Documents

…prove the Historicity of Jesus Christ

BIBLICAL SOURCES

Peter the head of Apostles:

   "Concerning this salvation (through Jesus Christ), the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry" -First Epistle from Peter 1:10.

   "We had been eyewitnesses of his majesty Lord Jesus Christ. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain" -Second Epistle from Peter 1:16-18.

Paul the Apostle of Gentiles:

   "God promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son" -Epistle to the Romans 1:2-4, 5:8,10.

   "For the message about the Cross is foolishness to those who are perished, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. We proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the Called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and wisdom of God" -First Epistle to the Corinthians 1:18,23-24.

John the beloved Apostle:

   "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have heard, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (Jesus) -this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with God the Father and was revealed to us- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with God the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sins" -First Epistle from John 1:1-3,7.

GNOSTICS SOURCES

The Gospel of Truth, probably by Valentius, around 135-160 AD:
   "The Son of God came in the flesh and ‘the Word came into the midst. It became a body.’ He came by means of fleshly appearance. For when they had seen him and had heard him, he granted them to taste him and to smell him and to touch the beloved Son (Jesus). When he had appeared instructing them about the Father."

   "Jesus was patient in accepting sufferings. Since he knows that his death is life for many. He was nailed to a tree; he published the edict of the Father on the cross. He draws himself down to death through life; eternal clothes him. Having stripped himself of the perishable rags, he put on imperishability, which no one can possibly take away from him."

The Treatise on Resurrection, by uncertain author of the late second century, to Rheginos:

   "The Lord existed in flesh and revealed himself as Son of God. Now, the Son of God was Son of Man. He embraced them both, possessing the humanity and the divinity, so that on the one hand he might vanquish death through his being Son of God, and that on the other through the Son of Man the restoration to the Pleroma might occur; because he was originally from above, a seed of the Truth, before this structure of the cosmos had come into being."

   "For we have known the Son of Man, and we have believed that he rose from among the dead. This is he of whom we say, 'He became the destruction of death, as he is a great one in whom they believe.' Great are those who believe. The Savior swallowed up death. He transformed himself into an imperishable Aeon and raised himself up, having swallowed the visible by the invisible, and he gave us the way of our immortality."

   "Do not think the resurrection is an illusion. It is no illusion, but it is truth. Indeed, it is more fitting to say that the world is an illusion, rather than the resurrection which has come into being through our Lord the Savior, Jesus Christ."

OTHER ANCIENT CHRISTIAN SOURCES

Clement, the Pope, letter to the Corinthian church (95 AD):

   "The Apostles received the Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is from God, and the Apostles are from Christ. Both therefore came of the will of God in the appointed order. Having therefore received a charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth with the glad tidings that the kingdom of God should come. So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their first fruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe."

Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, letter to the Trallians (110-115 AD):

   "Jesus Christ who was of the race of David, who was the Son of Mary, who was truly born and ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and on earth and those under the earth; who moreover was truly raised from the dead, His Father having raised Him, who in the like fashion will so raise us also who believe on Him."

Ignatius, letter to the Smyrneans (110-115 AD):

   "For I know and believe that He was in the flesh even after the resurrection; and when He came to Peter and his company, He said to them, 'Lay hold and handle me, and see that I am not a demon without body.' And straightway they touched him, and they believed, being joined unto His flesh and His blood. Wherefore also they despised death, nay they were found superior to death. And after His resurrection He ate with them and drank with them."

Ignatius, letter to the Magnesians (110-115 AD):

   "Are ye fully persuaded concerning the birth and the passion and the resurrection, which took place in the time of the governorship of Pontius Pilate; for these things were truly and certainly done by Jesus Christ our hope."

Quadratus, to Emperor Hadrian about 125 AD:

   "The deeds of our Saviour were always before you, for they were true miracles; those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. They remained living a long time, not only whilst our Lord was on earth, but likewise when He had left the earth. So that, some of them have also lived to our own times."

(Pseudo-)Barnabas, written 130-138 AD:

   "Jesus must need to be manifested in the flesh. He preached teaching Israel and performing so many wonders and miracles, and He loved them exceedingly. He chose His own apostles who were to proclaim His Gospel. But He Himself desired so to suffer; for it was necessary for Him to suffer on a tree (Cross)."

Justin Martyr, to Emperor Antoninus Pius about 150 AD:

   After referring to Jesus' birth of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem, and that His physical line of descent came through the tribe of Judah and the family of Jesse, Justin wrote, "Now there is a village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem, in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judea."

   "Accordingly, after Jesus was crucified, even all His acquaintances forsook Him, having denied Him; and afterwards, when He had risen from the dead and appeared to them, and had taught them to read the prophecies in which all these things were foretold as coming to pass, and when they had seen Him ascending into heaven, and had believed, and had received power sent thence by Him upon them, and went to every race of men, they taught these things, and were called apostles."

Justin Martyr, in Dialogue with Trypho, around 150 AD:

   "For at the time of His birth, Magi who came from Arabia worshipped Him, coming first to Herod, who then was sovereign in your land."

   "For when they crucified Him, driving in the nails, they pierced His hands and feet; and those who crucified Him parted His garments among themselves, each casting lots for what he chose to have, and receiving according to the decision of the lot. For indeed the Lord remained upon the tree almost until evening, and they buried Him at eventide; then on the third day He rose again." 

ANCIENT NON-CHRISTIAN SOURCES

Flavius Josephus (37-97 AD), court historian for Emperor Vespasian:
   "At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive; accordingly, he was perhaps the messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders."

Acts of Pontius Pilate, reports sent from Pilate to Tiberius, referred to by Justin Martyr (150 AD):

   "And the expression, 'They pierced my hands and my feet,' was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after he was crucified, they cast lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen you can ascertain the 'Acts' of Pontius Pilate." Later Justin lists several healing miracles and asserts, "And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate."

Thallus, who wrote a history of the Eastern Mediterranean around 52 AD: 
   Julius Africanus, writing around 221 AD found a reference in the writings of Thallus, which dealt with the darkness that covered the land during Jesus's crucifixion: "Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun--unreasonably, as it seems to me." [A solar eclipse could not take place during a full moon, as was the case during Passover season.]

Cornelius Tacitus (55-120 AD), "the greatest historian" of ancient Rome:
   "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."

The Jewish Talmud, compiled between 70 and 200 AD:
   "On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged (on the cross). For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery (miracles) and enticed Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favour let him come forward and plead on his behalf.' But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover."

Lucian, a second century Greek satirist:
   "The Christians, you know, worship a man (Jesus) to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account."

Mara Bar-Serapion, of Syria, writing between 70 and 200 AD from prison to motivate his son to emulate wise teachers of the past:
   "What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king (Jesus)? It was just after that that their kingdom was abolished. The wise king die for good; he lived on in the teaching which he had given."