I'm looking for more of a historical view of Jesus, what are some good sources besides the Bible?

Question

I mean, a guy that could walk on water and do the fish trick must have generated some heated writing in his day. Even if only 1% of those writings survived there must be a lot.

Answer 1

To my knowledge, there are no contemporary writings about Jesus. Even the bible is not contemporary, as it was written many decades after he allegedly died.

Nonetheless, many christian apologists cite Flavius Josephus(circa 37-101AD); Pliny the Younger; Tacitus (circa 55-117AD); Lucian (circa 120-180AD); Thallus (circa 52AD); Suetonius; and the Talmud. However, each and every one of these citations have problems associated with the validity of these writings.

Yes, it seems odd that the Romans, whose writings were so detailed (to even include mundane items like a soldier's laundry list) seem to pass over the story of Jesus.

Answer 2

From the website http://judaism.about.com/od/beliefs/a/jesus.htm:

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A story about a man named Yeshu can be found in the Talmud. There is debate whether this Yeshu in the Talmud is the same Jesus who later became a Christian divinity.

According to the Talmud, Yeshu was the son of a Jewish woman named Miriam who was betrothed to a carpenter. "Betrothed" means she was legally married to him, but she was not yet living with him or having sexual relations with him. The story says that Miriam was either raped by or voluntarily slept with Pandeira, a Greek or Roman soldier. Miriam than gave birth to Yeshu, who was considered a "mamzer" (bastard), a product of an adulterous relationship. The Talmud describes Yeshu as a heretic who dabbled in sorcery and lead the people astray. Later, the Sanhedrin (the Jewish "Supreme Court") ordered Yeshu stoned to death and his dead body was hung from a tree until nightfall after his death, in accordance with the ancient Jewish punishment for heretics.

While some believe there is no connection between the Talmudic Yeshu and the Christian Jesus, others believe there is a connection. The main inconsistency between the Talmudic and Christian story is that during the time that Jesus was killed, the Romans ruled and the Sanhedrin did not have the power to impose the death penalty. Thus, some Jews believe that today's popular Christian ideas about Jesus are based on a melding of the Talmudic story of Yeshu and the historian Josephus' writing about Jesus, which included his execution by the Romans.>>

P.S. Josephus's mentions about Jesus as a messiah are considered forgeries: see http://www.truthbeknown.com/josephus.htm and http://members.aol.com/fljosephus/testhist.htm among many other unbiased references.

Answer 3

a lot of them have self assurance there is evidence exterior the Bible. Oft quoted is Josephus, however the main quoted passage is a shown fraud. The non-fraudulent factors of his artwork coach that he referred to Jesus basically as a results of fact the figurehead of a faith, and makes no declare to his historicity - he's pronounced in the comparable way Mithra may be pronounced in a artwork approximately Zoroastrians. the comparable is actual for the scant few different mentions. there's a theory that Jesus is pronounced in somewhat some different historic information of the time, yet that may not the case. no cutting-edge source mentions him - not even in writings approximately Pontius Pilate, whose involvement in the story of Jesus could have been seen very traditionally significant to the Romans. They recorded maximum of different comparable cases, yet did not point out this one? It isn't smart. yet we at the instant are not handling experience right here, or evidence. we are handling human beings's faith. The humorous element is, even between the litaralists you hit upon maximum settle for that the Bible is packed with metaphor and allegory, yet they might't settle for the theory that perhaps Jesus's life became into one enormous allegory for a manner this faith believed human beings would desire to stay.

Answer 4

Not necessarily. Jesus lived in a time of political and religious ferment, revolution, and war in the Middle East (sound familiar?), and could have been lost in the popular imagination. Only the tribe of Nazarenes, a relatively small group of Jewish Christians, kept his story alive, initially.

But you might check the 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus. Many scholars believe he did mention Jesus, though not in the expanded version found in some editions of Josephus. The Roman historian Tacitus mentioned Jesus casually, by way of mentioning the leader of the "tribe of Christians."

