WEBVTT 00:20.350 --> 00:25.410 Often, we come across titles on the internet, which say things like, 00:25.850 --> 00:28.870 it is doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all. 00:29.990 --> 00:34.850 Then these articles go on to say, if he did exist, we don't know anything 00:34.850 --> 00:36.370 about him outside of the Bible. 00:37.350 --> 00:42.450 However, one would be very hard-pressed to find a historian who agrees with these 00:42.450 --> 00:43.710 sensational articles. 00:44.390 --> 00:49.450 Many people have raised questions about Jesus Christ, and some have doubted what 00:49.450 --> 00:51.050 the Bible says about him is true. 00:51.870 --> 00:56.390 But the circle of those who claim he never lived at all, or that if he did live, 00:56.590 --> 00:59.750 we can know nothing about him, is very, very small. 01:00.570 --> 01:06.510 In fact, you'd be very hard-pressed to find a real historian who would make the 01:06.510 --> 01:08.250 claim that Jesus did not exist. 01:09.190 --> 01:14.790 However, today I'm going to address the extra biblical accounts of Jesus Christ. 01:15.350 --> 01:22.710 These are secular, or pagan, Jewish, and Christian accounts of Christ in the 01:22.710 --> 01:24.370 early period after his death. 01:25.290 --> 01:27.910 Let's start with something relatively modern. 01:28.630 --> 01:33.310 One of the great American revolutionaries, Thomas Paine, was not a fan of 01:33.310 --> 01:33.730 Christianity. 01:34.910 --> 01:39.370 However, he never questioned the historical nature of Jesus of Nazareth. 01:40.010 --> 01:44.190 While Paine believed that the biblical statements about Jesus' deity were false, 01:44.530 --> 01:46.790 he still believed that Jesus actually lived. 01:47.590 --> 01:48.970 This is what Paine said. 01:49.730 --> 01:52.090 He, Jesus Christ, was a virtuous man. 01:52.770 --> 01:57.210 The morality that he preached and practiced was of the most benevolent kind. 01:58.130 --> 02:03.250 And though similar systems of morality had been preached by Confucius and by some of 02:03.250 --> 02:08.390 the Greek philosophers many years before, by the Quaker sins, and by many good men 02:08.390 --> 02:11.670 in all the ages, it has not been exceeded by many. 02:13.050 --> 02:17.430 The historical accounts of Christ, for an unbiased historian, is equal to 02:17.430 --> 02:18.410 that of Julius Caesar. 02:19.010 --> 02:22.490 It is not historians who propagate the Christ myth theories. 02:23.270 --> 02:27.770 No serious scholar has attempted to venture into the non-historical nature of 02:27.770 --> 02:28.090 Jesus. 02:28.890 --> 02:32.770 The history of Jesus isn't just a matter of curious interest for the Christian. 02:33.350 --> 02:36.630 The Christian faith itself is grounded in history. 02:37.610 --> 02:42.030 Let's begin with some secular historical authorities on Jesus. 02:43.070 --> 02:48.430 By secular, I mean pagan, non-Christian, and non-Jewish, and generally 02:48.430 --> 02:49.690 anti-Christian. 02:50.410 --> 02:55.510 Some of these historical accounts of Jesus are very negative, but realize they're 02:55.510 --> 03:00.010 coming from people who are trying to disprove his deity and his resurrection. 03:00.650 --> 03:03.130 The first one we will begin with is Tactus. 03:04.150 --> 03:08.350 He was a Roman historian who lived through the reigns of over a half dozen Roman 03:08.350 --> 03:08.950 emperors. 03:09.790 --> 03:15.070 He has been called the greatest historian of ancient Rome, an individual generally 03:15.070 --> 03:19.710 acknowledged among scholars for his moral integrity and essential goodness. 03:20.910 --> 03:24.490 Tactus' most acclaimed work are the annuals of the histories. 03:25.390 --> 03:32.490 The annuals cover the period from Augustine's death in AD 14 to Nero in AD 03:32.490 --> 03:33.230 68. 03:33.750 --> 03:38.290 The histories begin after Nero's death and proceed to about AD 96. 03:39.370 --> 03:44.410 Writing on the reign of Nero, he alludes to the death of Christ and to the 03:44.410 --> 03:45.910 existence of Christians in Rome. 03:46.610 --> 03:48.350 He didn't misspell Christ. 03:48.870 --> 03:53.450 He wrote C-H-R-I-S-T-U-S. 03:53.970 --> 03:57.410 This was a common spelling error made by pagan writers. 03:58.210 --> 04:02.110 This is what Tactus wrote in the annuals of the histories. 04:31.430 --> 04:37.010 Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate of 04:37.010 --> 04:39.310 Judah in the reign of Tiberius. 04:39.910 --> 04:43.490 But this superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again. 04:44.150 --> 04:49.990 Not only through Judah, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome 04:49.990 --> 04:50.550 also. 04:51.650 --> 04:55.310 Note that Pilate's existence is never questioned. 04:56.170 --> 05:00.930 However, Pilate is not mentioned in any other pagan document which has come down 05:00.930 --> 05:01.470 to us. 05:02.350 --> 05:07.150 And it may be regarded as an instance of the irony of history that the only 05:07.150 --> 05:12.150 surviving reference to him in a pagan writer mentions him because of the 05:12.150 --> 05:14.790 sentence of death which he passed upon Christ. 05:15.810 --> 05:21.490 For a moment, Tactus joins hands with the ancient Christian creed suffered under 05:21.490 --> 05:22.470 Pontius Pilate. 05:23.350 --> 05:28.850 Although Pilate is only mentioned in this pagan work, the Pilate stone was found. 05:28.850 --> 05:34.170 The Pilate stone is a name given to a damaged rock of carved limestone with a 05:34.170 --> 05:38.330 particularly intact subscription attributed to and mentioning Pontius 05:38.330 --> 05:44.430 Pilate of the Roman-controlled providence of Judah from 26 to 36 AD. 05:45.370 --> 05:48.670 It was discovered on an archaeological site in 1961. 05:49.690 --> 05:54.210 The artifact is significant because it is not only widely accepted as an 05:54.210 --> 05:58.910 archaeological find to date, but of a first century Roman inscription mentioning 05:58.910 --> 06:00.590 the name Pontius Pilate. 