Podkrepitve iz nekrščanskih virov

Prosimo, upoštevajte! This page offers a brief summary of the available information. Click the links provided for more details. These include proof of authenticity and fuller citations.

1. What should we expect to find?

Remember that we are now looking at non-Christian sources. What type of historical evidence should we look for? Claims that Jesus was the Messiah, or that he rose from the dead? Certainly not! Non-Christians would not accept it. It contradicted Jewish, Roman and Greek ideas. So we expect that non-Christian writers will be uncomplimentary.

Very few secular texts survive from the time of Jesus. So we must rely on sources from shortly after Jesus. Some of these texts talk about Jesus. Only a few. But the number of them is as expected. And the things they say are uncomplimentary.

Tacitus and Josephus are two of the best. The texts are acknowledged as authentic. Both writers are known to check their facts carefully.

In the past there were other sources. Their ideas are discussed by later Christian writers. But the original texts have been lost.

All of these are briefly discussed below. We will also discuss some later secular and Jewish sources.

2. Tacitus.

Tacitus was a Roman historian and public speaker who lived from about 55-120CE. He is recognized as one of the best historians of that era. He talks about the Fire of Rome in 64CE. Then he says this:

“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 Judaea, 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.” (Annals 15.44.)

“Nero wanted to silence this talk. So he blamed a group called “Christians”. He ordered them to be tortured. People hated Christians because of their disgusting practices. Their name comes from ‘Christ.’ This man was put to death during the reign of Tiberius. This was ordered by Pontius Pilate, the Governor. The destructive superstition stopped for a time: but then it started again. But not only where it first began in Judea. Now in Rome as well. Many horrible shameful practices from around the world flow into this city. And they become popular.”

3. Flavius Josephus.

Flavius Josephus was born in 37CE. He came from a Jewish family of priests. He predicted that Vespasian would become Emperor of Rome. So he became like a son of Vespasian and was called Flavius. In his books he mentions the James who was Jesus’ brother. He also talks about John the Baptist. But most famous is the “Testimonium Flavianum“ (Testimony of Flavius). This discusses Jesus himself. Most Scholars agree that some parts of this text were amended by a Christian commentator. But we can completely remove the suspicious parts. Almost every scholar agrees that the remaining text is written by Josephus. And it reads as follows:

“At this time there was Jesus, a wise man. For he was one who performed (surprising / wonderful) works, and a teacher of people who received the (truth / unusual) with pleasure. He stirred up both many Jews and many Greeks. And when Pilate condemned him to the cross, since he was accused by the leading men among us, those who had loved him from the first did not desist. And until now the tribe of Christians, so named from him, is not extinct.”

“At this time there was Jesus. He was a wise man. He did surprising things. He taught the kind of person who likes new ideas. Jesus stirred many Jews and many Greeks. Pilate condemned Jesus to die on the cross. This was because of charges made against him by our leaders. But those who loved him from the first did not stop. And until now the tribe of Christians, named after him, is not extinct.”

4. Citations taken from lost books.

Christian leaders during the second and third centuries are sometimes called ‘Early Church Fathers’. They often quote from earlier writings. But some earlier writings are now lost. So we only know what the citations tell us. Examples are:

• A letter written by Justin Martyr and sent to the Roman Emperor Antonius. He refers to the official account of ‘Pontius Pilate’s actions’. He says that this document confirms that Jesus performed miracles. And it also confirms how Jesus died.
• There was a historian called ‘Thallus'. He lived in the first century. When Jesus died, the sky became dark. ‘Thallus’ claimed it was a solar eclipse. Julius Africanus reports this idea. But Julius explained why it is wrong.
• Phlegon was a historian who lived in the second century. Julius Africanus mentions him. The theologian Origen also mentions him. Phlegon also describes an unusual darkness and a big earthquake. Phlegon admitted that Jesus predicted future events.

5. Other Early Graeco-Roman Sources.

The younger Pliny was governing Bythinia in 112CE. He writes a letter to the Emperor Trajan. We have a complete copy of Pliny’s letter. We also have the Emperor’s reply. Christians are being persecuted. Pliny has killed some of them. He asks: “If a person denies Jesus – what should I do?” Many people have become Christians. So he is worried.

Lucian was a satirical writer from Samosata. In 170CE he wrote about a man called Peregrinus. Peregrinus was a deceiver. For a long time he pretended to be a Christian. The Christians were trusting and generous. He was greedy: so he became rich at their expense. “These people are delusional, you see. They have convinced themselves that they will live forever. This explains their contempt of death. And often they willingly sacrifice themselves for each other. … from the moment they are ‘converted’, they deny the gods of Greece, they offer worship to the ‘wise one’ who was crucified, and live according to his commands, they are all brothers.”

6. Rabbinic Literature.

Jewish Rabbis wrote some very insulting comments about Jesus. Christians were offended. We know that a number of these comments have been lost. But most scholars agree that some very old remarks still exist. Most Christian and Jewish scholars recognize the following:

• An explanation of the execution of Jesus. (‘Babylonian Talmud’, b.San. 43a.) This was written in the Tannaitic period. (70-200CE).
• A conversation between a disciple of Jesus and a Jewish Rabbi, (60-95CE). (‘Babylonian Talmud’, Abodah Zarah 165, 17a.)/(‘Tosefta’, Hullin 2.24.) Written in the Tannaitic period.
• Sometimes people would not speak Jesus’ name. Instead they say things like this: “That particular person is the illegitimate son of an adulteress.” (‘Mishna’, Yebamoth 4.13.) The speaker lived about 100CE.
• Jesus is sometimes described as “Jezus, the son of Pantera“. (Some say that ‘Pantera’ was the grandfather’s name. Others say ‘Pantera’ was a Roman soldier. Others suggest it is a joke about Jesus’ virgin birth.) One story tells of a Rabbi who was bitten by a snake. A man says he can heal the Rabbi. But he can only do it in the name of Jesus. (‘Babylonian Talmud’, Abodah Zarah 27b. Also found in 4 other places.) This must have happened before 132CE.

7. Information that can be verified.

The Christian texts include a lot of historical, cultural and local information. By 150CE conditions in Israel were very different. Most Christians would not know about conditions in the time of Jesus. So we can check the authenticity of the information. We have already discussed this.

Zaključek

We explained that non-Christian writers will be uncomplimentary. That is precisely what we do find.

But these writings confirm a lot of key facts. Josephus and Tacitus are two of the finest historians. We have other non-Christian writers from the first and second century. They all confirm the essential historical facts about the life and death of Jesus. They tell us the names of his contemporaries. They talk about the church that Jesus started. The Jewish Rabbis accused Jesus of sorcery. They are admitting that Jesus did miracles.

Something else is also apparent from these and other later writings. For many centuries, Jezus’ enemies did not deny the historical facts. The gospels described exactly where and when Jesus was born and died. They say that government officials knowingly killed an innocent man. They even tell us the names of those who were responsible. Jezus’ enemies do not deny these things. Instead, they say Jesus was a troublemaker. So did Jesus’ contemporaries believe Jesus was a real historical person? Clearly, they did.

Early non-Christian writers rarely mention Jesus. This is what we expected. But there are enough. They say the kind of things we were expecting them to say. They are from well authenticated sources. And they confirm the historicity of Jesus beyond any reasonable doubt. Attempts to deny the historicity of Jesus are relatively recent. Such claims find very little support among historians.