Are there any historical writings outside of the Bible that corroborate the miracles of Jesus?

Question

I heard about Jesus feeding several thousand people with two loaves of bread and some fish from a basket. They just kept coming, more and more. Did anyone in the crowd write a letter, diary entry, journal entry, anything? Is there a scroll somewhere kept by anyone who was there? We have tons of writings from this time (Dead Sea Scrolls for starters) but nothing mentioning this event.

Please help.

Answer 1

Corroborating historical writings other then the Bible,huh? When I was just a lad, and young but grown man, I would have to have said sadly that, "I know of none, but maybe someday I will known of some' or something like that, to you.
Well, the years have certainly past, and my days in theology school are long past as well, and now I can answer your question with an 'affirmative' yes!!! And here are just a few examples for you to consider:

I think I know where you're coming from here as well. If one can't find even the slightest outside the Bible confirmation of Jesus' existence and proof of His miracles, then one might as well conclude that the authors of the Bible made up the accounts because they were biased toward Christianity", and, "If the miracles happened, why aren't they recorded outside of the Bible?" Am I on the right track with you here?

But be of good cheer my friend, for indeed some miracles of the Bible are recorded outside of Scripture, and by people who were not favorable to Christianity!!!

Thallus, was a writer who lived around AD 52, and he wrote to speculate on natural reasons that would explain away the three hours of darkness that occurred during Christ's crucifixion. Although the event corresponded with the monthly period of a full moon (which is sufficient to prove that the darkness could not have been a lunar eclipse), the most important point is that Thallus deals with Christ's crucifixion and the accompanying darkness as factual events. These were events for which he desired alternative explanations. A writer named Phlegon, circa AD 140, wrote similarly in one of his books entitled Olympiads.

Now the reason I give you the examples here of Thallus and Phlegon is that if Christ's crucifixion and accompanying darkness were only myths, ancient critics would not have sought alternative explanations to deny the miraculous aspects of the events - they would be denying the events altogether!!! Do you SEE the verification of Christ's existence and proof of His miracles and the miracles that surrounded His crucifixion here?!

But let me go on with other corroborating testimonies from outside the Bible sources. In the writings of Flavius Josephus also corroborates the Bible in a number of places. He was a Jew who turned his loyalty away from Jerusalem to the empire of Rome. Between AD 66-93, he wrote extensively of Jewish history. His works include detailed mentions of King Herod, "John, surnamed the Baptist" , and "James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ".

Josephus indicates some acknowledgment of miracles or miraculous claims in a passage known as the 'Testimonium Flavianum'. Because it so thoroughly supports the existence and reputation of Christ, some allege that early Christians must have altered the Greek text of Josephus' words!!Granting that possibility, here is a translation of the same passage from an Arabic text.
This would have been far less likely to circulate in Christian circles of that time, and it is admittedly less complimentary(unfavorable to the Christians of that time) than other translations:

'At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive;.. '

Another example I'll give to you is from the rabbinical writing, perhaps as early as AD 70, which states that one called Yeshu (Jesus), "practiced sorcery and enticed and led Israel astray." This is further indication that many outside of Jesus' circle of followers(the 12 Apostles) have associated irregular events with his person.

Please sincerely notice that even in the Islamic Qur'an it mentions Christ's virgin birth (Mary 19:15-22), his healing of the blind and lepers, and his raising of the dead (Table 5:110-112).6

Finally, just one last, but very interesting PROOF of Christ and His miracles, from an unusual, derogatory remark made by Julian the Apostate, Emperor of Rome and great foe of Christianity, where the (god-man) describes Jesus as one
having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it a very great work to heal lame, and blind people and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany!!!
God bless you,

Answer 2

No, there are none. And Josephus did NOT document any miracles. Josephus' obviously edited version indicates that a Jesus did come into conflict with Roman authorities. Keep in mind that Josephus also reported sighting several mythical creatures. The odds are there was at least one Jesus who fell afoul of Roman law. But miracles? As a member of the Sanhedrin would say, "Bupkus!"

