HISTORICAL EVIDENCES Flashcards
are our principal sources in proving the existence of the
historical Jesus.
The Christian Scriptures
a Roman historian, writes in his Annals (15. 44.) of the great fire which swept
through the city of Rome in 64 A.D. Since the Emperor Nero (stepson and successor to
Claudius) was generally believed to have started the fire, Nero wanted to fix the blame on
someone else. He falsified a charge of fire-raising against the Christians in Rome. Many
Christians perished by being burned at the stakes or being exposed to wild beasts.
Tacitus in 115-117 A.D. recounts the story of the fire and Nero’s successful attempt to fix
the blame on the Christians. He writes:
They got their name from Christ, who was executed by sentence of the procurator
Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. That checked the pernicious superstition for a short time,
but it broke out afresh —not only in Judaea, where the plague first arose, but in Rome it-self,
where all the horrible and shameful things in the world collect and find a home.
Tacitus
The Roman author ____________ compiled biographies of the first 12 Roman emperors,
from Julius Caesar onward. Writing about 120 A.D. in his Life of Claudius he says of the
emperor:
He expelled the Jews from Rome, on account of the riots in which they were constantly
indulging, at the instigation of Chrestus. **
Suetonius
is known to history as a master letter writer.
Pliny the Younger
one of
these letters he advised the emperor about how he ought to treat the rapidly spreading religious
group known as the Christians.
Pliny the Younger
Born around 37 A.D., he fought against the Romans in the great revolt of 66-70 A.D.
and was appointed commander of the Jewish forces in Galilee
Josephus
n his work, Antiquities 20,200, he wrote:
“James the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ…” This passage was in reference to the
stoning death of James who was an apostle of Jesus.
Josephus
was a traveling lecturer and Sophist rhetor who wrote about Jesus Christ as a man
crucified in Palestine for introducing a new cult.
LUCIANO DI SAMOSATA
In his writings, he said, this Jesus persuaded his
followers that they were all brothers to one another. The Christians, according to him,
“worshiped the crucified sophist and lived under his laws.
LUCIANO DI SAMOSATA
spoke of a certain Yeshu who practiced
magic and led his followerd into apostacy. This Yeshu was “hanged on the eve of the
Passover.”
BABYLONIAN TALMUD
Our primary source of knowledge for Jesus and his message and mission is the form of
literature known as the
Gospel
synoptic” came from the Greek word synoptikos,
common view
is the name which comes from
Hebrew name Joshua or Yehoshua, a name which could be translated as God saves
Jesus