06:01.410 --> 06:06.310 It is contemporary to Pilate's lifetime and accords with what is known of his 06:06.310 --> 06:07.150 reported career. 06:08.150 --> 06:12.550 In effect, the writing constitutes the earliest surviving record and only 06:12.550 --> 06:18.090 contemporary evidence of the historical existence of this person, otherwise known 06:18.090 --> 06:22.570 only from the New Testament and brief mentions in Roman histories. 06:23.350 --> 06:26.550 The Pilate stone is now being held at a museum in Israel. 06:28.250 --> 06:30.790 The next we will look at is Lucian. 06:31.850 --> 06:35.670 He was a Greek satirist of the later half of the second century. 06:36.310 --> 06:39.310 He spoke scornfully of Christ and of the Christians. 06:39.910 --> 06:43.470 However, he never assumed or made arguments that they were unreal. 06:44.190 --> 06:49.290 As he said, the Christians you know worship a man to this day, the 06:49.290 --> 06:54.430 distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites and was crucified on 06:54.430 --> 06:55.050 that account. 06:55.450 --> 07:00.010 You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are 07:00.010 --> 07:04.650 immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary 07:04.650 --> 07:07.670 self-devotion which are so common among them. 07:08.390 --> 07:12.870 And then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are brothers 07:12.870 --> 07:17.970 from the moment that they are converted and deny the gods of Greece and worship 07:17.970 --> 07:21.070 the crucified sage and live after his laws. 07:22.030 --> 07:27.210 All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all 07:27.210 --> 07:28.670 worldly goods alike. 07:29.490 --> 07:33.330 The next person we will look at is another grand Roman historian. 07:33.950 --> 07:37.430 He was a court official and annualist of the imperial house. 07:38.590 --> 07:45.010 Stated in the life of Claudius 25.4, as the Jews were making constant 07:45.010 --> 07:51.250 disturbances at the instigation of C-H-R-E-S-T-U-S, which is another 07:51.250 --> 07:55.210 spelling, he, Claudius, expelled them from Rome. 07:56.230 --> 08:01.590 Luke also refers to this event in Acts 18.2, which took place in A.D. 08:01.670 --> 08:02.050 49. 08:03.110 --> 08:06.990 In another work, he wrote about the fire that swept through Rome in A.D. 08:07.070 --> 08:08.710 64 under the reign of Nero. 08:09.270 --> 08:13.310 He recounts the punishment by Nero was inflicted upon the Christians, 08:13.890 --> 08:17.350 a class of men given to a new and mysterious superstition. 08:18.150 --> 08:20.410 That's in the lives of Caesar 26. 08:21.630 --> 08:27.810 The Claudius reference, particularly the part that says, since the Jews constantly 08:27.810 --> 08:31.890 made disturbances at the instigation of Christ, he expelled them from Rome. 08:32.430 --> 08:38.250 As it is highly unlikely that a hypothetical Christ interloper would have 08:38.250 --> 08:43.550 been called Jesus and placed him in Rome in 49, or called him a troublemaker, 08:43.870 --> 08:48.150 the overwhelming majority of scholars conclude that the passage is genuine. 08:49.470 --> 08:53.630 The passage indicates that Claudius only expelled those Jews who were making 08:53.630 --> 08:55.490 disturbances because of Christ. 08:56.410 --> 09:00.950 Or, as it has been translated from the Latin, from Rome, he, Claudius, 09:01.130 --> 09:06.070 expelled the perpetually troublemaking Jews prompted by Christ. 09:07.030 --> 09:12.330 Most scholars assume that the disturbances mentioned in this text, in this passage, 09:13.030 --> 09:15.330 are due to the spread of Christianity in Rome. 09:16.030 --> 09:20.910 These disturbances were likely caused by the objections of the Jewish community to 09:20.910 --> 09:26.230 the continued preaching of the Hellenistic Jews in Rome and their insistence that 09:26.230 --> 09:30.490 Jesus was the Messiah, resulting in tensions with the Jews in Rome. 09:31.410 --> 09:36.810 In Nero 16, he also lists various laws by Nero to maintain public order, 09:37.590 --> 09:41.690 including halting chariot races as the drivers were cheating and robbing the 09:41.690 --> 09:44.510 shows which frequently were scenes of brawls. 09:45.350 --> 09:48.290 Among these punishments were punishments for Christians. 09:48.930 --> 09:53.930 He states, during his reign many abuses were severely punished and put down, 09:54.430 --> 09:56.090 and no fewer laws were made. 09:56.570 --> 09:58.510 A limit was set on expenditures. 09:59.350 --> 10:02.370 Public banquets were confined to the distribution of food. 10:02.950 --> 10:06.870 The sale of any kind of cooked things in the taverns were forbidden, with the 10:06.870 --> 10:12.750 exception of vegetables, where before, every sort of dainty was exposed for sale. 10:13.610 --> 10:18.250 Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new 10:18.250 --> 10:20.210 and mischievous superstition. 10:21.010 --> 10:25.430 He put an end to the divisions of the chariot drivers, who from immunity of 10:25.430 --> 10:29.410 long-standing claim the right of ranging at large and amusing themselves by 10:29.410 --> 10:30.670 cheating and robbing the people. 10:31.270 --> 10:35.690 The actors and their partitions were banished from the city. 10:36.270 --> 10:40.370 As a church father wrote, we read the lives of the Caesars. 10:40.770 --> 10:45.070 At Rome, Nero was the first who stained with blood the rising faith. 10:45.670 --> 10:51.530 Also, this early church father used this author as a source by quoting lives of the 10:51.530 --> 10:55.410 Caesars as proof that Nero was the first Roman emperor to murder Christians. 10:57.810 --> 11:00.790 The next we will look at is Pinley the Younger. 11:01.430 --> 11:04.330 He was the governor in Asia Minor in A.D. 11:04.430 --> 11:04.770 112. 11:05.750 --> 11:09.130 He was writing the emperor to seek counsel on how to treat the Christians. 11:09.910 --> 11:14.410 He explained that he had been killing both men and women, girls and boys. 11:14.870 --> 11:19.450 There were so many Christians being put to death under him that he began to wonder if 11:19.450 --> 11:23.730 he should continue killing them, or if he should just kill certain 11:23.730 --> 11:24.150 Christians. 