This article will survey three ancient extra-biblical sources which acknowledge the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth, lend credence to the veracity of certain claims of the Bible, provide corroborating testimony to the origins of Christianity as a religion, and in some ways support several of its historical claims. This article will not explore other ancient extra-biblical sources such as architecture, archaeology, or prophecies, which may also provide further evidence for the historicity of Christianity. Rather, the scope of this article will be limited exclusively to ancient extra-biblical writings. Those surveyed will include writings from various historical figures such as Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger.
The value of these writings to upholding the historicity of Christianity should be obvious. The writers of these ancient documents had no apparent reason to advance the cause of Christianity, and in two cases, seem to have harbored hostility toward Christianity.[1] [2] [3] Any ancient document, such as the Bible, or any ancient set of historical claims, such as those of Christianity, should be given serious consideration when a significant volume of written manuscripts are extant from ancient times. However, where the only written evidence in support of ancient documents or religions is internal to them, one may argue in favor of those documents or religions from a position of some weakness. Much stronger, however, is the case of the Bible and Christianity, regarding which several extra-biblical, non-Christian writings are available. In such cases as the Bible and Christianity, greater credence for their veracity and claims is warranted on the basis of these extra-biblical, non-Christian texts. Ancient documents and events which are corroborated by credible uninterested parties tends to add to weight to their claims. This is a general guideline for determining the authenticity of any historical claim or event. Reliability increases as evidence external to a document mounts.
JOSEPHUS
Flavius Josephus is “the principal source for the history of the Jews from the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 175-163) to the fall of Masada in A.D. 73”.[4] Josephus was born in A.D. 37 and died circa 100.[5] His life covers roughly the period immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth through the end of the first century. He was the son of a Jewish priest, was well-educated and ultimately joined the Jewish religious party of the Pharisees.[6] When the Jews rebelled against their Roman occupiers in 66 A.D., Josephus raised an army and fought for the Jews. [7] He eventually surrendered and was imprisoned in Rome under the emperor, Nero. [8] When Vespasian, with whom Josephus had gained favor, came to power, Josephus was released from prison and returned to Jerusalem with Titus, the son of Vespasian. [9] Josephus served as interpreter and mediator to Titus, who in A.D. 70 sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the temple. [10]
Josephus, having lived in both Jerusalem and Rome during the first century, would have been in a position to have heard about this new sect of Judaism called Christianity. [11] Further, Josephus was a prominent priest, army officer, and statesman in Israel, and later even served the Roman emperor in an official capacity. These facts put him in the position of being acutely aware of all things political during his lifetime and during the period immediately preceding it. Finally, Josephus was a historian and wrote several volumes including the Antiquities of the Jews and the Jewish Wars. [12] Events recorded by Josephus should be given serious consideration.
John the Baptist
The life of John the Baptist is detailed in all four gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.[13] It is widely held by biblical scholars that prophecies concerning John are found in the final book of the Old Testament, Malachi.[14] John the Baptist was the first cousin of Jesus of Nazareth. Elizabeth and Mary, their respective mothers were sisters. John and Jesus were born within months of each other and grew up in close proximity to one another. John was a prophet of the Jews and called them to repentance. He also considered himself a forerunner to the Jewish Messiah whom he believed to be his cousin, Jesus. Josephus makes mention of the ministry, imprisonment, and execution John the Baptist in his Antiquities of the Jews.
“Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod’s army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue, both as to righteousness towards one another, and piety towards God, and so to come to baptism; for that the washing [with water] would be acceptable to him, if they made use of it, not in order to the putting away [or the remission] of some sins [only], but for the purification of the body; supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness. Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, (for they seemed ready to do any thing he should advise,) thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late. Accordingly he was sent a prisoner, out of Herod’s suspicious temper, to Macherus, the castle I before mentioned, and was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army was sent as a punishment upon Herod, and a mark of God’s displeasure to him.” [15]
This passage in Antiquities of the Jews bears remarkable consistency with the gospel accounts of the ministry, imprisonment, and execution of John the Baptist. The bolded text above was added for readability and the underlined portions are those directly correlated with New Testament accounts.
Jesus of Nazareth
Josephus also mentions Jesus of Nazareth in Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3. The quote is widely considered authentic by numerous credible scholars, but the exceptions are the portions of the quote which occur in italicized text.
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be 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 amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, (9) those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; (10) as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.” [16]
The bolded text is for readability and the underlined text directly correlates to events recorded in the New Testament gospels. Though a portion of the text falls under severe criticism as being inauthentic, when the italicized portions of the text which are in question are removed, the remaining text still bears remarkable consistency with the gospel accounts of the ministry and execution of Jesus of Nazareth.
TACITUS
“Tacitus is generally regarded as the greatest of the Roman historians.” [17] Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius was a Roman senator and historian. He was born in A.D. 56 or 57 and died sometime around A.D. 117-120.[18] He served several Roman emperors of the Flavian Dynasty beginning with Vespasian[19] and in A.D. 112-113 served as proconsul of Asia for the Roman Empire.[20] He was also a contemporary of the Apostle Paul and lived during the early decades of the church. As a prominent politician and scholar of his day, Tacitus was in a position to know and record the significant political and historical events of his time.
Nero’s Persecution of the Church
Tacitus’s single reference to Jesus of Nazareth and the religious group he founded is found in his work, The Annals of Imperial Rome. The text refers to the events subsequent to the burning of Rome in July of A.D. 64 during the reign of Roman emperor, Nero. Nero was concerned that he would be blamed for the burning of Rome, so he turned against the Christians, blaming them for the disaster.[21] The Christians were an easy target since they were despised by many Roman citizens for their strange religion. Romans worshipped their emperors. Christians could be accused of sedition since they refused to worship the emperor.
