Re lesson 3

• The Christian Scriptures are the principal sources proving the existence of the historical Jesus
• The New Testament describes Jesus of Nazareth who preached, performed miracles, was crucified, and rose from the dead
• Early Christians chose to die rather than renounce Jesus, indicating a strong belief in his existence and resurrection
• Non-Christian Sources
• Pagan Roman Sources:

  • Suetonius mentioned the expulsion of Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 due to riots at the instigation of Chrestus
  • Tacitus wrote about the great fire in Rome in 64 A.D. and blamed Christians for it, mentioning Christ's execution by Pontius Pilate
  • Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan about Christians singing hymns to Christ as god and advised on how to deal with them
• Jewish Source:

  • Josephus, a Jewish historian, mentioned Jesus in his writings and fought against the Romans in the great revolt of 66-70 A.D.
• Josephus, a Jewish historian, predicted that the Roman commander-in-chief in Palestine, Vespasian, would one day be emperor, which spared his life
• Josephus later tried to demonstrate that the real Messiah was not a Jew, but Vespasian himself
• Josephus wrote the history of his people and the Jewish-Roman war (A.D. 66-70)
• In his work, Antiquities 20,200, Josephus mentioned James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ
• In the 18th book of the history, Josephus gave a favorable report of John the Baptist and in the 20th book, he mentioned the death of James the Just
• In the 18th book of his Jewish Antiquities, Josephus mentioned Jesus as a wise man who did wonderful works, drew followers from Jews and Gentiles, and was condemned to the cross by Pilate
• Josephus composed a 20-volume history of the Jews entitled the Jewish Antiquities to show the nobility of the Jewish people
• Luciano di Samosata, a traveling lecturer and Sophist rhetor, wrote about Jesus Christ as a man crucified in Palestine for introducing a new cult
• The Babylonian Talmud mentioned a certain Yeshu who practiced magic and led his followers into apostasy, and was hanged on the eve of Passover
• Non-Christian sources establish the fact that Jesus existed, died, and had followers
• The primary source of knowledge about Jesus and his message is the Gospel, a form of literature
• The Gospels present evidence that the faith of early Christians was based on a real historical person, Jesus
• The Gospels are faith summaries, not biographies, describing Jesus as the Good News and the Son of God
• The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) speak of faith in Jesus Christ as the messiah who offers salvation to all peoples
• The Synoptic Gospels reveal sayings, parables, sermons, miracles, and stories about Jesus, written between A.D. 60 and 90
• The word "gospel" translates to "good news," referring to the coming of Jesus, whose name means "God saves" in Hebrew
• Christ comes from the Greek word "Cristos," meaning "Anointed One" or Messiah