Answer 3

In fairness to Christianity: If one of those folks did keep a diary or journal, or wrote a letter to a friend about the wonderous miracles he had just seen, chances are it would have been destroyed... and even if it did survive, it is not unreasonable to expect that such a document may just not have been found yet.

Having said that, it seems to me that not only would those who witnessed miracles have written about it, but certainly official bodies such as the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, as well as the Romans, would have written about the wondrous things done by this man. Some of those documents would almost certainly have been found by now.

And don't you think that then or now, if a man walked around the earth and was witnessed making the lame walk, raising the dead, walking on water, that almost everybody in society would hear about it and be writing about it? And don't you think that even the most atheistic and non-Christian governments would believe that there had to be something special about this guy, and that his name would show up somewhere in their documents? Yet outside of the Bible, Jesus' miracles have no documentation or confirmation. It seems that nearly everyone saw him as just another healer and "messiah" wannabe.

Believe in Jesus or not, you have to agree with that logic. Or did God make all those documents disappear just to test our faith, like when he buried all those dinosaur bones at progressive levels to trick us into thinking life evolved from lower forms?

Answer 4

Here's an interesting answer for you.

Use Occam's Razor. Which answer requires less assumptions.

1: Jesus actually did manage to feed these thousands of people with just two loaves of bread and some fish.

2: Whoever wrote that paticular part of the bible made it up.

Answer 5

The only potentially promising source is Josephus, and unfortunately our earliest Greek copies had already been tampered with by Christians, turning Josephus' testimony about Jesus into a declaration of faith in him. An early Arabic Christian reproduced this part of Josephus' work and did not include the Christian additions, but where the Greek text says Jesus did "surprising things" (presumably miracles), the Arabic only says that his behavior was upright.

So unfortunately there isn't anything that one can use with confidence.

Answer 6

Strangely there are no contemporary writings of Jesus's miracles or of the events surrounding his birth or death. Most writers that refer to him are well after 100 years past his time. The Babylonian Talmud mentions his arrest and hanging or stoning, but is its a very different story than what is presented in the NT.

Answer 7

there is an absence of evidence of any outcry that Jesus did no miracles, that the temple was not torn or that the tomb as not empty or the sun being dark as He died

it is significant that the apostles stayed in Jerusalem initially and preached where it would be a snap to refute these things would they not have been true

it also remains interesting that in the scriptures it was never an issue with Jesus enemies whether He did miracles

Answer 8

Josephus mentions Jesus, as well as Elders of the first-century church. You will recall that Mark was not one of the disciples, but wrote what Peter told him.

The best example of thoroughness is Dr Luke. He traveled with the disc iples, even to Jerusalem. He interviewed the other disciples, associates, and even Mary. His documentation is best of all because a doctor´s educated mind goes into great detail.

He describes about 33 years of church history, traveled with Paul, witnessed miracles, and gives the correct lineage of Jesus, through the blood line, not the patriarchal lineage like Matthew.

According to early authors, Luke took Paul´s book to the Hebrews, and translated it to Greek for us. It shows how the Messiah was prophesied for the Jews, and now their allotted time, dispensation, was lain aside. Now, to ¨quote Jesus, we are in the time of the Gentiles. Yes, we have made a bigger mess of things than the Jews ever thought of, murdering about 50,000,000 people in the name of Christ--something He never commanded (turn the other cheek).

God also left us a simple Bible code to be sealed until the end of the days. It proves Jesus as the Messiah, among other things. You will be amazed at its important message at http://abiblecode.tripod.com

Blessings, Balaam

Answer 9

Since it never happened, and was only written about in a fairy tale book later on that wasn't read by any of the people living at that time, no.

The Christians were a nutty bunch, and very dishonest.

Answer 10

Of course not dear. History does not corroborate fairy tales...