11:24.750 --> 11:28.330 He explained that he had made the Christians bow down to the statues. 11:29.450 --> 11:33.530 He goes on to say that he also made them curse Christ, which a genuine Christian 11:33.530 --> 11:35.030 cannot be induced to do. 11:35.750 --> 11:40.550 In the same letter, he says of the people being tried, they affirmed, however, 11:40.930 --> 11:46.510 that the whole of their guilt, or their error, was that they were in the 11:46.510 --> 11:51.470 habit of meeting in a certain fixed day before it was light, that they sang an 11:51.470 --> 11:57.450 alternate verse, a hymn to Christ as to a God, and bound themselves in a solemn 11:57.450 --> 12:02.850 oath, not to do any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, 12:03.090 --> 12:09.490 theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not to deny a trust when they should 12:09.490 --> 12:11.470 be called upon to deliver it up. 12:12.170 --> 12:16.610 Note that he says Christ as to a God. 12:17.370 --> 12:21.330 Here, he is implying that Christ is indeed a historical figure. 12:22.110 --> 12:24.530 However, he is denying Christ's deity. 12:27.270 --> 12:31.750 The next we will be looking at is one of the first secular writers who mentions 12:31.750 --> 12:32.330 Christ. 12:33.070 --> 12:36.390 This one is dated perhaps around AD 52. 12:37.130 --> 12:43.110 He wrote, a history of the eastern Mediterranean world from the Trojan War to 12:43.110 --> 12:43.890 his own time. 12:45.010 --> 12:49.890 Unfortunately, his writing now only exists in fragments that have been cited by other 12:49.890 --> 12:50.370 writers. 12:51.130 --> 12:58.150 One interesting passage relates to the darkness that enveloped the land during 12:58.150 --> 13:00.990 the late afternoon hours when Jesus died on the cross. 13:02.250 --> 13:07.850 Thelius, in the third book of his histories, explains away this darkness as 13:07.850 --> 13:08.950 an eclipse of the sun. 13:10.170 --> 13:14.310 Unreasonably, of course, because a solar eclipse could not take place at that time 13:14.310 --> 13:19.930 of the full moon, and it was at the season of the partial moon that Christ died. 13:20.530 --> 13:24.410 This reference shows that the gospel account of the darkness that fell upon the 13:24.410 --> 13:28.910 land during Christ's crucifixion was well known and required a naturalistic 13:28.910 --> 13:30.770 explanation from non-Christians. 13:31.630 --> 13:36.370 Thelius did not doubt that Jesus had been crucified and that an unusual event had 13:36.370 --> 13:38.610 occurred in nature that required an explanation. 13:39.230 --> 13:43.350 What occupied his mind was the task of coming up with a different interpretation. 13:44.430 --> 13:47.710 The basic facts were never called into question in his works. 13:48.990 --> 13:53.770 Another secular historical authority wrote another history called the chronicles. 13:54.650 --> 13:59.410 While the original text has been lost, small fragments have been preserved of his 13:59.410 --> 13:59.750 writing. 14:00.810 --> 14:05.370 Like Thelius, this work confirms that the darkness came upon the earth at Jesus's 14:05.370 --> 14:09.890 crucifixion, and he too explains it as the result of a solar eclipse. 14:11.030 --> 14:16.250 He writes, during the time of Caesar, an eclipse of the sun occurred during the 14:16.250 --> 14:16.770 full moon. 14:17.490 --> 14:23.150 This event is also mentioned by a 3rd century Christian apologist and a 16th 14:23.150 --> 14:23.870 century writer. 14:24.430 --> 14:26.590 Next, we move on to AD 70. 14:27.290 --> 14:32.130 A Syrian philosopher wrote a letter from prison to his son, encouraging him to 14:32.130 --> 14:32.850 pursue wisdom. 14:33.510 --> 14:37.430 In his letter, he compares Jesus to the philosopher Socrates. 14:38.050 --> 14:43.410 He writes to his son, what advantage did the Thetians gain from putting Socrates to 14:43.410 --> 14:43.670 death? 14:44.370 --> 14:47.010 Famine and plague came upon them as judgment for their crime. 14:47.750 --> 14:50.630 What advantage did the men gain from burning Pythagoras? 14:51.350 --> 14:53.390 In a moment, their land was covered with sand. 14:54.170 --> 14:57.430 What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king? 14:58.010 --> 15:01.030 It was just after that their kingdom was abolished. 15:01.490 --> 15:04.070 God justly avenged these three wise men. 15:04.910 --> 15:06.570 The Athenians died of hunger. 15:07.470 --> 15:09.150 Others were overwhelmed by the sea. 15:09.530 --> 15:13.950 The Jews, ruined and driven out from their land, live in complete desperation. 15:15.290 --> 15:17.530 Nor did the wise king die for good. 15:17.790 --> 15:19.730 He lived on in the teaching which he had given. 15:20.490 --> 15:24.130 The father was certainly not a Christian, since he put Jesus on equal footing with 15:24.130 --> 15:24.530 Socrates. 15:24.530 --> 15:30.110 He has Jesus living on in his teaching, rather than his resurrection. 15:30.850 --> 15:33.790 And in another place, he indicates a belief in polytheism. 15:34.510 --> 15:38.390 Nonetheless, his reference to Christ indicated he did not question whether 15:38.390 --> 15:39.810 Jesus really lived or not. 15:42.880 --> 15:47.120 Now we will move on to Jewish references to Jesus in history. 15:48.120 --> 15:52.680 Scholars have found many reliable references to Jesus, as well as many 15:52.680 --> 15:57.140 unreliable ones, and ones that were once thought to refer to Jesus but do not. 15:57.640 --> 16:03.040 I am going to go through a very select few of the more important and reliable 16:03.040 --> 16:03.620 references. 16:04.880 --> 16:09.040 Similar to secular references, the ones found in ancient Jewish sources 16:09.040 --> 16:13.320 are unfriendly toward Christianity's founder, followers, and belief. 16:14.060 --> 16:18.940 For this reason, their testimony to the events surrounding Jesus's life are very 16:18.940 --> 16:20.000 valuable testimony. 