Sermon Tone Analysis

Jesus is arguably the most influential moral teacher in all of history.

Even those who deny his existence benefit from living in a culture that embraces his teaching.

The moral wisdom of Jesus is the standard for western civilization.

The historicity of Jesus allows even non-believers to assess his moral wisdom as they would any other teacher in history.

Jesus is arguably the most influential moral teacher in all of history.

Even those who deny his existence benefit from living in a culture that embraces his teaching.

The moral wisdom of Jesus is the standard for western civilization.

The historicity of Jesus allows even non-believers to assess his moral wisdom as they would any other teacher in history.

The Historicity of Jesus

Ancient Non-Christian Historians Agreed that Jesus Lived

Thallus (52AD)

Thallus is perhaps the earliest secular writer to mention Jesus and he is so ancient his writings don’t even exist anymore.

But Julius Africanus, writing around 221AD does quote Thallus who previously tried to explain away the darkness occurring at Jesus’ crucifixion:

Jesus lived, He was crucified, and there was an earthquake and darkness at the point of His crucifixion.

Tacitus (56-120AD)

Cornelius Tacitus was known for his analysis and examination of historical documents and is among the most trusted of ancient historians.

He was a senator under Emperor Vespasian and was also proconsul of Asia.

In his “Annals’ of 116AD, he describes Emperor Nero’s response to the great fire in Rome and Nero’s claim that the Christians were to blame:

Jesus lived in Judea, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and had followers who were persecuted for their faith in Christ.

Mara Bar-Serapion (70AD)

Sometime after 70AD, a Syrian philosopher named Mara Bar-Serapion, writing to encourage his son, compared the life and persecution of Jesus with that of other philosophers who were persecuted for their ideas.

He was a wise and influential man who died for His beliefs.

The Jewish leadership was somehow responsible for Jesus’ death.

Jesus’ followers adopted His beliefs and lived their lives accordingly.

Phlegon (80-140AD)

In a manner similar to Thallus, Julius Africanus also mentions a historian named Phlegon who wrote a chronicle of history around 140AD.

In this history, Phlegon also mentions the darkness surrounding the crucifixion in an effort to explain it:

Jesus had the ability to accurately predict the future, was crucified under the reign of Tiberius Caesar and demonstrated His wounds after he was resurrected.

Suetonius (69-140AD)

Suetonius was a Roman historian and annalist of the Imperial House under the Emperor Hadrian.

His writings about Christians describe their treatment under the Emperor Claudius (41-54AD):

They were committed to their belief Jesus was God and withstood the torment and punishment of the Roman Empire.

Jesus had a curious and immediate impact on His followers, empowering them to die courageously for what they knew to be true.

Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata: (115-200 A.D.)

Lucian was a Greek satirist who spoke sarcastically of Christ and Christians, but in the process, he did affirm they were real people and never referred to them as fictional characters:

He taught about repentance and about the family of God.

These teachings were quickly adopted by Jesus’ followers and exhibited to the world around them.

Celsus (175AD)

This is the last hostile, non-Christian account we will examine (although there are many other later accounts in history).

Celsus was quite antagonistic to the claims of the Gospels, but in his criticism he unknowingly affirmed and reinforced the Biblical authors and their content.

His writing is extensive and he alludes to 80 different Biblical quotes, confirming their early appearance in history.

In addition, he admits the miracles of Jesus were generally believed in the early 2nd century:

Jesus had an earthly father who was a carpenter, possessed unusual magical powers and claimed to be God.

Hostile Non-Biblical Jewish Accounts

In addition to classical pagan sources chronicling the life of Jesus and His followers, there are also a number of ancient hostile Jewish sources describing Jesus.

These are written by Jewish theologians, historians and leaders who were definitely not sympathetic to the Christian cause.

Their writings are often very harsh, critical and even demeaning to Jesus.

But there is still much these writings confirm:

Jewish historian Josephus (37-101AD)

In more detail than any other non-biblical historian, Josephus writes about Jesus in his “the Antiquities of the Jews” in 93AD.

Josephus was born just four years after the crucifixion.

