RadioBanter - Al Franken on shortwave

From: N8KDV

Sorry, there is no contemporary record that shows that that particular
'Jesus'
actually lived.

Is there any historical proof that Jesus existed?

The ancient historical record provides examples of writers, philosophers and
historians who lived during or not long after the time Jesus is believed to
have lived and who testify to the fact that he was a real person. We will look
at what some of these people have said.

Cornelius Tacitus

Tacitus lived from A.D. 55 to A.D. 120. He was a Roman historian and has been
described as the greatest historian of Rome, noted for his integrity and moral
uprightness. His most famous works are the Annals and the Histories. The Annals
relate the historical narrative from Augustus’ death in A.D.14 to Nero’s
death in A.D. 68. The Histories begin their narrative after Nero’s death and
finish with Domitian’s death in A.D. 96. In his section describing Nero’s
decision to blame the fire of Rome on the Christians, Tacitus affirms that the
founder of Christianity, a man he calls Chrestus (a common misspelling of
Christ, which was Jesus’ surname), was executed by Pilate, the procurator of
Judea during the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberias. Tacitus was hostile to
Christianity because in the same paragraph he describes Christus’ or
Christ’s death, he describes Christianity as a pernicious superstition. It
would have therefore been in his interests to declare that Jesus had never
existed, but he did not, and perhaps he did not because he could not without
betraying the historical record.

Lucian of Samosata

Lucian was a Greek satirist of the latter half of the second century. He
therefore lived within two hundred years of Jesus. Lucian was hostile to
Christianity and openly mocked it. He particularly objected to the fact that
Christians worshipped a man. He does not mention Jesus’ name, but the
reference to the man Christians worship is a reference to Jesus.

Suetonius

Suetonius was a Roman historian and a court official in Emperor Hadrian’s
government. In his Life of Claudius he refers to Claudius expelling Jews from
Rome on account of their activities on behalf of a man Suetonius calls Chrestus
[another misspelling of Christus or Christ].

Pliny the Younger

Pliny was the Governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor (AD. 112). He was responsible
for executing Christians for not worshipping or bowing down to a statue of the
emperor Trajan. In a letter to the emperor Trajan, he describes how the people
on trial for being Christians would describe how they sang songs to Christ
because he was a god.

Thallus and Phlegon

Both were ancient historians and both confirmed the fact that the land went
dark when Jesus was crucified. This parallels what the Bible said happened when
Jesus died.

Mara Bar-Serapion

Some time after 70 A.D., Mara Bar-Sarapion, who was probably a Stoic
philosopher, wrote a letter to his son in which he describes how the Jews
executed their King. Claiming to be a king was one of the charges the religious
authorities used to scare Pontius Pilate into agreeing to execute Jesus.

Josephus

Josephus was a Jewish historian who was born in either 37 or 38 AD and died
some time after 100 AD. He wrote the Jewish Antiquites and in one famous
passage described Jesus as a wise man, a doer of wonderful works and calls him
the Christ. He also affirmed that Jesus was executed by Pilate and actually
rose from the dead!

The four Gospels

The four Gospels are the four accounts of Jesus’ life, which are contained in
the New Testament part of the Bible. Historians will tell you that the closer
an historical document is written to the time of the events it describes, the
generally more reliable it is as a source of information about those events.
Matthew’s Gospel account of Jesus’ life is now reckoned to have been
written sometime between AD 70 and AD 80. Mark’s Gospel is dated between AD.
50 and AD. 65. Luke’s Gospel is dated in the early AD 60s and John’s Gospel
sometime between AD 80 and 100. If Jesus died sometime in the AD 30s, it is
clear that Mark, Luke and Matthew wrote their Gospels within living memory of
Jesus’ death. John’s Gospel comes later and probably outside of living
memory for most as John lived to an unusually old age for the ancient period,
but the accuracy of his Gospel was verified no doubt by those who read the
earlier Gospels.

Another feature of the Gospels is that they were written by men who either knew
Jesus personally, or who knew people who themselves knew Jesus personally.
Matthew was a former tax collector who became a disciple of Jesus. Mark was a
close associate of Simon Peter, who is regarded as being Jesus’ most
prominent disciple whilst Jesus was on the earth. Luke was a close associate of
Paul who is the most famous of Christian missionaries and who wrote the largest
contribution to the New Testament. Paul, in turn, was a close colleague of
Simon Peter. John was the former fisherman who became the closest disciple of
Jesus. The accounts of such men need to be considered at least seriously!

Steve, open your eyes!

Michael Bryant, WA4009SWL
Louisville, KY
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