And don't discount the New Testament itself. There must have been some reason that it came into existence. The life of a man named Jesus is is as good a reason as any.

Answer 5

The main widely-accepted sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Most scholars in the fields of history and biblical studies agree that Jesus was a Galilean Jew, was regarded as a teacher and healer, was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on orders of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate under the accusation of sedition against the Roman Empire.
*A small number of scholars and authors question the historical existence of Jesus, with some arguing for a completely mythological Jesus.*

a small amount...

you get alot of info just on wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesus

Answer 6

All of the sources below support the existence of Jesus.


Josephus, a Jewish Historian

Tacitus, a Roman Historian
(Emperor Nero)

Pliny the Younger, Governor of one
of the Roman provinces in Asia
Minor

Suetonius, Roman Historian and Lawyer

Answer 7

** I'm looking for more of a historical view of Jesus, what are some good sources besides the Bible? **

My favorite place for that is the early christian writings page.

Examples:

Infancy Gospel of Thomas Chapter 3: 1 - 4
The son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Jesus. Taking a branch from a willow tree, he dispersed the waters which Jesus had gathered. When Jesus saw what had happened, he became angry and said to him, "You godless, brainless moron, what did the ponds and waters do to you? Watch this now: you are going to dry up like a tree and you will never produce leaves or roots or fruit."And immediately, this child withered up completely. Then, Jesus departed and returned to Joseph's house. The parents of the one who had been withered up, however, wailed for their young child as they took his remains away. Then, they went to Joseph and accused him, "You are responsible for the child who did this."

The Infancy Gospel of James Chapter 13: 1 - 7
In the sixth month of her pregnancy, Joseph came from his house-building and went into the house to find her swelling. And he struck his face and threw himself on the ground in sackcloth and wept bitterly, "How can I look to the Lord God? What will I pray about her, for I took her as a virgin from the temple of the Lord and did not guard her? Who has set this trap for me? Who did this evil in my house? Who stole the virgin from me and defiled her. Has not the story of Adam been repeated with me? For while Adam was glorifying God, the serpent came and found Eve alone and deceived her and defiled her - so it has also happened to me."And Joseph got up from his sackcloth and called her and said to her, "After having been cared for by God, what have you done? Did you forget the Lord your God? You who were raised in the holy of holies, you who received from the hand of an angel, do you know how much you have humiliated yourself?"

Makes it kind of plain why some writings did not make it into The Bible and were cut.

Have a pleasant day.

Answer 8

There isn't any historical records of those events...just the bible. Yes there are websites that try to explain the origin of Jesus and there is information about his life in general...but there are absolutely NO first hand historical documents written at the time of said miracles detailing those acts. People must rely on blind faith alone to believe in all that Jesus is said to have done.

Answer 9

Supporting Evidence of Early Christian Writers outside of the Bible

Eusebius, in his 'Ecclesiastical History III.39', preserves writings of Papias, bishop of Heliopolis.

Papias also comments about the Gospel of Matthew.

Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, was a student of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna.

Clement of Rome uses Scripture as a reliable and authentic source.

Ignatius. This bishop of Antioch was martyred for his faith in Christ.

Elgin Moyer in Who Was Who in Church History writes that Ignatius himself said " I would rather die for Christ than rule the whole earth. "

Ignatius gave credence to the Scripture by the way he based his faith on the accuracy of the Bible.

Polycarp was a disciple of John, became martyr.

Tatian organized the Scriptures in order and put then in the first "harmony of the Gospels", the Diatessaron.

Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, Testimony of Canon...

Jesus Christ is the most documented person in ancient history.

Answer 10

Tacitus, Josephus, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, Origen, Justin Martyr, Salminius, Tertullian are good places to start. SOme lived during the time of Jesus some shortly afterward during the spread of CHristianity and relate tales of the earthly man Jesus. Some believe in the divinity of Jesus, most of the ones listed didn't. Either way their records are not of miriacles but of the events of the life of Jesus and his apostles. I believe Josephus talks of when he was a child (teen years)

Search Fordham's medieval source book webpage for the writings