16:20.600 --> 16:23.680 The first one we will look at is the Babylonian Talmud. 16:24.420 --> 16:27.780 It has been taught on the eve of Passover that they hanged Jesus. 16:28.600 --> 16:32.680 And an announcer went out in front of him for 40 days saying, he is going to be 16:32.680 --> 16:36.620 stoned because he practiced sorcery and enticed and led Israel astray. 16:37.280 --> 16:42.100 Anyone who knows anything in his favor, let him come and plead in his behalf. 16:42.400 --> 16:46.200 But not having found anything in his favor, they hanged him on the eve of 16:46.200 --> 16:46.720 Passover. 16:47.620 --> 16:54.360 Another version of this text calls him Jesus the Nazarene, using the spelling 16:54.360 --> 16:56.320 Y-E-S-H-U. 16:58.140 --> 17:01.300 This translates through Greek to English as Jesus. 17:02.580 --> 17:06.720 And the reference to him being a Nazarene makes the link to Jesus Christ even 17:06.720 --> 17:07.280 stronger. 17:08.720 --> 17:13.000 Moreover, the word hanged is another way of referring to the crucifixion, 17:13.340 --> 17:17.340 which we can see in Luke 23-39 and Galatians 3-13. 17:18.140 --> 17:23.040 A Jewish scholar wrote that the Talmud speaks of hanging in place of crucifixion, 17:23.460 --> 17:27.460 since this horrible Roman form of death was only known to Jewish scholars from 17:27.460 --> 17:30.620 Roman trials, and not from the Jewish legal system. 17:31.540 --> 17:36.360 Even Paul the Apostle expounds this passage, for the curse of God is that 17:36.360 --> 17:39.920 which is hanged, as applicable to Jesus. 17:40.860 --> 17:45.640 Therefore, this text clearly affirms the historic nature of Jesus and his death. 17:46.380 --> 17:49.060 It also affirms that the Jewish authorities were involved in the 17:49.060 --> 17:52.120 sentencing, but it tries to justify their actions. 17:52.800 --> 17:56.560 In a backhanded way, it even testifies to Jesus's miracles. 17:57.200 --> 18:01.640 But it attempts to explain them away as a work of a sorcerer or magician. 18:02.240 --> 18:09.160 A response mentioned by the gospel writers in Mark 3-22, Matthew 9-34 and 12-24. 18:10.020 --> 18:14.300 Following the Jewish text, appears a comment by a late 3rd century writer, 18:14.820 --> 18:15.460 which states, 18:30.620 --> 18:35.880 This phrase, near to the kingship, may refer to Jesus's genealogical descent 18:35.880 --> 18:41.100 from Israel's King David, or it may denote Pilate's washing his hand before turning 18:41.100 --> 18:43.160 Jesus over to crucifixion. 18:44.020 --> 18:49.420 In yet another passage, we find his mother Mariam, a woman's hairdresser, 18:50.400 --> 18:54.620 as they say, this one strayed from her husband, who was a descendant of princes 18:54.620 --> 18:57.880 and governors, played a harlot with carpenters. 18:58.380 --> 19:02.300 This passage is, of course, an attempted explanation for the Christian confession 19:02.300 --> 19:04.580 of Jesus's virgin birth. 19:04.860 --> 19:09.260 Princes and governors may refer to some of the names in Luke's genealogy, 19:10.180 --> 19:14.920 which some of the church fathers assigned to Mary's ancestors, all the way back to 19:14.920 --> 19:15.520 King David. 19:16.320 --> 19:21.780 The New Testament records that the scribes and Pharisees indirectly leveled this 19:21.780 --> 19:24.240 charge against Jesus in John 8-41. 19:25.240 --> 19:29.560 Although the New Testament affirms that these charges are baseless, the accusation 19:29.560 --> 19:34.140 does confirm that the Christian account of Jesus's miraculous birth was an early 19:34.140 --> 19:37.320 claim of the church that required a response. 19:40.890 --> 19:46.150 And now we move to the very controversial and much talked about testimony of 19:46.150 --> 19:46.910 Josephus. 19:47.590 --> 19:53.450 Josephus was born in 37 or 38 AD and died after 100 AD. 19:53.950 --> 19:59.850 He was a Jewish aristocrat, a priestly politician, a not-so-eager commander of 19:59.850 --> 20:04.830 the rebel troops in Galilee during the first Jewish revolt in Rome, a tricky 20:04.830 --> 20:10.810 turncoat, a Jewish historian in the pay of the emperors, and a supposed Pharisee. 20:11.090 --> 20:13.010 He was captured in 67. 20:13.870 --> 20:17.670 He served the Romans as mediator and interpreter during the rest of the revolt. 20:18.710 --> 20:24.010 Brought to Rome, he composed two great works, the Jewish War, written in early 20:24.010 --> 20:30.170 70s, and the much longer Jewish Antiquities, finished around 93 or 94. 20:31.470 --> 20:33.950 Josephus became part of the emperor's inner circle. 20:34.730 --> 20:36.910 He was given the emperor's name as his Roman name. 20:37.570 --> 20:39.170 Josephus was his Jewish name. 20:40.190 --> 20:44.850 In the Jewish Antiquities, a passage occurs that has created much-heeded debate 20:44.850 --> 20:45.550 among scholars. 20:46.210 --> 20:47.350 This is how it reads. 20:48.490 --> 20:53.570 Now there was a time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, 20:54.110 --> 20:59.490 for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men, as received the 20:59.490 --> 21:00.290 truth with pleasure. 21:00.870 --> 21:04.370 He drew over to him both many Jews and many Gentiles. 21:04.910 --> 21:09.850 He was the Christ, and then Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men 21:09.850 --> 21:12.370 among us, had condemned him to the cross. 21:13.050 --> 21:17.490 Those that he loved at first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive 21:17.490 --> 21:22.850 again on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten 21:22.850 --> 21:25.470 thousand other wonderful things concerning him. 21:25.470 --> 21:30.430 And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day. 21:31.370 --> 21:36.890 This passage has raised much debate because Josephus was a non-Christian Jew. 21:37.710 --> 21:42.070 He would not make statements about Jesus that an Orthodox Jew could not affirm. 21:42.590 --> 21:47.250 For instance, he refers to Jesus as the Christ, Messiah, and claims that he rose 21:47.250 --> 21:50.250 from the dead, as the Hebrew prophets had foretold. 