Is there any historical proof that Jesus ever existed?

Question

OUTSIDE of religious writings, is there any proof at all that a Jesus of Nazareth ever lived? Both the Romans and Jews kept scrupulous records and there is no mention of him. The nearest thing there is, are writings by Josephus, who lived years later and also believed in flying chariots of fire in the sky.

Answer 1

Nope.

Answer 2

There is written evidence about Jesus Christ from many written documents including:

"39 ancient sources (outside the New Testament) in writings not just of Josephus, but Pliny, and the Talmud which refer to the life of Christ, his teaching, crucifixion, and/or resurrection."

Writings of Ignatius (lived only 70 years after the crucifixion) a student of the apostle John.

Writings of Tacitus-Many scholars rely on and cite ancient historians like Tacitus, yet discount his writings about Jesus.

Another compelling proof of his existence is the evidence of the social change within the Jewish society. For several thousand years, the Jews retained their unique cultural and religious identity, and often under great duress. But only a few years after the resurrection of Jesus, more than 10,000 Jews had accepted the teachings of Jesus.

Why would Rome write about what they considered a local uprising? They crucified their criminal and they thought that was the end of it, just as they had crucified thousands of other "criminals."

If you're so sure that the Romans kept scrupulous records, can you be sure that you could produce a list of ALL the criminals they crucified? Thought not.

As for the Jewish records, there probably *was* a record of him at the temple, but the temple was destroyed.

All the Romans would have had to do to silence the Christians would have been to produce the body, which had been laid in a grave with a Roman guard. Do you think the Roman guard, at risk of losing their own lives would have just let Jesus' followers walk in and take the body?

Parading it around a few days later would have ended any discussion about his resurrection.

With far less reliable evidence than this, people are willing to believe in other ancient "historic" figures.

Answer 3

Josephus is considered a very credible historian. But, you also have these sources as well.

1. Letter from Pliny the Younger to Trajan (c. 110)
2. Tacitus (Annals, c.115-120)
3. A fragment of Tacitus, with implications for the existence of the "Nazarene"
4. Suetonius (Lives of the Caesars, c. 125)
5. Lucian (mid-2nd century)
6. Galen (c.150; De pulsuum differentiis 2.4; 3.3)
7. Celsus (True Discourse, c.170).
8. Mara Bar Serapion (pre-200?)
9. Talmudic References( written after 300 CE, but some refs probably go back to eyewitnesses)

"We have a good deal of information about the polemical and often bitter arguments Christians, Jews, and pagans had with one another in the early centuries. But the early Christians' opponents all accepted that Jesus existed, taught, had disciples, worked miracles, and was put to death on a Roman cross. As in our own day, debate and disagreement centred largely not on the story but on the significance of Jesus.

"Today nearly all historians, whether Christians or not, accept that Jesus existed and that the gospels contain plenty of valuable evidence which has to be weighed and assessed critically. There is general agreement that with the possible exception of Paul, we know far more about Jesus of Nazareth than about any first- or second-century Jewish or pagan religious teacher."

Answer 4

YOUR PROOF IS BELOW!

Was Jesus Christ a real, historical person?

The Bible itself is the principal evidence that Jesus Christ is a historical person. The record in the Gospels is not a vague narrative of events at some unspecified time and in an unnamed location. It clearly states time and place in great detail. For an example, see Luke 3:1, 2, 21-23.
The first-century Jewish historian Josephus referred to the stoning of “James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ.” (The Jewish Antiquities, Josephus, Book XX, sec. 200) A direct and very favorable reference to Jesus, found in Book XVIII, sections 63, 64, has been challenged by some who claim that it must have been either added later or embellished by Christians; but it is acknowledged that the vocabulary and the style are basically those of Josephus, and the passage is found in all available manuscripts.
Tacitus, a Roman historian who lived during the latter part of the first century C.E., wrote: “Christus [Latin for “Christ”], from whom the name [Christian] had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.”—The Complete Works of Tacitus (New York, 1942), “The Annals,” Book 15, par. 44.
With reference to early non-Christian historical references to Jesus, The New Encyclopædia Britannica states: “These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus, which was disputed for the first time and on inadequate grounds by several authors at the end of the 18th, during the 19th, and at the beginning of the 20th centuries.”—(1976), Macropædia, Vol. 10, p. 145.
Was Jesus Christ simply a good man?
Interestingly, Jesus rebuked a man who addressed him with the title “Good Teacher,” because Jesus recognized not himself but his Father to be the standard of goodness. (Mark 10:17, 18) However, to measure up to what people generally mean when they say that someone is good, Jesus surely must have been truthful. Indeed, even his enemies acknowledged that he was. (Mark 12:14) He himself said that he had a prehuman existence, that he was the unique Son of God, that he was the Messiah, the one whose coming was foretold throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. Either he was what he said or he was a gross impostor, but neither option allows for the view that he was simply a good man.—John 3:13; 10:36; 4:25, 26; Luke 24:44-48.

Answer 5

Sure. There are the records kept by Romans about the persecution of Christians. They corroborate the main facts in the Bible (that the earliest Christians worshipped Jesus as a "God," that they believed Jesus was the Messiah, that they believed Jesus had been crucified and resurrected, and that they were willing to die for their belief).

There are more outside writings about Jesus than just about anyone else in history.

Answer 6

There are plenty of writing that provide proof of the existence of Jesus. But you are free it ignore them all. There are many who hold the writing of Josephus in high regard. How do you know he did not see Chariots of fire, he was describing what he say in words that he could understand. A jet today has a fire trail, and if he saw one, it would be a Chariot of Fire.

Answer 7

Look at the world right now and then look at your bible and you will get your proof that the bible tells truth im not very good with books and chapters but trust me it is in there
1jewish people are going back to there land(promise land)
2Many will fall from the faith(look at schools,politics)from 10 years ago look how much it has changed.\
3christians will be hated by all nations(it is happening slowly)
4an army from the east of jerusalem will have 200 million people and will fight at the valley of magedo(likely) and look how big china's army is now.
5.vultures are producing 7 times the normal rate.in the bible it says the birds will eat on the dead bodies of the warriors.(this i know come from eziekel chapter 39.
Is that proof enough for the future sorry cant think of anything in the past

Answer 8

No. There is nothing in the archaeological record.

We do have records the Romans went in to a few neighboring countries with the justification that the neighbors were slaughtering babies....you'd think the whole why Jesus was born in a manger thing would be in the propaganda the Romans fed the populace about being on that side of the Mare, Quod?

Answer 9

Of course we can trust the records of the people who hated him. I mean Jews would publish it on the newspaper every day that Jesus existed right?

And the pagan Romans, they obviously cared about early Christianity.

It is possible that thousands of people just went around getting burned to death for saying they believed in a non-existant man. The same non-existant man that these people believed had spoken a sermon to them a few years before.

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In my opinion, it isn't very logical to think that Jesus didn't exist. You might say he didn't do miracles. You might say he isn't the son of God. At the end of the day, he existed.

Answer 10

None. Not a cradle, wise man, writing of a wise man, piece of clothing, carpentry, sandal, artifact, writing or any evidence whatsoever from the time period when he supposedly walked the earth. Quite astounding given this was THE prophesied event and givent the amount and type of miracles he allegedly performed. As to Josephus, no jew would ever say anything like that.

Answer 11

you're just asking this question because u watched the video zeitgeist..... there are references to jesus in book all over the world...the jews didn't write anything about him because obviously they didn't think he was special...and the romans didn't either. if jesus was a real person do u think he would be the 1st person who did great things but didn't get credit from people who obviously didn't like him?