Are there historical records of Jesus other than the "New Testament"?

Question

Did Pilate record documents of his execution? etc...

Answer 1

Is there historical and scientific proof of Jesus?

It is interesting that when people seek historic and scientific proof of Jesus, they immediately discount the Bible as a reliable source.

If we look at the Bible simply as a historic document, it should be among the most reliable on record compared with others.

Historians routinely cite Herodotus as a key source of information. He wrote from 488 B.C. to 428 B.C. and the earliest copy of his work comes from 900 A.D. (1,300 years later). There are only eight known copies of his work.

By contrast, the New Testament of the Bible (with all its information about Jesus) was written between 40 A.D. and 100 A.D. The earliest known copy is from 130 A.D. and there are 5,000 known copies in Greek, 10,000 in Latin and 9,300 in other languages.

Still, to put to rest the notion that there is no historic and scientific proof of Jesus outside the Bible, we may look to Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and to Roman historian Carius Cornelius Tacitus - both well known and accepted.

Josephus, in the book Jewish Antiquities" wrote:

"At that time lived Jesus, a wise man, if he may be called a man; for he performed many wonderful works. He was a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. . . .And when Pilate, at the instigation of the chief men among us, had condemned him to the cross, they who before had conceived an affection for him did not cease to adhere to him. For on the third day he appeared to them alive again, the divine prophets having foretold these and many other wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of the Christians, so called from him, subsists at this time" (Antiquities, Book 18, Chapter 3, Section 1).

Tacitus, in writing about accusations that Nero burned the city of Rome and blamed it on Christians, said the following:

". . .Nero procured others to be accused, and inflicted exquisite punishment upon those people, who were in abhorrence for their crimes, and were commonly known by the name of Christians. They had their denomination from Christus (Christ, dm.), who in the reign of Tibertius was put to death as a criminal by the procurator Pontius Pilate. . . .At first they were only apprehended who confessed themselves of that sect; afterwards a vast multitude discovered by them, all of which were condemned, not so much for the crime of burning the city, as for their enmity to mankind. . . ." (Tacitus, Annals, 15, 44).

Another source of evidence about Jesus is found in the letters of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan. Pliny was the Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. He asks Emperor Trajan about various ways to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being Christians. He did some research regarding these Christians and this is what he came up with: They met on a certain fixed day before it was light and sang hymns to Christ, as to a god. Unlike other gods who were worshipped, Christ was a person who had lived on earth. They bound themselves by a solemn oath to not participate in any wicked deeds, and never to commit fraud, theft, adultery, falsify their word, or deny a trust. These early Christians believed he was a real person and they held his teachings in the highest esteem. They also bound themselves to a higher oath to not violate various moral standards which is the source of the ethical teachings of Jesus.

There is also a collection of Jewish rabbinical writings that give a few clear references to Jesus called the Babylonian Talmud written approximately A.D. 70-500. The most significant reference from this period states, "On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald. . .cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy.'" The name, Yeshu, is actually the name, Jesus, in Hebrew. However, upon reading the passage, we know for a fact that Jesus was not hanged, but that He was crucified, but the word, "hanged" serves as a synonym for "crucified." And what about the statement that Jesus was to be stoned? This could indicate that the Jewish leaders were planning to do just that, but the Roman Government intervened on those plans.

Another source of writings comes from Lucian of Samosata who was a second century Greek satirist. In one of his writings, he notes as follows: "The Christians…worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. . . . [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws."

We know the man Lucian is writing of, and that man is Jesus. What did Jesus do to arouse such wrath? He taught men are brothers from the moment of conversion which means denying Greek gods, worshipping Jesus, and living according to His teachings.

As we can see, these writings corroborate our knowledge of Jesus from the gospels.