21:51.170 --> 21:55.770 After looking at the evidence, scholars see that there are some Christian 21:55.770 --> 21:57.950 additions to this passage. 21:58.490 --> 22:03.710 Notably, the phrases which are italicized have been made to the text that are 22:03.710 --> 22:05.030 clearly foreign to it. 22:05.690 --> 22:10.430 The testimonium contains a good deal of truth that Josephus could have easily 22:10.430 --> 22:11.010 affirmed. 22:11.690 --> 22:16.590 If you read the testimonium without the italicized passages, you will see that the 22:16.590 --> 22:17.730 flow of thought is clear. 22:18.590 --> 22:22.070 Josephus calls Jesus by the generic title wise man. 22:22.610 --> 22:27.310 Josephus then proceeds to unpack the generic designation of wise man with two 22:27.310 --> 22:29.350 of its main components in the Roman world. 22:29.830 --> 22:32.230 Miracle working and effective teaching. 22:33.090 --> 22:37.930 I will now read it without the italicized words which most scholars have confirmed 22:37.930 --> 22:39.730 to be the actual writing. 22:40.430 --> 22:45.850 Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, for he was a doer of wonderful 22:45.850 --> 22:49.490 works, a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. 22:50.050 --> 22:53.950 He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. 22:54.730 --> 22:58.970 And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him 22:58.970 --> 23:02.590 to the cross, those that loved him at first did not forsake him. 23:03.290 --> 23:07.870 And the tribe of Christians so named after him are not extinct to this day. 23:09.070 --> 23:15.190 Following this testimonium, a couple of sections later, Josephus refers to James 23:15.190 --> 23:16.090 the brother of Jesus. 23:16.990 --> 23:19.150 He describes the action of the high priest. 23:20.130 --> 23:21.370 Here's what he says. 23:21.970 --> 23:27.170 But the younger who, as we said, received a high priesthood was of a bold 23:27.170 --> 23:29.330 disposition and exceptionally daring. 23:29.970 --> 23:35.210 He followed the party of the Sadducees who are severe in judgment above all the Jews, 23:35.830 --> 23:41.710 as we have already shown, and therefore was of such a disposition he thought he 23:41.710 --> 23:45.610 had now a good opportunity, as Festus was now dead. 23:46.290 --> 23:50.750 So he assembled a council of judges and brought before the brother of Jesus the 23:50.750 --> 23:53.390 so-called Christ, whose name was James. 23:54.210 --> 23:59.150 Together with some others, and having accused them as lawbreakers, he delivered 23:59.150 --> 24:00.170 them to be stoned. 24:00.810 --> 24:05.690 Louis Feldman, a professor of Classics and translator for the edition of the Niquity 24:05.690 --> 24:10.310 states, few scholars have doubted the genuineness of this passage. 24:11.050 --> 24:14.970 The passage referring to Jesus as the so-called Christ does not make sense 24:14.970 --> 24:19.910 unless Josephus had provided a longer discussion about Jesus earlier in his 24:19.910 --> 24:20.450 iniquities. 24:21.030 --> 24:24.850 This is yet another indication that the earlier and more extensive treatment of 24:24.850 --> 24:29.230 iniquities is genuine, excluding the obvious Christian insertions. 24:30.090 --> 24:35.370 So even the great first century Jewish historian Josephus, writing just a little 24:35.370 --> 24:40.410 more than a half century after Jesus's life and crucifixion, attests to the truth 24:40.410 --> 24:44.210 that Jesus was not a figment of the church's imagination, but a real 24:44.210 --> 24:45.130 historical figure. 24:45.810 --> 24:50.570 There are many, many early Christian sources on the history of Jesus. 24:51.510 --> 24:55.790 Early Christians often paid with their lives or suffered great persecution for 24:55.790 --> 24:59.550 the reports that Jesus had lived, died, and risen from the dead, 25:00.030 --> 25:01.950 and appeared to many after his resurrection. 25:02.870 --> 25:07.030 These early Christians had nothing to gain and everything to lose for their testimony 25:07.030 --> 25:08.850 that these things had actually happened. 25:09.550 --> 25:13.630 For this reason, their accounts are highly significant historical resources. 25:14.570 --> 25:17.530 We call these pre-new testament confessions. 25:18.650 --> 25:23.210 An apologist explains, these affirmations preserve some of the earliest reports 25:23.210 --> 25:25.890 concerning Jesus from about 30 to 50 AD. 25:26.790 --> 25:30.970 Therefore, in a real sense, the creeds preserve the pre-new testament material 25:31.500 --> 25:34.270 and our earliest sources of the life of Jesus. 25:35.130 --> 25:40.030 In the book, Verdict of History, they focus on several of the creed 25:40.030 --> 25:42.190 affirmations embedded in the New Testament. 25:42.670 --> 25:45.210 There are many of these and you can view them on our website. 25:45.650 --> 25:51.850 For example, in Romans 1, 3, and 4, it is an ancient creed and is shown by the 25:51.850 --> 25:55.950 parallelism of the clauses, which is especially seen in the contrast between 25:55.950 --> 25:58.450 Jesus as both the Son of David and the Son of God. 25:59.010 --> 26:02.730 The same Jesus who was born in space and time was raised from the dead. 26:03.410 --> 26:08.090 This creed proclaims that Jesus was shown to be the Son of God, Christ or Messiah 26:08.090 --> 26:12.410 and Lord and vindicated as such by his resurrection from the dead. 26:13.470 --> 26:19.130 Kuhlman adds that redemption and Jesus' final exhalation were also included in the 26:19.130 --> 26:20.850 significant creedal affirmation. 26:21.870 --> 26:27.650 Such an encompassing statement including three major Christian titles and implying 26:27.650 --> 26:31.730 some of the actions of Jesus reveals not only one of the earliest formations of 26:31.730 --> 26:36.870 Christ's nature, but also conveys an apologetic motif in relating all of this 26:36.870 --> 26:40.270 theology to the vindication provided by Jesus' resurrection. 