Evidence for the Historicity of Christ’s Life, Death, and Resurrection
by Mike Robinson
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| There is compelling evidence for Jesus Christ |
Christ’s
Crucifixion: Rabbinic Sources
On the eve of Passover they hung Jeshu [the
Nazarene]. And the crier went forth before him forty days [declaring], [Jeshu
the Nazarene] goes forth to be stoned, because he has practiced magic and
deceived and led Israel astray. Anyone who knows aught in his favor, let him
come and declare concerning him. And they found naught in his favor. And they
hung him on the eve of the Passover. Ulla said, “Would it be supposed that
[Jeshu the Nazarene] a revolutionary, had aught in his favor? He was a deceiver
and the Merciful has said (Deuteronomy 13:8), ‘You shall not spare, neither
shall you conceal him.’” But it was different with [Jeshu the Nazarene] for he
was near the kingdom (Sanhedrin 43).
Jesus
claimed to be God
No one has ascended to heaven but He who came
down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven… Jesus
said to them, “Most
assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (John 3:13 &
8:58).
Rabbi Abahu said, “If a man says ‘I am God,’
he lies; if he says, ‘I am the Son of man’ he shall rue it; ‘I will go up to
heaven,’ (to this applies Numbers 23:19)
he says, but shall not perform it" (*Jerusalem Talmud: Taanith 65b).
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* The Talmud is a huge collection of Jewish
commentary, laws, and narratives. It is made up of the Mishnah (220 AD) and the
Gemara. The Mishnah provides exposition regarding legal matters. The Talmud
covers matters concerning such things as law and legal applications (Halakah). It contains a plethora of
stories, proverbs, traditions, and wise sayings used to illustrate the Jewish
way of life (Haggadah).
Jesus
Name and Healing
It happened with Rabbi Elazar ben Damah, whom
a snake bit, that Jacob, a man of Kefar Soma, came to heal him in the name of
Yeshua ben Pantera,* but Rabbi Ishmael did not let him. He said, "You are
not permitted, ben Damah." He answered, "I will bring you proof that
he may heal me." But he had no opportunity to bring proof, for he died. Rabbi
Ishmael said, "Happy are You, ben Damah, for you have gone in peace and
you have not broken down the fence of the sages; since everyone who breaks down
the fence of the sages, to him punishment will ultimately come, as it is in
scripture: 'Whosoever breaks through a fence, a serpent shall bite him'"
(Tosefta Hullin 2:22; Babylonian Talmud: Abodah Zarah 27).
When Rabbi Joshua ben Levi’s grandson had an
obstruction in his throat, a certain man came and whispered into his ear a
spell in the name of [Jesus], the well-known heretic, and he began to breathe
again. As the man was leaving, Rabbi Joshua asked him, “What did you whisper in
his ear?” The man: “Such-and-such a spell.” Rabbi Joshua: “It would have been
better if my grandson died rather than recover by such means.” And, “like an
error which proceeds from the mouth of a ruler” (Ecclesiastes 10:5), his
thoughtless imprecation caused the death of his grandson (Avodah Zeira 27b).
This is an extra-biblical witness that the
name of Jesus was used to heal people in Israel.
A
Synopsis of the Rabbinic (Talmud, Mishnah, etc.) Witness to Christ
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| Jesus: the evidence is overwhelming and the proof is certain |
- Jesus was born under unusual circumstances, leading some rabbis to address him as ben Pantera.
- Jesus was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
- Jesus was crucified on the eve of Passover.
- Jesus made himself alive by the name of God.
- Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and God.
- Jesus would return again.
- Jesus claimed a kingdom.
- Jesus had disciples.
- Jesus performed miracles.
- Jesus' name healed people.
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*Some scholars see an allusion to the virgin
birth of Christ in the term, "ben Pantera." This is due to the fact
that "Pantera" seems to be a play on the Greek word for virgin, parthenos, the word used in the Gospels
when recording the virgin birth of Christ.
The Talmud in many ways supports the New
Testament teaching on the topic of the life of Jesus Christ.
Extra-biblical
Sources for the Historicity of Jesus Christ
Tacitus
(55 -117 A.D. Annals, book XV)
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, and a most
mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only
in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous
and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular.
Suetonius
(69-140 A.D. Lives of the Caesars;
Claudius, sec. 25/ Nero, sec. 16.)
He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were
continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus. …
Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and
mischievous superstition.
Julius
Africanus (160 -240 A.D. Chronography,
XVIII)
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. This darkness Thallus, in the third
book of his History, calls … an
eclipse of the sun... 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— manifestly that one of which we speak.
These early historians confirm the facts of
the New Testament accounts including:
- Jesus Christ is a real historical person.
- Christ was the originator of Christianity.
- Christ was crucified under Pilate amidst signs in the earth and sky.
- Christianity originated in Israel.
- Christianity later spread around the world including Rome.
Justin
Martyr (100 - 165 A.D. First
Apology)
There is a village in Judea, thirty-five
stadia from Jerusalem, where Jesus Christ was born, as you can see from the tax
registers under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judea... He was born of a
virgin as a man, and was named Jesus, and was crucified, and died, and rose
again, and ascended into heaven... After He was crucified, all His
acquaintances denied Him. But once He had risen from the dead and appeared to
them and explained the prophecies which foretold all these things and ascended
into heaven, the apostles believed. They received the power given to them by
Jesus and went into the world preaching the gospel.
