Are there any extrabiblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus?

[yeshuaslavejeff]

QUOTE="Halbhh, post: 73553409, member: 375234"]I can only guess, and use what I know... Wait, a verse comes right to mind:
John 9:39 Then Jesus declared, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind."
Whoa. So, there we go.
I notice this entire chapter is about this seeing vs blindness.
John 9 NIV
(another key verse, but we need the full reading of all the chapter, is verse 41)
One of the things the pharisees who rejected Him were doing wrong was presuming they were righteous as in better, arrogantly. They were not humble.[/QUOTE
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Not related to the pharisees, but the crowds that it is written He had compassion on at times,
but who were there with others to see or listen to Him or for the miracles or the food,

what was Jesus' intention for them ? Did it matter even?

Didn't Jesus always willingly DO what ABBA directed Him to DO, regardless of any other influence (including intentions or feelings or emotions ) ?

 

[Halbhh]

...the crowds that it is written He had compassion on at times,
but who were there with others to see or listen to Him or for the miracles or the food,

what was Jesus' intention for them ? Did it matter even?

Didn't Jesus always willingly DO what ABBA directed Him to DO, regardless of any other influence (including intentions or feelings or emotions ) ?

Yes, He did the will of our Father always. Even all His words were from the Father. He made his disciples 'fishers of men'. Some would respond to the word, and others would not, or wouldn't fully; Mark chapter 4 lays that out more. The Good News is to be brought to all, but not all will accept it. Many will though. To me, it seems we have a true free will. God makes us able to respond, and if we are not too prideful, but instead are more willing to love (and thus willing to sometimes pay the price love sometimes requires), these are more like good soil. I could only speculate to try to say much more about individuals. God knows souls, but we can't (yet, or not fully), because we aren't all-knowing (1 Cor chapter 13). We "don't even know what tomorrow will bring" ( love that one)

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

God knows souls, but we can't (yet, or not fully), because we aren't all-knowing (1 Cor chapter 13). We "don't even know what tomorrow will bring" ( love that one)

"I DO NOTHING, without first telling My people(prophets, men, children ???) "

"No one knows the spirit of man except God...." and who else ?

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

As you read through the gospels fully, you begin to notice that over and over Christ is working to build faith in his disciples. It's like Hebrews chapter 11 (and other passages) -- faith as the key thing.

Before I forget, I believe the Father and Jesus Christ are/were/ working to build faith in His disciples AND in (us)and (others) ,
without forgetting that faith is a gift, not bought with money, nor earned with works - a sheer gift of grace, even just seeking God is a gift, as written. (I don't think I saw anyone disagree with this, btw, so it's not meant as any debate/argument or such, just clarity to realize the amazing gifts/ grace/ wondrous generosity of Yahweh and JESUS!!) ...

 

[Halbhh]

"I DO NOTHING, without first telling My people(prophets, men, children ???) "

"No one knows the spirit of man except God...." and who else ?

Yes, 1 Cor ch 2,v11 is very interesting, meaningful.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

Christ's words are true. Faith isn't an optional thing.

Amen. Without Faith, it is impossible to please God.

As I examine the Scriptures and their effects in the lives of Believers, it seems to me that from the Gospels on, God was not in the business of "proving" anything, but of bearing witness to the Truth, that is, giving enough evidence of His power, wisdom and love, so that we could have faith, but never making anything so concrete that faith was not necessary.

"Blessed is he who has not seen, yet believes" Jesus in the Gospel.
>>

Ready, easy evidence to prove Christ rose would contradict much of the Bible, which clearly teaches us God wants faith from us, and faith isn't merely observing what's known, seen, but instead believing in what isn't yet seen, as Paul worded it. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

So it's not that we never get proof, but instead that faith is the required step, before any proof, on the individual level. It takes faith to seek, to ask, to knock, the way Christ said to (Matthew chapter 7), so that we find.

Amen! Sheer Grace ! So that no one may boast in ourselves, but only boast in JESUS ! YEAH ! HALLELUYAH !

Yes, He did the will of our Father always. Even all His words were from the Father.