26:41.130 --> 26:45.150 It is clear that these New Testament creeds provide the earliest testimony to 26:45.150 --> 26:49.290 the church's conviction that Jesus, the sinless God-man, actually lived, 26:49.750 --> 26:53.990 died, and rose from the dead and ascended into heaven for the salvation of anyone 26:53.990 --> 26:58.330 who would confess him as Lord and truly believed that God resurrected him. 26:58.870 --> 27:03.090 If you're interested in the Christian sources for Jesus' history, please visit 27:03.090 --> 27:05.510 our website at thestoryofliberty.net. 27:06.390 --> 27:08.530 Next we look at the Clement of Rome. 27:09.310 --> 27:12.970 Clement was bishop of the church of Rome toward the end of the first century. 27:13.750 --> 27:17.610 He wrote a letter to help settle a dispute between the church and Corinth, 27:18.070 --> 27:19.550 between the church leaders and the people. 27:20.410 --> 27:24.990 In this work he said, the apostles received the gospel for us from the Lord 27:24.990 --> 27:25.850 Jesus Christ. 27:26.490 --> 27:28.450 Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. 27:29.050 --> 27:32.890 And so then Christ is from God and the apostles are from Christ. 27:33.490 --> 27:38.650 Both therefore came of the will of God in the appointed order, having therefore 27:38.650 --> 27:42.930 received a charge and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our 27:42.930 --> 27:46.910 Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the 27:46.910 --> 27:47.470 Holy Ghost. 27:48.230 --> 27:51.770 They went forward with the glad tidings of the kingdom of God should come. 27:52.410 --> 27:56.370 So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their firstfruits 27:56.370 --> 28:01.190 when they had proved them by the Spirit to the bishops and the deacons unto them that 28:01.190 --> 28:01.950 they should believe. 28:02.930 --> 28:06.710 Among other things, this passage affirms that the gospel message came from the 28:06.710 --> 28:12.190 historical Jesus who had been sent by God and that his message was authentic by his 28:12.190 --> 28:13.850 actual resurrection from the dead. 28:14.510 --> 28:16.190 Next we look at Ignatius. 28:16.950 --> 28:21.310 While on his way to an execution in Rome, Ignatius, who was a bishop of Antioch, 28:21.370 --> 28:25.350 wrote seven letters, six to different churches and one to his friend. 28:26.370 --> 28:30.990 Three references Ignatius makes to the historical Jesus are especially permanent 28:30.990 --> 28:33.330 and characteristic of his other statements. 28:34.590 --> 28:39.650 He said Jesus Christ who was of the race of David, who was the son of Mary, 28:40.130 --> 28:44.810 who was truly born and ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, 28:45.150 --> 28:49.450 was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and those 28:49.450 --> 28:54.370 under earth, who moreover was truly raised from the dead, his father having raised 28:54.370 --> 28:59.850 him, who in the like fashion will so rise us also who believe on him. 29:00.930 --> 29:04.870 Ignatius, who Christian tradition identifies as the disciple of Peter, 29:05.090 --> 29:10.110 Paul and John, was obviously convinced that Jesus really lived and that he was 29:10.110 --> 29:11.770 all the apostles said he was. 29:12.810 --> 29:16.750 Quadratus was a disciple of the apostles and a bishop at the Church of Athens. 29:17.430 --> 29:19.610 He was one of the earliest apologists. 29:20.450 --> 29:24.450 A Christian historian has preserved the only lines remaining of his defense of the 29:24.450 --> 29:25.810 faith to the Roman emperor. 29:26.790 --> 29:27.790 This is what it says. 29:28.590 --> 29:32.790 The deeds of our Savior were always before you, for they were true miracles. 29:33.270 --> 29:37.130 Those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, those who were seen, 29:37.830 --> 29:41.150 not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. 29:41.630 --> 29:45.590 They remain living a long time, not only while our Lord was on earth, 29:45.830 --> 29:50.810 but likewise when he left the earth, so that some of them have also lived to 29:50.810 --> 29:51.770 our own times. 29:52.480 --> 29:57.150 Here he observes and affirms the actual existence of Jesus through the history and 29:57.150 --> 29:57.890 of his miracles. 29:58.970 --> 30:03.850 Many of those healed or raised were still alive when Jesus left the earth and some 30:03.850 --> 30:07.090 were reportedly still alive in his own time. 30:07.950 --> 30:10.170 Next we look at the epistle of Barnabas. 30:10.650 --> 30:12.590 The authorship of this letter is unknown. 30:13.170 --> 30:17.490 A commonly accepted date is probably around 130 to 138 AD. 30:18.290 --> 30:22.370 The epistle confirms many of the events claimed as facts and the sources already 30:22.370 --> 30:22.810 cited. 30:23.690 --> 30:28.270 In section five of the letter we read, He himself endured that he might destroy 30:28.270 --> 30:32.970 and show forth the resurrection of the dead, for that he must needs be manifest 30:32.970 --> 30:37.170 in the flesh, that at the same time he might redeem the promise made to the 30:37.170 --> 30:42.230 fathers, and by preparing the new people for himself might show, while he was on 30:42.230 --> 30:46.590 earth, that having brought about the resurrection, he will himself exercise 30:46.590 --> 30:47.190 judgment. 30:47.190 --> 30:50.990 Yea, and further, he preached, teaching Israel and performing so many 30:50.990 --> 30:54.630 wonders and miracles, and he loved him, Israel, exceedingly. 30:55.570 --> 31:01.150 And when he chose his own apostles who were to proclaim his gospel, who that he 31:01.150 --> 31:05.910 might show that he came not to call the righteous but sinners, were sinners above 31:05.910 --> 31:10.090 every sin, then he manifested himself to be the son of God. 31:10.910 --> 31:15.730 In section seven the author also adds, but moreover, when crucified, he, 31:15.870 --> 31:18.870 Jesus, had vinegar and gale given to him to drink. 31:19.590 --> 31:23.850 Next we look at Aristides, who was a second century philosopher of Athens. 