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 WHAT RECORDS OF JESUS ARE THERE OUTSIDE THE BIBLE? The earliest surviving non-Christian writing to mention Jesus is a vast history of the Jewish people by Josephus, a Jewish writer in the court of the Roman Emperor. He was born in Jerusalem around the time Jesus was killed, and published his great work in AD93. Annoyingly, an over-zealous Christian seem to have tampered with the text, but here is the famous passage: "Now, around this time there lived Jesus, a wise man – if it is lawful to call him a man. He did amazing works and was a teacher of those people that receive the truth gladly. He won over many, both Jews and Gentiles. He was the Messiah. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that had loved him did not abandon him. He appeared to them alive again the third day, for the prophets of God had foretold these and a thousand other incredible things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day." Elsewhere in his book, Josephus refers to the stoning of the apostle James, "the brother of Jesus who was called the Messiah". Another early reference to Jesus comes from the great Roman historian, Tacitus. Writing around the year 110, he recalled the events following the Fire of Rome in 64: "To stop the rumour, [that he had started the fire himself] Nero falsely accused and executed with the most exquisite punishments the people called Christians, who were notorious for their abominations. Their originator, Christ, had been executed in Tiberius' reign by the Procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate." Probably the earliest known reference to Jesus is in a cryptic passage written by Mara bar Serapion in AD73. He wrote: "For what advantage did the Jews gain by the death of their wise king?" More questions about evidence |
Picture: the chi-rho symbol, one of the early Christian symbols for Jesus Christ, marked with other graffiti on a Roman brick. |
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