May it be so for all of His disciples today also, as Jesus prayed we may all be echad, as Jesus and the Father are echad.

 

[gideon123]

I DO agree with the view expressed here .. it is no accident that we have so little evidence of Christ.

it is remarkable ... that we have so little evidence of the greatest person who ever lived .. and also that this was God's intention. God was intentionally doing this.

faith is hard!!!
thats no accident.

Blessings!

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

QUOTE="gideon123, post: 73554009, member: 298844"]I DO agree with the view expressed here .. it is no accident that we have so little evidence of Christ.
it is remarkable ... that we have so little evidence of the greatest person who ever lived .. and also that this was God's intention. God was intentionally doing this.
faith is hard!!!
thats no accident.
Blessings![/QUOTE
======================================
Perhaps funny that some people who set out to prove JESUS never lived, in a time from six months to two years , were totally convinced that JESUS is exactly Who He Says He IS, and they repented of their sins and selfish life, and were immersed in His Name and saved.
AFTER a lifetime denying Him, they got saved trying to prove He wasn't real.

 

[ronlion]

Something that has troubled me is I have never been able to find extra biblical accounts of Jesus resurrection. Why didn’t the 500 he appeared to write testimonies of his resurrection? Even if any of them were illiterate I’m sure a few of them must have been literate. Does anyone have any answers?

The greatest Greco-Roman historian, Gaetano De Sanctis, and one of the greatest Roman law historians , Leopold Wenger,(an institute at the University of Munich is named for him) said that the Nazareth Inscription/Decree proves that "the empty tomb of Jesus"(that's how scholars refer to the resurrection of Christ) is an historical fact. And so do numerous other scholars.
(I read this in a book by the late, eminent New Testament scholar, Bruce Metzger.)
Here is scholar Dr Clyde Billington's great articles on the Nazareth Ins.:
The Nazareth Inscription: Proof of the Resurrection of Christ? Part I
Part II:
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/07/28/The-Nazareth-Inscription-Proof-of-the-Resurrection-of-Christ-Part-II.aspx
There is even more extra-biblical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus in other sources.I think my CF bros/sis have given you some good reading advice.
However faith is still required- but only a tiny bit because there is so much evidence. Faith is a real thing, Fishman.
Also 4 out of the 5 greatest physicists in history, ( the incomparable James Clerk Maxwell{he was smarter than Einstein-even Einstein said modern physics began with JC Maxwell-there is no Einstein without JC Maxwell}, Newton, Michael Faraday,and Werner Heisenberg{won Nobel for physics for the creation of Quantum Mechanics/Physics and he wrote that "the Good Lord God knows the position of [the subatomic] particle.."[in Heisenberg's last letter to A. Einstein]}.
Fishman, here's a MIT article about JC Maxwell's faith:
http://silas.psfc.mit.edu/Maxwell/
Remember most of the greatest scientific minds were born-again Christians.(Did you now that Albert Einstein got all his mathematics for his Theory of General Relativity from born again Christian supergenius Bernhard Riemann?)

-***One of today's best scientific minds, the ultra-genius Argentinian-American physicist Juan Maldacena, invented the Holographic Duality Principle( basically evidence that the universe is a simulation[but it is a" real simulation" to be clear, by the Holy Spirit]) is a religious Christian.

Do not listen to second rate scholars /scientists(i.e.Stephen Hawking[died] would still be trying to count to ten without the discoveries of religious Christians) who spread misinformation about God/Christ.
Read the words of the New Testament/Bible which is clearly inspired by the only true Almighty God(Jesus/his Father/H.S.)- who alone possesses infinite knowledge and omniscience.

And to all you sweet people of all colors and tribes in America and all the beautiful nations of the globe, I say please believe in Jesus as your Savior and God. I am telling you humbly and in loving kindness, that he(Jesus) is the only Way to live forever in perfect happiness and joy in heaven.

 

[Radagast]

Those events were all recorded, including the census and tax when our Lord was born.

They were stored at Pompeii. God saw to it they were destroyed.

Huh?