31:24.750 --> 31:28.410 His work was lost into the late 19th century when it was discovered in three 31:28.410 --> 31:32.630 separate versions, Armenian, Syrian, and Greek. 31:33.290 --> 31:38.070 He addressed his defense of Christianity to the Roman emperor who resigned between 31:38.070 --> 31:41.230 138 AD and 161 AD. 31:41.890 --> 31:47.130 In part of this, he described Jesus Christ as the son of the Most High God, 31:47.710 --> 31:52.470 revealed by the Holy Spirit, descended from heaven, born of a Hebrew virgin. 31:53.290 --> 31:57.410 His flesh he received from the Virgin, and he revealed himself in the human 31:57.410 --> 31:58.890 nature as a son of God. 31:59.330 --> 32:03.870 In his goodness, which brought glad tidings, he has won the whole world by his 32:03.870 --> 32:04.890 life-giving preaching. 32:05.610 --> 32:09.950 He selected 12 apostles and taught the whole world by his light-giving truth. 32:10.750 --> 32:15.430 And he was crucified, being pierced with nails by the Jews, and he rose from the 32:15.430 --> 32:16.510 dead and ascended to heaven. 32:16.990 --> 32:21.210 He sent the apostles into all the world and instructed by divine miracles full of 32:21.210 --> 32:21.550 wisdom. 32:22.430 --> 32:27.290 Their preaching bears blossoms and fruits to this day and calls the whole world to 32:27.290 --> 32:27.910 illumination. 32:28.790 --> 32:31.010 Next, we look at Justin the Martyr. 32:31.730 --> 32:35.770 The consensus of scholarly opinion is that Justin the Martyr is one of the greatest 32:35.770 --> 32:37.310 early Christian apologists. 32:37.770 --> 32:43.390 He was born around 100 AD and was scourged and beheaded for his faith around 167. 32:43.890 --> 32:47.530 He was a learned man, well-versed in learning philosophies of his day. 32:48.230 --> 32:51.970 After his conversion to Christ, Justin became a professor of Christianity 32:51.970 --> 32:53.830 in his own private school in Rome. 32:54.550 --> 32:58.250 Here are some selections from his works concerning the accuracy of the accounts 32:58.250 --> 32:59.530 about Jesus Christ. 33:00.030 --> 33:05.690 Now, there is a village in the land of the Jews in which Jesus Christ was born. 33:06.430 --> 33:11.530 As you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing, your first 33:11.530 --> 33:12.850 procurator in Judah. 33:14.990 --> 33:21.470 Also, he wrote, for at the time of his birth, magi who came from Arabia worshiped 33:21.470 --> 33:25.890 him, coming first to Herod, who then was sovereign in your land. 33:26.430 --> 33:28.290 Now, we look at Hephaestus. 33:29.210 --> 33:30.770 We find this passage. 33:31.390 --> 33:35.030 Jerome says that Hephaestus lived near the time of the apostles. 33:35.910 --> 33:40.950 It draws the conclusion that Hephaestus was a Jew and says his work compromised 33:40.950 --> 33:43.690 five books of memoirs. 33:44.390 --> 33:46.910 Only fragments of these memoirs have survived. 33:47.770 --> 33:52.450 What they show is that Hephaestus traveled extensively and was intent on determining 33:52.450 --> 33:57.030 if the true story about Jesus had been passed down from the apostles down through 33:57.030 --> 33:57.970 their successors. 33:58.990 --> 34:00.070 Here is what he wrote. 34:00.910 --> 34:05.270 The Corinthian church continued in the true doctrine until Primus became bishop. 34:05.970 --> 34:09.990 I mixed with them on my voyage to Rome and spent several days with the Corinthians, 34:10.790 --> 34:13.290 during which we were refreshed with the true doctrine. 34:14.010 --> 34:16.730 On arrival at Rome, I pierced together the succession. 34:17.250 --> 34:21.530 In every line of bishops and in every city, things accord with the preaching of 34:21.530 --> 34:23.430 the law, the prophets, and the Lord. 34:23.950 --> 34:27.870 The essential facts about Jesus and his teaching were passed down by the apostles 34:27.870 --> 34:33.370 and carefully preserved and faithfully passed on by the church's generation after 34:33.370 --> 34:36.190 generation, from one location to another. 34:37.110 --> 34:41.150 There are many additional historical sources which we don't have time for in 34:41.150 --> 34:41.670 this video. 34:42.450 --> 34:50.390 They come from Trajan, Macrobius, Hadrian, Antonius Pius, Marcus Aurelius, 34:50.690 --> 34:54.090 in the letter which the emperor describes Christians in fighting action with the 34:54.090 --> 34:54.670 Roman army. 34:55.070 --> 34:59.550 Juvenal, which are satires, makes a valid mention of the tortures of Christians by 34:59.550 --> 35:00.570 Nero in Rome. 35:01.190 --> 35:05.710 Seneca, who like Juvenal, describes the cruelties of Nero dealt upon the 35:05.710 --> 35:06.270 Christians. 35:06.570 --> 35:10.530 Heracles, in which he condemns Peter and Paul as sorcerers. 35:11.230 --> 35:15.890 In discussing Christ as a man of history, one of the most important collections of 35:15.890 --> 35:20.910 material is a volume published by Cambridge in 1923 by C. 35:20.950 --> 35:21.230 R. 35:21.350 --> 35:26.310 Haynes entitled, Heathen Contact with Christianity during its first century and 35:26.310 --> 35:26.730 a half. 35:27.230 --> 35:31.590 The subtitle reads as follows, being all references to Christianity 35:31.590 --> 35:34.270 recorded in pagan writings during that period. 35:35.290 --> 35:39.430 Howard Clark Lee, professor at Boston University, makes the following 35:39.430 --> 35:42.390 conclusions from the sources outside the New Testament. 35:43.290 --> 35:47.790 The result of the examination of the sources outside the New Testament that 35:47.790 --> 35:52.290 bear directly or indirectly on our knowledge of Jesus is to confirm his 35:52.290 --> 35:57.210 historical existence, his unusual powers, his devotion of his followers, 35:57.830 --> 36:01.930 the continued existence of his movement after his death at the hands of the Roman 36:01.930 --> 36:08.010 governor in Jerusalem, and the penetration of Christianity into the upper strata of 36:08.010 --> 36:11.310 society in Rome itself by the later first century. 