Question: Is there historical evidence for Jesus outside of the Bible?
Answer: The Bible makes historical statements many of which can be easily confirmed by other historical documents. For example, we are told in the Old Testament portion of the Bible that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Jerusalem. In the Gospel biography of Jesus written by Luke he tells us that John the Baptist began his ministry, "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar." But what about Jesus? Do any documents exist from first century that confirm the existence and nature of Jesus? The answer is yes. Not only do they exist, but they are the work of historians who would had a natural prejudice against religious zealots, and therefore gave an objective opinion.
Josephus was a Jewish historian born around A.D. 37. In Book 18 of his works, Josephus is primarily concerned with the Caesars of Rome, and their sub-rulers in the eastern part of the Roman Empire including Jerusalem. In Chapter 3 Paragraph 3 of this book we read:
"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, those that loved him at the 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. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
This is important because Josephus was not a Christian. In addition to the reference above, Josephus also makes mention of John the Baptist and of James the brother of Jesus. The following quote from Book 20 Chapter 9 Paragraph 1 of his work is interesting:
"Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned."
But Josephus is not the only writer to make mention of Jesus. Pliny the Younger was governor of Pontus/Bithynia from A.D. 111-113. His writings are interesting in light of the fact that he reported to the emperor of Rome, Trajan, how he would interrogate and persecute Christians that would not worship the emperor:
"Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed." and "They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn 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."
Other accounts could be listed here, but these give enough evidence to establish the fact that as early as the first century A.D. Christians existed who considered Jesus as the Christ, that He rose from the dead, they followed Him in obedience, and worshipped Him as God.
Answer: The Bible makes historical statements many of which can be easily confirmed by other historical documents. For example, we are told in the Old Testament portion of the Bible that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered Jerusalem. In the Gospel biography of Jesus written by Luke he tells us that John the Baptist began his ministry, "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar." But what about Jesus? Do any documents exist from first century that confirm the existence and nature of Jesus? The answer is yes. Not only do they exist, but they are the work of historians who would had a natural prejudice against religious zealots, and therefore gave an objective opinion.
Josephus was a Jewish historian born around A.D. 37. In Book 18 of his works, Josephus is primarily concerned with the Caesars of Rome, and their sub-rulers in the eastern part of the Roman Empire including Jerusalem. In Chapter 3 Paragraph 3 of this book we read:
"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, those that loved him at the 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. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
This is important because Josephus was not a Christian. In addition to the reference above, Josephus also makes mention of John the Baptist and of James the brother of Jesus. The following quote from Book 20 Chapter 9 Paragraph 1 of his work is interesting:
"Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned."
But Josephus is not the only writer to make mention of Jesus. Pliny the Younger was governor of Pontus/Bithynia from A.D. 111-113. His writings are interesting in light of the fact that he reported to the emperor of Rome, Trajan, how he would interrogate and persecute Christians that would not worship the emperor:
"Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed." and "They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn 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."
Other accounts could be listed here, but these give enough evidence to establish the fact that as early as the first century A.D. Christians existed who considered Jesus as the Christ, that He rose from the dead, they followed Him in obedience, and worshipped Him as God.