I'm pretty sure that Roman records were stored in Rome. But minor events in outlying provinces like Palestine weren't generally recorded.

And it would be centuries before the Romans realised that the crucifixion of one particular man in Palestine was actually not minor, but of world-shaking importance.

Or they were destroyed during the sack of Rome in 410.

By 410, Rome had been Christian for a while. Any surviving records related to Jesus would have been publicised well before then.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

By 410, Rome had been Christian for a while. Any surviving records related to Jesus would have been publicised well before then.

There were assemblies of Ekklesia in Rome, but no where near even half of Rome was saved. Only a "few", as always, or a "remnant", also as written.

 

[Radagast]

There were assemblies of Ekklesia in Rome, but no where near even half of Rome was saved. Only a "few", as always, or a "remnant", also as written.

By 410, the Roman Empire was officially Christian. But you miss the point. Any time after 312, if someone had found a original documents related to Jesus, they would have been treated as priceless relics, and discussed repeatedly.

 

[Dave-W]

I'm pretty sure that Roman records were stored in Rome. But minor events in outlying provinces like Palestine weren't generally recorded.

The records were the charge of each province’s governor.
Pilate retired to Pompeii and took those records with him.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

The records were the charge of each province’s governor.
Pilate retired to Pompeii and took those records with him.

And we all know what happened to Pompeii. The people and the records were destroyed in 79 A.D.

The Destruction of Pompeii, 79 AD

The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum - Wikipedia

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

By 410, the Roman Empire was officially Christian. But you miss the point. Any time after 312, if someone had found a original documents related to Jesus, they would have been treated as priceless relics, and discussed repeatedly.

Neither sentence is true, (well, unless by "officially" you mean not really)
historically or in any way,
to the best of man's knowledge,
and revealed by God's Spirit and Word.
The massive, extensive activity of antichrists began in the first century, remember ?
(As Scripture Says)

 

[gideon123]

i had no idea that Pilate's records might be in Pompei. so apparently he decided to retire to a beach community. it didnt work out so well for his family.

do we know if Pilate actually perished in Pompei? Possibly the dates dont allow that. if he was a Roman Governor, he must have been at least 30 years old. so if the eruption happened in 79 AD, he would be 109 years of age (at the time of the eruption), give or take a couple of years. It seems that Pilate survived his final years intact, before the volcano exacted its revenge. but Pilate's sons and daughters might not have been so lucky.

If his records were placed into ceramic jars, then they might have survived. otherwise not. thanks for the comments.

 

[Jude1:3Contendforthefaith]

This is a good video about the subject in general :

 

[Foxfyre]

Something that has troubled me is I have never been able to find extra biblical accounts of Jesus resurrection. Why didn’t the 500 he appeared to write testimonies of his resurrection? Even if any of them were illiterate I’m sure a few of them must have been literate. Does anyone have any answers?

@All4Christ already posted the historian Josephus's account. But to the Roman Empire, Jesus of Nazareth was just one more bit of rabble crucified among thousands executed in the same manner. They did not bother to keep records of such things as we do now, and such would not be included in any of the Roman history. And those Emperors who persecuted the 'rebellious' Christians, as they saw it, almost certainly would not have condoned any writings supporting that illegal sect. They were unsuccessful in destroying all the manuscripts in circulation recording eye witness accounts that made it into our modern Bible.

So far as we know there were no witnesses to the resurrection itself. But there were many witnesses to the death of Jesus of Nazareth on the cross, the burial in the tomb, the empty tomb, and the Risen Christ. And while there are mentions of the "Christian cult" in various writings of the time, the only substantive accounts we have are the independent manuscripts that were gathered together and included in the Bible. Which is why we have the Bible of course.

 

[Radagast]

The records were the charge of each province’s governor.
Pilate retired to Pompeii and took those records with him.

Do you have any evidence for that at all, other than a fictional movie?

So far, every statement that you've made which I've checked has turned out to be false.

According to tradition, Pilate was in fact banished to Gaul (by Caligula) and died there.

 

[Radagast]

Neither sentence is true, (well, unless by "officially" you mean not really)

Theodosius declared Christianity the official religion.