“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. 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 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. 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 mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.”[22]
As noted previously, bold text is for readability and underlined text corresponds to biblical accounts of events. This passage is not only useful in recalling the term Christian, which does not appear in the Bible until the book of Acts notes that Christians first acquired the moniker at Antioch (Ac 11:26), and making reference to Christ, it provides additional corroboration of the persecution of the Christian church under the Roman Emperor, Nero. There are numerous biblical references and accounts of the persecution of the first century church under the Roman Empire. Tacitus expands the historical record of the persecutions of the church.
The authenticity of this text has rarely come under serious question, and “the vast majority of scholars grant it.” [23] This is significant. Somewhat supporting the authenticity of the text is that it bears no evidence of accretion, legend, or Christian influence. There are no overtly religious overtones in the text. Further, the information is delivered in a terse news-report style without any attempt to sensationalize or create sympathy for the Christians. Moreover, Tacitus presents the Christians in a negative light. False reports of events tend to present their heroes favorably. This text bears the hallmarks of authenticity.
PLINY THE YOUNGER
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, also known as Pliny the Younger (his uncle was known as Pliny the Elder) “was a [Roman] senator, an avid letter writer and a friend of Tacitus.” [24] Pliny served under the Roman emperor, Trajan. In a letter to Trajan explaining his experiences with the Christians, Pliny made two important points. The first point was that the Christians were very devout in the practice of their religion, an this was out of the norm in Pliny’s experience and somewhat puzzling.
“They were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of a meal–but ordinary and innocent food.”[25]
While this quote clearly describes the devotion of the Christians to Christ, another significant detail is recorded. This text provides a rare ancient extra-biblical and non-Christian corroboration of the Christians’ view of the deity and the god-man hypostasis of Christ.[26] The phrase “as to a god” makes this evident. Pliny sees Christ as a man, but the Christians see Him as also something like a god. This is not a new concept for Pliny as Romans were known to worship their own emperors, though their deity was achieved through a declaration of the Roman senate.
The second important point Pliny made in his letter to the emperor Trajan was that the Christians willing died for their faith. This was something with which Pliny was completely unfamiliar. Loyalty to a dead man was not worth sacrificing one’s own life.
“In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel not doubt that contumacy and inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.” [27]
While the willingness of Christians to sacrifice their own lives for their faith in Christ is not a proof of the veracity of their religion, it does provide historical evidence for the existence of the religion and for the sincerity of its adherents. It should also be noted that dying for one’s faith tends to give weight to the claim that their faith was not something they invented on their own or knew to be a lie. One may be willing to die for one’s honestly held faith, but it seems difficult to imagine one would die for an invented religion or outright lie. These two writings of Pliny the Younger offer very good grounds for accepting the historicity of Christianity. One final note, other references to Christians and Christ are found in the writings of Pliny the Younger, but space does not permit their consideration in this paper.
CONCLUSION
This article has briefly surveyed three extra-biblical, non-Christian sources of antiquity for the historicity of Christianity: Josephus, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger. These sources have gained wide acceptance among scholars, and they offer several and varied details concerning Jesus of Nazareth and His followers. None of the sources had an apparent reason to falsify their reports, and each presented their data in a direct and straightforward manner. There is little credible challenge to the authenticity of these sources, and they have long stood as reliable historical documents of antiquity. Any one of the writings on its own would be a powerful support for the historicity of Christianity. The combined weight of these three sources creates a tour de force with which the agnostic and atheist must contend.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Habermas, Gary. The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ. Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1996.
Secundus, Gaius Plinius Caecilius. The Letters of Pliny the Younger. Translated by Betty Radice. London: Penguin Classics, 1963.
Tacitus, Cornelius. The Annals of Imperial Rome. Translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb. Lawrence, Kansas: Digireads.com Publishing, 2005.
Licona, Michael R. The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2010.
MacArthur, John F. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Matthew 1-7. Chicago: Moody Press, 1985.
New American Standard Bible. Translated by The Lockman Foundation. Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Word Publishing Group, 2004.
Josephus, Flavius. The Works of Josephus. Translated by William Whiston. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987.
Van Voorst, Robert E. Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000.
[1] The quote used from Tacitus is particularly insulting to Christians. He refers to the Christians as having been “hated for their abominations,” and he refers to their religion as “a mischievous superstition.” The quotes used from Pliny the Younger are equally insulting, but also reveal Pliny’s personal persecution of Christians.
[2] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000), 39-42.
[3] Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, The Letters of Pliny the Younger, trans. Betty Radice (London: Penguin Classics, 1963).
[4] Licona, The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 235.
[5] Flavius Josephus, The Works of Josephus, trans. William Whiston (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), Introduction p. ix.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Licona, Michael R., The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 235.
[12] Ibid.
[13] New American Standard Bible, trans. The Lockman Foundation (Nashville, Tennessee: Nelson Word Publishing Group, 2004).
[14] John F. MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Matthew 1-7 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), 52.
[15] Flavius Josephus, The Works of Josephus, trans. William Whiston (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 5, Paragraph 2, p. 484.
[16] Flavius Josephus, The Works of Josephus, trans. William Whiston (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3, p. 480.
[17] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000), 39-42.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (Lawrence, Kansas: Digireads.com Publishing, 2005), 15.44.
[20] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000), 39-42.
[21] Ibid.
[22] Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (Lawrence, Kansas: Digireads.com Publishing, 2005), 15.44.
[23] Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2000), 42-43.
[24] Licona, Michael R., The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 244.
[25] Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, The Letters of Pliny the Younger, trans. Betty Radice (London: Penguin Classics, 1963).
[26] Gary Habermas, The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1996), 197-200.
[27] Ibid.
