by famine; the sea covered the people of Samos without remedy; and the Jews, brought to desolation and expelled from their kingdom, were driven away into Every land. Nay, Socrates did "not" die because of Plato, nor yet Pythagoras because of the statue of Hera, nor yet the wise king because of the new laws that he enacted (A Letter of Mara).
Suetonius (c. AD 120)
Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus [a misspelling of Christus, "Christ"], he expelled them from Rome (Claudius, § 25). Compare to Acts 18:2 ("There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome").
Pliny the Younger (c. AD 112)
It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. Who can better guide me in resolving my hesitation or inform me of my ignorance? I have never participated in the trials of Christians. I, therefore, do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether a pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the crimes associated with the name are to be punished.
Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated them as to whether they were Christians; for those who confessed, I questioned them a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed, for I did not doubt that whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness, and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. Others possessed the same folly, but I signed an order to transfer them to Rome because they were Roman citizens.
Soon, accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document containing the names of many persons was published. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods and cursed Christ—none of which those who are Christians, it is said, can be forced to do—these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshiped your image and the statues of the gods and cursed Christ.
They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meeting on a fixed day before dawn and singing a hymn responsively to Christ as to a god and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food—but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict, which I had forbidden political associations per your instructions. Accordingly, I judged all necessary to find the truth by torturing two enslaved women called deaconesses, and I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition.
I, therefore, postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. The matter seemed to warrant consulting you, mainly because of the number involved. Many persons of every age, every rank, and both sexes are and will be endangered. The contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to check and cure it. It is indeed quite clear that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found. Hence, it is easy to imagine how a multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity for repentance is afforded (Letters, Bk. 10, Ltr. 96).
Trajan (c. AD 112)
You observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those denounced to you as Christians. It is impossible to lay down any general rule as a 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 proves it—that is, by worshiping our gods—even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. However, anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. This is a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age (Letters, Bk. 10, Ltr. 97).
Lucian of Samosata (c. AD 200)
He made them all look like children in a trice, for he was a prophet, cult leader, head of the synagogue, and everything by himself. He interpreted and explained some of their books and even composed many. They revered him as a god, made use of him as a lawgiver, and set him down as a protector; next after that other, to be sure, whom they still worship, the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new cult into the world. . . . The poor wretches have convinced themselves, first and foremost, that they will be immortal and live for all time, in consequence of which they despise death and even willingly give themselves into custody; most of them. Furthermore, their first lawgiver persuaded them that they were all brothers of one another after transgressing once and for all by denying the Greek gods, worshiping that crucified sophist himself, and living under his laws. Therefore, they despise all things indiscriminately and consider them common property (Passing of Peregrinus, §§ 11, 13).
Prayer
Blessed are you, LORD our God, King of the universe; who wonderfully created and restored the dignity of human nature. Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus the Messiah our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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