At the time of His birth, Magi from Arabia
came and worshipped Him, coming first to Herod, who was then sovereign in your
land... When they crucified Him, driving in the nails, they pierced His hands
and feet. Those who crucified Him parted His garments among themselves, each
casting lots... But you did not repent after you learned that He rose from the
dead (Dialogue with Trypho).
Hegesippus
(110 A.D. - 180 A.D. The History of the
Church)
This man [James] was a true witness to both
Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Christ... The Corinthian church continued in
the true doctrine until Primus became bishop. I mixed with them on my voyage to
Rome and spent several days with the Corinthians, during which we were
refreshed with the true doctrine.
There
is a strong case to be made for the historicity of Jesus Christ—His death,
burial, and resurrection. Additionally, not one ancient historical source
denies that Christ’s tomb was empty. Nonetheless, the tools (universal
operational features of reason and analysis) one must utilize to access
historical claims come from the Christian worldview. Skepticism lacks the
ontology to account for such necessary rational tools.
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The claim that Jesus was
simply made up falters on every ground (critical scholar Bart Ehrman).
Flavius
Josephus (37-100 A.D. Antiquities XVIII,
3:2)
Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise
man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a
teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him
both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when
Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to
the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. For he
appeared to them alive again the third day. As the divine prophets had foretold
these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribes of
Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.
Josh
McDowell comments on selected features that support this passage’s reliability:
“As classical literature
goes, the manuscript evidence that this passage is genuinely from Josephus is
strong. It exists in all of the extant (still in existence) manuscripts of
Josephus, and Eusebius, known as the "Father of Church History,” quotes it
in his History
of the Church, written circa A.D. 325,
and again in his Demonstration of the Gospel, written somewhat earlier. The vocabulary and style, according to Loeb
translator Louis Feldman, are, with some exceptions, basically consistent with
other parts of Josephus. … Thus the description of Jesus as ‘a wise man’ is not
typically Christian, but is used by Josephus of e.g. Solomon and Daniel.
Similarly, Christians did not refer to Jesus' miracles as ‘astonishing deeds’ (paradoxa
erga), but exactly the same expression is
used by Josephus of the miracles of Elisha. And the description of Christians
as a ‘tribe’ (phylon) occurs nowhere
in early Christian literature, which Josephus uses the word both for the Jewish
"race" and for other national or communal groups.”1
Clement
of Rome (98 A.D. Corinthians)
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 being fully
assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the
word of God will 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
of Antioch (107-116 A.D. Smyrneans)
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 in
Him…. He is truly of the race of David according to the flesh but Son of God by
the Divine will and powered, truly born of a virgin and baptized by John that
all righteousness might be fulfilled by Him, truly nailed up in the flesh for
our sakes under Pontius Pilate and Herod the tetrarch... That He might set up an ensign unto all ages
through His resurrection.
What these passages reveal confirms [2] the
biblical accounts including:
- Jesus Christ lived as a historical person.
- Jesus was a son of a woman (also see Galatians 4:4).
- Jesus' mother was Mary.
- Christ was the originator of Christianity.
- Christ was worshiped by the church.
- Jesus died by crucifixion.
- Christ rose from the dead.
Lucian of
Samosata (120 -180 A.D. Peregrinus)
The Christians, you know, worship a man to
this day—the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was
crucified on that account... It was impressed on them by their original
lawgiver that they are all brothers from the moment they are converted and deny
the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.
Mara
Bar-Serapion of Syria (Post 70 A.D)
What advantage did the Athenians gain
from putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment
for their crime. What advantage did the
men of Samos gain from burning Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered
with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King? It
was just after that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three
wise men.
To see all the compelling evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus see my new book Risen HERE
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NOTES
1.
McDowell,
Josh. He Walked Among Us.
2. One cannot have the analysis of evidence without God. The God of
the Bible is the precondition for the examination of evidence. Analysis uses
induction, empirical testing, the laws of logic, and morality. One cannot
account for any of those dynamics without God and His revelation. In a moment
of honesty, renowned philosopher W.V. Quine, granted: “The collapse of
empiricism (truth is found through man’s senses) would admit extra input ... by
revelation.” Considering that empiricism is self-refuting (one cannot measure
by seeing or hearing the definition of empiricism, so it collapses under its
own load) it must concede truth claims to revelation by God and the general
application of its precepts. Frame notes, “It is the responsibility of the
Christian to regard God’s word as absolutely certain, and to make that word the
criterion of all other sources of knowledge. Our certainty of the truth of God
comes ultimately, not through rational demonstration or empirical verification,
useful as these may often be, but from the authority of God’s own word. God’s
word does testify to itself, often, by means of human testimony and historical
evidence: the ‘proofs’ of Acts 1:3, the centurion’s witness in Luke 23:47, the
many witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus in 1 Cor. 15:1-11. But we should
never forget that these evidences come to us with God’s own authority. In 1
Cor. 15, Paul asks the church to believe the evidence because it is part of the
authoritative apostolic preaching.”
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