Documentation other than Christian re Jesus?

Question

I understand Josephus and Philo the Jew mentioned Jesus. Does anyone have the quotes?

Answer 1

Actually there is some very interesting corroboration of Jesus life. This quote is from the Testimonium Flavianum:

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.

There is more, but you can read the material via the links below. The quote I provided you is from Jewish Antiquities 18.3.3 and is found early in the page found by the second link below. (2)

Philo the Jew, or Philo Judaeus, is a little harder to find, but I got you a link to a book on him. (3). According to Keningale Cook (1886) an antiquities scholar, he wrote in Greek.

Answer 2

Below is Josephus and so other material concerning same


Do the Christian gospels record actual events during the First Century A.D./ C.E., or are they the ecstatic visions of a small religious group?

There are no surviving Roman records of the First Century that refer to, nor are there any Jewish records that support the accounts in the Christian gospels --- except one.

In Rome, in the year 93, Josephus published his lengthy history of the Jews. While discussing the period in which the Jews of Judaea were governed by the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, Josephus included the following account:


About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared.
- Jewish Antiquities, 18.3.3 §63
(Based on the translation of Louis H. Feldman, The Loeb Classical Library.)

Yet this account has been embroiled in controversy since the 17th century. It could not have been written by a Jewish man, say the critics, because it sounds too Christian: it even claims that Jesus was the Messiah (ho christos, the Christ)!
The critics say: this paragraph is not authentic. It was inserted into Josephus' book by a later Christian copyist, probably in the Third or Fourth Century.

The opinion was controversial. A vast literature was produced over the centuries debating the authenticity of the "Testimonium Flavianum", the Testimony of Flavius Josephus.

A view that has been prominent among American scholars was summarized in John Meier's 1991 book, A Marginal Jew.

This opinion held that the paragraph was formed by a mixture of writers. It parsed the text into two categories: nything that seemed too Christian was added by a later Christian writer, while anything else was originally written by Josephus.

By this view, the paragraph was taken as essentially authentic, and so supported the objective historicity of Jesus.

Unfortunately, the evidence for this was meager and self-contradictory. But it was an attractive hypothesis.

Answer 3

"3. (63) Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. (64) And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross [2], those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day [3], as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct at this day."

The only problem with the above is that timelines and information don't match reality, even that which is in many Bibles. The Pharisee were not "principal men" amongst the Hebrews they were a small fundamentalist sect. Jeus did not appear to all those that we're told "loved him" on the third day. Gentiles were not approached until long after Jesus was no longer on the scene and there are no records of Roman citizensof birth in Rome (gentiles) being converted to His words during his lifetime. The ten Thousand proofs of prophecy are strictly hyperbole as there are not that many in the old testament.

I would personally believe this is another insert into or editing of history by those it would profit at a later date. ----There is these words---"You cannot lie when in the service of bringing others to Christ"--- interestingly, this could be interpreted in two ways and either one could be made singular with one word change.
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Answer 4

Read the books of Josephus.

Answer 5

Josephus' is regarded as having some interpoloations, such as "He was the Christ" is not likely something he would have said.

Tacitus (60-120 AD), wrote the following about the Christians:

Christus, from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. Checked for a moment, this pernicious superstition again broke out, not only in Judaea, the source of the evil, but even in Rome… degrading every quarter of the globe, which there finds a following. Accordingly, arrest was first made of those who confessed [to being Christians], then, on their evidence, an immense multitude was convicted… Besides being put to death, they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clad in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night.

In 112 AD, Pliny the Younger wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan outlining the treatment the Christians would receive. Pliny wrote:

It has never been my lot to be present at any examination of Christians before. I am therefore at a loss to determine what is the usual object either of inquiry or of punishment, and to what length either of them is to be carried. It has also been with me a question very problematical whether any distinction should be made between the young and old, the tender and the robust; whether pardon should be given on repentance, or whether retraction is not to be allowed to profit [i.e. “forgive”] the man who has been a Christian… In the meantime this has been my method with respect to those who were brought before me as Christians. I asked them whether they were Christians; if they pleaded guilty I interrogated them a second and a third time with a menace of capital punishment… In case of obstinate perseverance I ordered them to be executed. For of this I had no doubt, whatever was the nature of their religion, that stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy ought to be punished. Some infected with the same madness, on account of their privilege of [Roman] citizenship, I reserved to be sent to Rome, to be referred to your tribunal…. And this was the account they gave of the nature of the religion… whether it deserves the name of crime or error, namely, that they were accustomed on a stated day to meet before daylight, and to say in turns a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by an oath not to commit any wickedness… I judged it the more necessary to inquire by torture from two females, who were said to be deaconesses, what was the real truth. But nothing could I collect except a depraved and excessive superstition. The contagion of the superstition has spread not only through the cities, but even villages and the country.

Trajan wrote back, “You have done perfectly right, my dear Pliny.” [Cutts, Turning]

Also the Jewish Talmud mentions Jesus, and it even admits he did miracles, it just attributes them to the work of an evil spirit.

Answer 6

There is an out-of-print book called the Archko Volume that has writings from Caiaphas, Pilate (to Caesar to explain why he condemned an innocent man), Herod Antipater, Gamaliel and others. I have a copy, but it was very, very hard to find.

Answer 7

Unfortunatly the mentioning is pretty useless as evidence as it is simply heresay along the lines of, "they say," "I hear," or " this guy told me that his cousin's hair dresser said....". Nevertheless, just look up historical proof for jesus and there should be many a link.

Answer 8

They mention Christians as some prophet Jesus' followers. The authors do not imply that they've met Jesus.

Answer 9

It's sad that people still have to look for proof,
documentation for that matter, in order to believe
in Jesus. Jesus said to Thomas, "Seeing, thou
has believed...blessed art those who have not
seen yet believe."

Answer 10

I believe Philo said "Hey Jesus, how dey hanging?"