Reason 1 of 13
Jesus is a figure of history, not legend
Roman and Jewish writers who had no reason to favour Christians mention Jesus, His execution under Pontius Pilate and the movement that followed Him. Almost no historian today doubts that He lived.
What the non-Christian sources say
The Roman historian Tacitus, writing about AD 116, describes the Christians blamed by Nero for the fire of Rome in AD 64 and explains that their name came from Christus, who was executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius (Annals 15.44). Tacitus despised the movement, which makes him a hostile witness.
The Jewish historian Josephus, writing about AD 93, records that the high priest Ananus had James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ, stoned in AD 62 (Jewish Antiquities 20.200). A second, longer passage about Jesus (Antiquities 18.63-64) was clearly added to by later Christian copyists, but many scholars think a shorter original stands behind it.
Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia, wrote to the emperor Trajan about AD 112 that Christians met before dawn and sang a hymn to Christ as to a god (Letters 10.96).
What the historians conclude
Historians of every belief and none treat Jesus of Nazareth as a real first-century Jew who was crucified under Pilate. The agnostic New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman wrote a whole book defending that conclusion against those who deny it (Did Jesus Exist?, 2012).
Luke, who wrote one of the Gospels and the book of Acts, anchored his account in named rulers and dates, the way ancient historians did.
1Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, 2even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us, 3it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus; 4that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.
Luke 1:1-4 (WEB) · context
1Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.
Luke 3:1-2 (WEB) · context
The strongest objection, stated fairly
Some argue that Jesus is a myth assembled from older pagan stories, and that the Roman references only repeat what Christians were saying.
How it answers
Tacitus and Josephus were not Christians and had no motive to invent a Jewish teacher executed by Rome. The myth theory is rejected by nearly all specialists, believers and sceptics alike. The question that matters is not whether Jesus lived, but who He was and whether He rose.
26For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner.
Acts 26:26 (WEB) · context
Where Christians disagree
- Scholars debate how much of Josephus' longer passage (Antiquities 18.63-64) is original. Almost all accept the shorter reference to James (20.200) as authentic.
Sources
- Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (about AD 116)
- Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.63-64 and 20.200 (about AD 93)
- Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96 (about AD 112)
- Bart D. Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth (HarperOne, 2012)
Why the evidence matters
If Jesus rose, His offer is real
God loves you and gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.