any history buffs out there? if so, where should i start my search for jesus?

Question

so i grew up in the church and i always asked them where i could look in the historical records to help prove their point that jesus existed in the first place, and more so, did all these awesome things. their answers were dubious at best. i recently saw zeitgeist the movie, a film produced by ppl i dont even know, and they had much better answers then pastors and "friends" that i had known forever ever had for me. so, given the fact that jesus' name should be all over the historical records, im just curious as to where i should start my independent research to back up zeitgeist's very logical sounding claims. note- even the church stated a few times to me that "christ" wasnt a last name, rather, it was a title meaning "the annointed one". so anyones mentioning of the christ or christ in history is a little less then solid. zeitgiest accurately reports this fact in the movie as well. so my question is; where should i start my search for jesus in the history books? thanks for your time

Answer 1

I have a degree in history.

There's no evidence. You can seek, but you won't find.

There's *A* mention in Josephus, and it's of very dubious authenticity. Josephus is well-known for having been heavily edited by a student. The one mention of J7sus is highly suspect--it differs textually from Josephus to such an extent that there's almost no way he actually wrote it.

There may be another mention or two by historians who wrote years after the fact, and were merely recording the presence of Christians. There are NO written accounts concurrent with J7sus's life.

Full disclosure: I'm Jewish, so I don't believe anyway. But I'm also committed to historical accuracy, and if there was evidence for his life, I'd admit it. For instance, I fully believe that Hitler was NOT a Christian, and that the Holocaust can't be laid at Christianity's feet--even though there are many who believe that. It's just not historically accurate...

The Inquisition, though--now THERE's another story...

Answer 2

You might enjoy reading "The Jesus Puzzle" by Earl Doherty in which he explores historical references to Jesus outside the Bible and the problems he found. He arrives at a rather radical conclusion that Jesus was a mythical rather than historical figure. I'm not sure I can find that proven. For me the historical record leaves so little in way of proof either way its impossible to say. I don't think the skeptical camp is as out there as many may first think since in fact none of the non biblical references were written in the lifetime of the Jesus figure and they are third party testimony only that they heard from others of the existence of such a person. Also of the few references there are serious forgery issues with some. Some have also pointed out that while we do have secular historians writings from this period we have no mention of the incredible astronomical events recorded in the Bible nor dead prophets Jesus resurrected returning to walk the streets of Jerusalem. These seem to be things we should find records of outside the Bible if they ocurred.

You can also check out the link below which gives a summary of all the different theories about whether there was a historical figure and if so what they actually represent in their contempory time. It also links to the research and people in each group, their supporting evidence, and published work.

Answer 3

Solid historical evidence for Jesus is difficult if not impossible to find....and that's just in the attempt to prove he existed as a human. You won't find historical evidence that he is God...which is not to say he is or isn't, just that you're not going to find historical evidence of it.

It is well known that "Christ" is not a last name but a title. Anyone who claims that Jesus Christ is the son of Mary Christ and Joseph Christ clearly doesn't know what they are talking about. The holy family probably had no family name, as was standard at that place and time.

Answer 4

Look out for Greek, Roman or Jewish historians of the first century. They're the people most likely to have genuine information about him.

Try these:

Plutarch
Tacitus
Suetonius
Thallus

Edit: Here's the noted Roman historian Tacitus on Jesus:

"Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular."

He was pretty accurate elsewhere. This is pretty solid proof of the existence of the historical Jesus.

Answer 5

That movie blends fact with occult lore.And is not an acedemic endeavor.Start with the 1611 AV King James Bible.Then read the works of Josephus,Philo and Alexander Hislop.Then study Roman historical records.Then study the past 115 years of archaeology.Study the world's great religions,because they validate the Genesis account of history.

Answer 6

There are independent historical records of the time that write about Jesus and his crucifixion. My memory fails me, but if I can find it I will get back to you. I heard it on a documentary on TV a while back.

Answer 7

I've had a doctorate since 1993, my specialization being the history of the Roman Republic.

Let me just warn you that you will only be able to learn, and understand, so much before you must choose between God and further understanding.

My suggestion to all Christians is, if you're not willing to question God's existence, don't study history.

Answer 8

http://resources.christianity.com/archives/obm.aspx

www.1335.com
both have much historical information

And stick with HISTORICISM eschatology, the Futurist and Preterist schools are of Roman Catholic creation to take the heat off Rome.

Answer 9

Find series of books by Lee Strobel. especially "A Case for Christ" and "A Case for Faith".
Strobel is a former atheist who sought to research a case against Jesus as Lord and Savior. He came to conclude the opposite as a result of his research.

Answer 10

Good luck.

Jesus, if he existed at all, was a not very important part in attempted Jewish reform.

It was not until well after his death that the Romanized Jews started looking for a peaceful figure head to show that they were not part of the wars in Jerusalem (that lead to the destruction of Temple II).