36:11.910 --> 36:17.950 He adds, in spite of the range of ways in which the tradition about Jesus had been 36:17.950 --> 36:23.730 transmitted, we have available a clear and remarkably consistent array of evidence 36:23.730 --> 36:28.610 about this figure whose life, teachings, and death have continued to have such 36:28.610 --> 36:31.890 impact on the subsequent history of the human race. 36:32.050 --> 36:37.990 In the 1974 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica, the contributor writing about 36:37.990 --> 36:43.490 Jesus Christ uses 20,000 words to describe him, more space than was given to 36:43.490 --> 36:49.350 Aristotle, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, or Napoleon 36:49.350 --> 36:49.950 Bonaparte. 36:50.750 --> 36:54.790 Concerning the testimony of the many independent secular accounts of Jesus of 36:54.790 --> 37:00.390 Nazareth, the author resoundingly concludes, the independent accounts prove 37:00.390 --> 37:04.550 that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the 37:04.550 --> 37:09.850 historical accuracy of Jesus, which was disputed for the first time, and on 37:09.850 --> 37:14.870 inadequate grounds, by several authors at the end of the 18th, during the 19th, 37:14.870 --> 37:16.810 and at the beginning of the 20th centuries. 37:17.410 --> 37:22.330 Those who would deny the historical evidence of Jesus noted British New 37:22.330 --> 37:27.450 Testament scholar Howard Marshall, it is not possible to explain the rise of 37:27.450 --> 37:32.170 the Christian church or the writing of the Gospels and the stream of tradition that 37:32.170 --> 37:36.470 lies behind them without accepting the fact that the founder of Christianity 37:36.470 --> 37:37.770 actually existed. 37:38.390 --> 37:42.910 Though the non-Christian sources do not provide as much detail about Jesus as the 37:42.910 --> 37:48.090 New Testament, they do provide collaboration for some of the basic facts 37:48.090 --> 37:49.990 of the biblical portrayal of Jesus. 37:50.910 --> 37:55.870 Robert Stein, a New Testament professor, states, the non-Christian sources 37:55.870 --> 37:58.930 establish beyond reasonable doubt the following minimum. 37:59.590 --> 38:02.250 One, Jesus was truly a historical person. 38:03.030 --> 38:08.050 This may seem silly to stress, but through the years some have denied 38:08.050 --> 38:09.230 that Jesus ever lived. 38:09.810 --> 38:13.010 The non-biblical sources put such nonsense to rest. 38:13.830 --> 38:18.090 Two, Jesus lived in Palestine in the first century of our era. 38:19.070 --> 38:22.290 Three, the Jewish leadership was involved in the death of Jesus. 38:23.290 --> 38:28.290 Four, Jesus was crucified by the Romans under the governorship of Pontius Pilate. 38:28.910 --> 38:32.630 And five, Jesus's ministry was associated with wonder. 38:33.710 --> 38:34.170 R.T. 38:34.250 --> 38:38.830 Francis writes, non-Christian evidence therefore substantiates the fact of 38:38.830 --> 38:39.810 Jesus's existence. 38:39.810 --> 38:44.130 His popular following, his execution, and the rough date. 38:45.190 --> 38:49.890 A professor of history at Miami University asserts that we have more and better 38:49.890 --> 38:54.430 historical documentation for Jesus than any other religious founder. 38:55.570 --> 39:00.270 For example, we have more secular information on Jesus than Buddha or 39:00.270 --> 39:00.750 Muhammad. 39:01.290 --> 39:06.370 Of the non-biblical sources testifying of Christ, he concludes, even if we did not 39:06.370 --> 39:09.750 have the New Testament of Christian writings, we would be able to conclude 39:09.750 --> 39:14.490 from such non-Christian writings as Josephus, the Talmud, Tacitus, 39:14.930 --> 39:18.290 and Pliny the Younger, that one, Jesus was a Jewish teacher. 39:19.010 --> 39:22.530 Two, many people believe that he performed healings and exorcisms. 39:23.110 --> 39:25.250 Three, he was rejected by Jewish leaders. 39:25.910 --> 39:29.670 Four, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. 39:30.090 --> 39:34.550 Five, despite his death, his followers who believed that he was still alive spread 39:34.550 --> 39:37.490 beyond Palestine so that there were multitudes of them in Rome. 39:37.490 --> 39:38.850 By AD 64. 39:39.610 --> 39:45.170 And six, all kinds of people from the cities and the countryside, men and women, 39:45.410 --> 39:49.750 slave and free, worshipped him as God by the beginning of the second century. 39:50.770 --> 39:55.790 As a noted Yale historian wrote, regardless what anyone may personally 39:55.790 --> 40:01.470 think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in 40:01.470 --> 40:04.270 history of western culture for almost 20 centuries. 40:05.510 --> 40:08.970 If it were possible with some sort of supermagnet to pull out of that history 40:08.970 --> 40:13.850 every scrap of metal, bearing at least a trace of his name, how much would be left? 40:15.110 --> 40:18.350 His impact on the course of history is without parallel. 40:19.630 --> 40:25.450 As a Newsweek magazine author wrote, by any secular standard, Jesus is also the 40:25.450 --> 40:27.050 dominant figure of western culture. 40:27.770 --> 40:32.050 Like the millennium itself, much of what we now think of as western ideas, 40:32.050 --> 40:37.490 innovations and values, finds its source or inspiration in the religion that 40:37.490 --> 40:38.830 worships God in his name. 40:39.570 --> 40:44.090 Art and science, the self and society, politics and economics, marriage and 40:44.090 --> 40:50.150 family, right and wrong, body and soul, all have been touched and often radically 40:50.150 --> 40:52.090 transformed by Christian influence. 40:53.030 --> 40:58.870 Upon surveying the historical evidence for the existence of Christ, Gary Haberman's 40:58.870 --> 41:26.270 notes, The evidence is conclusive. 41:26.930 --> 41:31.110 Jesus really lived among us and accomplished powerful works that even 41:31.110 --> 41:35.250 hostile, non-Christian sources do not fail to confirm. 41:36.450 --> 41:41.590 The skeptics about Jesus' historical existence are simply wrong.