Jesus lived in Palestine, was a wise man and a teacher, worked amazing deeds, was accused by the Jews, crucified under Pilate and had followers called Christians.

Jewish Talmud (400-700AD)

While the earliest Talmudic writings of Jewish Rabbis appear in the 5th century, the tradition of these Rabbinic authors indicates they are faithfully transmitting teachings from the early “Tannaitic” period of the 1 Century BC to the 2 Century AD.

Jesus had magical powers, led the Jews away from their beliefs, had disciples who were martyred for their faith (one of whom was named Matthai), and was executed on the day before the Passover.

Let’s review:

Many elements of the Biblical record are confirmed by these hostile accounts, in spite of the fact they deny the supernatural power of Jesus:

Jesus was born and lived in Palestine.

He was born, supposedly, to a virgin and had an earthly father who was a carpenter.

He was a teacher who taught that through repentance and belief, all followers would become brothers and sisters.

He led the Jews away from their beliefs.

He was a wise man who claimed to be God and the Messiah.

He had unusual magical powers and performed miraculous deeds.

He healed the lame.

He accurately predicted the future.

He was persecuted by the Jews for what He said, betrayed by Judah Iskarioto.

He was beaten with rods, forced to drink vinegar and wear a crown of thorns.

He was crucified on the eve of the Passover and this crucifixion occurred under the direction of Pontius Pilate, during the time of Tiberius.

On the day of His crucifixion, the sky grew dark and there was an earthquake.

Afterward, He was buried in a tomb and the tomb was later found to be empty.

He appeared to His disciples resurrected from the grave and showed them His wounds.

These disciples then told others Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven.

Jesus’ disciples and followers upheld a high moral code.

One of them was named Matthai.

The disciples were also persecuted for their faith but were martyred without changing their claims.

They met regularly to worship Jesus, even after His death.

Pretty consistent with our Bible, huh?

But Can We Trust the NT Writers?

When historians examine the New Testament, they’re not treating the Bible as a holy, inspired book and trying to prove it’s true by quoting it.

Rather they’re treating the New Testament just like any other collection of ancient documents and investigating whether these documents are historically reliable.

It’s important to understand that originally there wasn’t any such book called “The New Testament.”

There were just these separate documents handed down from the first century.

People who insist on evidence taken only from writings outside the New Testament don’t understand what they’re asking us to do.

They’re demanding that we ignore the earliest , primary sources about Jesus in favor of sources that are later, secondary, and less reliable, which is just crazy as historical methodology.

Our primary sources for Jesus ’ life all come from the first century AD, most of them within 60 years of Jesus ’ crucifixion.

In comparison, biographies of Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch more than four hundred years after Alexander’s death, and yet classical historians still consider them to be trustworthy

In comparison, biographies of Alexander the Great were written by Arrian and Plutarch more than four hundred years after Alexander’s death , and yet classical historians still consider them to be trustworthy

In Paul recounts what biblical scholars recognize as an early Christian creed dating to within 3-5 years of the crucifixion.

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In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Paul recounts what biblical scholars recognize as an early Christian creed dating to within a few years of the crucifixion.

Included in this creed are three of our minimal facts: the death of Jesus, the empty tomb, and the post-resurrection appearances.

Furthermore, our fourth minimal fact (the origin of Christianity) is easily explained given the first thee facts.

Paul not only mentions the multiple post-resurrection appearances but includes himself as having seen the risen Lord.

Several indicators in the text confirm this to be an early Christian creed.

The Aramaic term “Cephas” is used for Peter indicating an extremely early origin.

New Testament scholar and skeptic Gerd Lüdemann assigns this passage a very early date stating:

No time for a Legend to be born

The early date of this creed rules out the possibility of myth or legendary development as a plausible explanation and demonstrates that the disciples began proclaiming Jesus’ death, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances very early.

The early date of this creed rules out the possibility of myth or legendary development as a plausible explanation and demonstrates that the disciples began proclaiming Jesus’ death, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances very early.

There was simply not enough time for a great deal of myth and legend to accrue and distort the historical facts in any significant way.