Is the process of dating Jesus' life circular? In order to find out when Jesus lived we must assume the Gospels are historically reliable and we end up begging the question. Is this true?
[1] Jesus is said to have been Crucified by Pontius Pilate whose office can be dated from 26-36 A.D. Extant texts of both Josephus and Tacitus mention this. Both references are disputed, but for those who accept the authenticity of one or both of these outside vectors, we need go no further.
<B>[2]</B> James, Jesus' brother was alive in the 50's as is evident in the Pauline corpus (James is also attested by Josephus and Mark). The logic of this one is simple. Jesus could not have died in 50 BC and have a brother alive in 50 A.D. This helps establish a timeframe.Also keep in mind that the average life expectancy was probably lower in antiquity than it is today.
<B>[3]</B> Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist whose historicity is secured by Josephus and Mark,Q, etc.
<B>[4]</B> John the Baptist is said to have been killed by Herod and the Synoptics have Jesus/Herod related material.
<B>[5]</B> Both Matthew and Luke say Jesus was born near the time of Herod the Great's death (4 B.C.).
As we can see, there is no reverting to a naïve form of "Gospel reliability" or committing the begging the question fallacy here. The general timeframe of Jesus' life can be well established through critical-historical investigation.
For thosei nterested in more arguments I listed 11 more datums in an article I wrote here on this issue:
http://www.acfaith.com/jchronology.html
Vinnie
[1] Jesus is said to have been Crucified by Pontius Pilate whose office can be dated from 26-36 A.D. Extant texts of both Josephus and Tacitus mention this. Both references are disputed, but for those who accept the authenticity of one or both of these outside vectors, we need go no further.
<B>[2]</B> James, Jesus' brother was alive in the 50's as is evident in the Pauline corpus (James is also attested by Josephus and Mark). The logic of this one is simple. Jesus could not have died in 50 BC and have a brother alive in 50 A.D. This helps establish a timeframe.Also keep in mind that the average life expectancy was probably lower in antiquity than it is today.
<B>[3]</B> Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist whose historicity is secured by Josephus and Mark,Q, etc.
<B>[4]</B> John the Baptist is said to have been killed by Herod and the Synoptics have Jesus/Herod related material.
<B>[5]</B> Both Matthew and Luke say Jesus was born near the time of Herod the Great's death (4 B.C.).
As we can see, there is no reverting to a naïve form of "Gospel reliability" or committing the begging the question fallacy here. The general timeframe of Jesus' life can be well established through critical-historical investigation.
For thosei nterested in more arguments I listed 11 more datums in an article I wrote here on this issue:
http://www.acfaith.com/jchronology.html
Vinnie