Answer 2

Sad girl, yes. There are scant references to Jesus from other sources. However, historians debate most of them. While Josephus wrote about Jesus, historians have pointed out that they appears to be in an entirely differently style than the remainder of his work. In other words historians think there is a great possibility that those references were added by someone else. As for the other references, they refer to man called Christos which was a common name in Biblical times. Consequently, there remains questions in the minds of historians as to whom these other authors were referring to. Historians base there opinions on the New Testament and as a group they agree that Jesus probably was a real person. Biblical scholars of all faiths agree that Mathew, Mark, Luke and John probably was not written by the disciples. As best can be ascertained, no person recorded anything about Jesus during the time that he was alive with the possible exception of Mark. You can easily research this yourself on the internet or at the public library. If you check the names people give you as a reference for Christ you find that these people were not alive during Christ's lifetime.

Answer 3

If all ancient manuscripts of the New Testament were destroyed, we would be able to reconstruct it based on the writings of others, in entirety, with the exception of less than one hundred verses.
Nothing in the ancient world comes even remotely close to the weight of evidence that exists for the books compiled into the New Testament.

Answer 4

SOME OUTSTANDING MESSIANIC PROPHECIES
PROPHECY EVENT FULFILLMENT
HIS EARLY LIFE, JESUS
Isaiah 7:14 Born of a virgin Matthew 1:18-23
Jeremiah 31:15 Babes killed after his birth Matthew 2:16-18
HIS MINISTRY
Isaiah 61:1, 2 His commission from God Luke 4:18-21
Isaiah 9:1, 2 Ministry caused people to Matthew 4:13-16
see a great light
Psalm 69:9 Zealous for Jehovah’s house John 2:13-17
Isaiah 53:1 Not believed in John 12:37, 38
Zechariah 9:9; Entry into Jerusalem on colt Matthew 21:1-9
Psalm 118:26 of an ***; hailed as king
and as the one coming in
Jehovah’s name
HIS BETRAYAL AND DEATH
Psalm 41:9; 109:8 One apostle unfaithful; Acts 1:15-20
betrays Jesus and is
later replaced
Zechariah 11:12 Betrayed for 30 pieces Matthew 26:14, 15
of silver
Psalm 27:12 False witnesses used Matthew 26:59-61
against him
Psalm 22:18 Lots cast for his garments John 19:23, 24
Isaiah 53:12 Numbered with sinners Matthew 27:38
Psalm 22:7, 8 Reviled while dying Mark 15:29-32
Psalm 69:21 Given vinegar Mark 15:23, 36
Isaiah 53:5; Pierced John 19:34, 37
Zechariah 12:10
Isaiah 53:9 Buried with the rich Matthew 27:57-60
Psalm 16:8-11, ftn. Raised before corruption Acts 2:25-32;
13:34-37

Answer 5

decrease back at the same time as i become your age, our youngsters pastor advised us that there become extra evidence that Jesus existed than that Julius Caesar existed. It wasn't till I were given somewhat older that i chanced on out what you recognize. various Christians merely do not comprehend that there is not any evidence that Jesus existed. It would not help at the same time as their pastors lie outright. it type of feels exceptionally staggering that no you may even difficulty to point him seeing that the bible shows that the finished city of Jerusalem became out to welcome him to the city on Palm Sunday. someone with that type of notoriety might want to really are turning out to be written about by technique of a few impartial observers if he had existed. Its very suspicious that the in user-friendly words issues written about him were from "believers" and were written so long after the activities supposedly exceeded off. the lack of authentic historic files is made even extra damning by technique of the incontrovertible actuality that the 4 gospels do not even agree on the tale of his existence. So, even the prevailing writings are of direction completely unreliable.

Answer 6

No. Not a single word was written about the man until some 40-80 years after he supposedly died.

Incidentally, the Romans were meticulous record keepers.

Answer 7

Only a few and they were all decades later. There are none from the time of his life. Guess people weren't very impressed.

Answer 8

Read the Dead Sea Scrolls, it speaks of a "teacher of Righteousness", similar to Jesus...speaks of the Sons of darkness and the fight with the Sons of Light in Enoch I,II, III. Also, the Gospel Of Nicodemus speaks of Christ going to sheol after his crucifixion and taking his people (including Adam and Eve and the others)up to heaven. He broke down the gates of Hell and bargained with Satan.

Answer 9

Josephus. But it looks weird like someone else added it in there later on. Look him up and see what you think. I am interested on people's opinions about this.

Answer 10

YES!
Pliney the Younger
Josephus
Tacitus
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