Ten Historical Facts About Jesus

Easter is almost upon us, which means it's time once again to consider the person of Jesus...

Now, whether you believe in the New Testament person of Jesus is immaterial, there is more than enough evidence outside of the Bible to confirm his physical existence, his death and his resurrection.

The fact is that Jesus is not only documented in the eye-witness testimony of the gospels and Acts but He is mentioned as a historical person by over 50 non-Christian sources within 150 years of His life. 

So here are ten historical facts about Jesus, from non-Christian, non-Biblical sources, which I have borrowed from the websites of far more learned fellows than I...

1. He was known to be wise and virtuous.

This fact was reported by Jewish Historian Josephus (a Romano-Jewish scholar & historian), who was born around AD 37. In his Antiquities of the Jews, he reports:

“At this time there was a wise man named Jesus. His conduct was good, and [he] was known to be virtuous.” ¹

2. He had a brother named James.

We know from Mt 13:55 that Jesus had some brothers and one of them was James.

In recounting the stoning of James, Josephus records:

“So he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who

was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned.” ²

3. He was known to perform miracles.

Celsus was a  2nd-century Greek philosopher and a fierce opponent of Christianity. In what is known to be the first comprehensive intellectual attack on Christianity, he tried to resolve why Jesus was able to perform miracles. His story is completely over the top, but the main point is that by trying to explain away the miracles of Jesus, he is actually affirming that they happened:

“Jesus, on account of his poverty, was hired out to go to Egypt. While there he acquired certain powers which Egyptians pride themselves on possessing. He returned home highly elated at possessing these powers, and on the strength of them gave himself out to be a god.” ³

Just like the Chief Priests & Elders in Mt 28:12 he was a hostile witness but still a witness to the truth.

4. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.

​This fact comes to us from one of the most trusted historians of the ancient world. Cornelius Tacitus was born in AD56 and served as a respected senator and proconsul of Asia under Emperor Vespasian. He wrote a history of the first century Roman Empire, which many historians consider to be the "pinnacle of Roman historical writing." ⁴  He notes:

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. ⁵

Josephus confirmed: "Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die." ⁶

Again, we know this to be true from the four gospels & Acts

5. His crucifixion was accompanied by darkness and an earthquake.

This fact was originally recorded by a Samaritan historian named Thallus, who was alive at the same time Jesus was (AD 5-60). He wrote a 3-volume history of the 1st-century Mediterranean world, which unfortunately no longer exists.  But before his writings were lost, he was cited by another ancient historian, Julius Africanus (a Christian traveller and historian of the late second and early third centuries)., in AD 221. Africanus  described Thallus' account of what happened during Jesus' crucifixion:

On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. ⁷

Mt 27:51b “The earth shook, the rocks split..”

Mt 27:45, Mk 15:33, Lk 23:44-45 “At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon”

6. He had many Jewish and Gentile disciples.

Josephus wrote:

“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 discipleship.” ⁸

7. He lived during the time of Tiberius Caesar.

Julius Africanus also reported that another ancient historian, Phlegon (a Greek writer and freedman of the emperor Hadrian, who lived in the 2^nd  century AD), confirmed the darkness at the time of Jesus' death and that Jesus was alive "in the time of" Tiberius Caesar:

Phlegon records that, “..in the time of Tiberius Caesar, at full moon, there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth hour to the ninth”. ⁹

8. His disciples believed that He rose from the dead.

In his commentary regarding the disciples' reaction to Jesus' death, Josephus recorded:

[Jesus' disciples] reported that He had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive.... ¹⁰

Who wouldn’t believe after seeing him in the flesh.
John 20:26-28 tells us that Jesus appeared to “all the disciples”

1 Cor 15:6 tells us he appeared to over 500 people

9. His disciples believed He was God, and they met regularly to worship Him.

Pliny the Younger lived from AD 61-113 and was an influential lawyer and magistrate of ancient Rome. In a letter to Emperor Trajan he wrote:

 “They [Christians] were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up.” ¹¹

Lucian of Samosata was a 2nd-century Greek satirist known for his wit and sarcasm. Even though Christians were the object of his sarcasm, he affirmed certain details about them:

“The Christians, you know worship a man to this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rights, and was crucified on that account....it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.” ¹²

10. His disciples were willing to suffer and die for their beliefs.

The persecution and suffering of early Christians was recorded by Suetonius, the official secretary of the Roman Emperor Hadrian around AD 121. He documented that they were expelled from Rome in AD 49 by Claudius:

“Because the Jews at Rome caused constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus (Christ), he expelled them from Rome.” ¹³

and:

“Nero inflicted punishment on the Christians, a sect given to a new and mischievous religious belief.” ¹⁴

Tacitus also confirmed Nero's persecution of early Christians:

“Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace.” ¹⁵

Conclusion

Many of these non-biblical references to Jesus are also mentioned in the scriptures and as such we can know they are true.

8, 9 & 10 are crucial here.

If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead we’re wasting our time!

But Jesus did rise from the dead, that’s a historical certainty and is clearly referenced outside of the Bible, though even within the Bible there are hostile witnesses who confirm the resurrection. Mt 28:12-15.

So as Easter comes let’s celebrate the fact that Jesus was a real man, he died a real death and he really was resurrected from the dead!

Jesus is alive!

References:

1. Schlomo Pines, An Arabic Version of the Testimonium Flavianum and it’s Implications. (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1971), 9-10.

2. Josephus, Antiquities, 20.9.1. Online: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D20%3Awhiston+chapter%3D9%3Awhiston+section%3D1

3. Origen, Against Celsus, 1:28. Online: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen161.html

4. https://slife.org/tacitus-on-christ/

5. Hugh A. McDonald, “Tacitus.” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 1, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian.

6. Josephus, Antiquities, 18.3.63. Online: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0146%3Abook%3D18%3Awhiston%20chapter%3D3%3Awhiston%20section%3D3

7. As quoted by William Lane Craig, “#160 Thallus on the Darkness at Noon.” ReasonableFaith.org. May 10, 2010. Online: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/question-answer/thallus-on-the-darkness-at-noon

8. Schlomo Pines, An Arabic Version of the Testimonium Flavianum and it’s Implications. (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1971), 9-10.

9. Origen, Against Celsus, 2.33. Online: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/origen162.html (Accessed Nov. 16, 2022).

10. Schlomo Pines, An Arabic Version of the Testimonium Flavianum and it’s Implications. (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1971), 9-10.

11. Pliny, Letters, Book 10, Letter 96. Online: http://www.attalus.org/old/pliny10b.html#96 (Accessed Nov. 10, 2022).

12. Lucian, The Death of Peregrine, 11-13. Online: http://lucianofsamosata.info/wiki/doku.php?id=home:texts_and_library:essays:peregrine

13. Suetonius, Life of Claudius, 25:4. Online: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Claudius*.html

14. Hugh A. McDonald, “Tacitus.” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 1, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian.

15. Hugh A. McDonald, “Tacitus.” Encyclopedia Britannica, January 1, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian.