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The Historicity
of Jesus Christ
E.F. Harrison wrote: "Some religions, both ancient and modern,
require no historical basis, for they depend upon ideas rather than events.
Christianity is not one of these" (1968, p. 11). The religion of Jesus
Christ stands or falls upon the events of history. Did Jesus of Nazareth
ever live? Are the New Testament data regarding Him reliable? This is a
crucial issue.
In the 9th century, German historian Bruno Baur alleged
that Jesus was the mental invention of a few second century Christians
who were influenced by Graeco-Roman philosophy. More recently an atheist
associated with the Freedom From Religion Foundation argued that "the New
Testament Jesus is a myth" (Barker, 1992, p. 378).
More careful scholars, however, have been forced to acknowledge
the historicity of the Lord. German historian, Adolf Harnack (1851-1930),
declared that Jesus was so imposing that He was "far beyond the power of
men to invent" and that those who treat Him as a myth are bereft of "the
capacity to distinguish between fiction and the documentary evidence .
. ." (as quoted by Harrison, p. 3). Joseph Klausner, the famous Jewish
scholar of Hebrew University (who did not accept Christ as the Son of God)
conceded that Jesus lived and exerted a powerful influence, both in the
first century and subsequent thereto (1989, pp. 17-62). Even rabid skeptics
have had to bow bloody heads to the blows of solid historical evidence.
Entertainer Steve Allen has written some bitter diatribes against the Bible.
Nevertheless, he confessed: "My own belief is that he [Christ] did indeed
live in the time of Augustus Caesar . . ." (1990, p. 229).
Several lines of evidence converge to establish the historical
reality of the founder of the Christian religion: (1) the New Testament
documents; (2) ancient Jewish sources; (3) Roman writings; (4) early antagonists
of Christianity; (5) the testimony of the patristic writers; (6) the art
of the Roman catacombs; and (7) the impact of Christianity in history.
The New Testament Documents
Christ's existence is established clearly by the primary
documents of the New Testament. Skeptical writers would dismiss these,
but to do so is irresponsible since more than 5,000 Greek manuscripts,
in whole or part, establish the body of New Testament literature (Metzger,
1968, p. 36). All of the New Testament had been completed within sixty
years or so of Jesus' death. Of those twenty-seven books, no less than
ten were penned by personal companions of the Lord. And Paul, an eye-witness
of the resurrected Savior, wrote thirteen or fourteen of the remainder.
Liberal scholars have tried to relegate New Testament
books to the second-century A.D. (or later), and have suggested that these
documents are productions of unknown authors in order to repudiate them
as primary sources of historical information. It is interesting to note,
however, that even some radical theologians have conceded the strong evidence
for the early composition of the New Testament. For instance, John A.T.
Robinson, a liberal theologian of England, has acknowledged that all of
the New Testament books were written in the first century. He also has
admitted that the book of James was penned by a brother of the Lord within
two decades of Jesus' death, that Paul authored all the books that bear
his name, and that John, the apostle, wrote the fourth Gospel (1976). The
New Testament contains irrefutable evidence of the existence of Jesus.
Jewish Testimony
The earliest non-Christian testimony to the Lord's existence
is that of the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus (A.D. 37-100). In Antiquities
of the Jesus, the historian twice referred to Jesus. In one passage
he called Jesus "the Christ," referred to His "marvelous deeds," and alluded
to His death and resurrection (18.3.3). Though some would dispute the genuineness
of much of this reference, suggesting that it was embellished by an over-zealous
Christian scribe, the passage, as it stands in all standard texts, can
be defended (Jackson, 1991, pp. 29-30). In another place, Josephus commented
on the trial of James, and identified Him as "the brother of Jesus, the
so-called Christ" (20.9.1).
Additionally the Jewish Babylonian Talmud took note of
the Lord's existence. Collected into a final form in the fifth century
A.D., it is derived from earlier materials, some of which originated in
the first century. Its testimony to Jesus' existence is all the more valuable,
as it is extremely hostile. It charges that Christ (Who is called Ben Pandera)
was born out of wedlock after His mother had been seduced by a Roman soldier
named Pandera or Panthera. Respected scholar Bruce Metzger has commented
upon this appellation: "The defamatory account of his birth seems to reflect
a knowledge of the Christian tradition that Jesus was the son of the virgin
Mary, the Greek word for virgin, parthenos, being distorted into the name
Pandera" (1965, p. 76). The Talmud also refers to Jesus' miracles as "magic,"
and records that He claimed to be God. It further mentions His execution
on the eve of the Passover. Jewish testimony thus supports the New Testament
position on the historical existence of Jesus.
Roman Sources
There are allusions to Christ in Roman times (see Bettenson,
1961, pp. 3-7).
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Pliny governor of Bithynia, wrote the Roman emperor Trajan (c. A.D. 112),
asking for advice about how he should deal with Christians who made it
a practice to meet on an appointed day to sing a hymn "to Christ as if
to God" (Epist. X.96).
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The Roman historian Tacitus, in his Annals (c. A.D. 115),
referred to "Christus," who "was executed at the hands of the procurator
Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius" (Xv.44).
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Writing about A.D. 120, Suetonius, a popular Roman writer, declared that
Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because they "were continually making
disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus" (Vita Claudn
XXV.4). "Chrestus" is a corrupted form of Christos (Christ).
Luke alluded to this situation in Acts 18:2.
Antagonists of Christianity
Another line of evidence establishing the historicity of Jesus is the fact
that the earliest enemies of the Christian faith did not deny that Christ
actually lived (see Hurst, 1897, 1:180-189).
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Celsus, a pagan philosopher of the second century A.D., produced the oldest
extant literary attack against Christianity. His "True Discourse" (c. A.D.
178) was a bitter assault upon Christ. Celsus argued that Jesus was born
in low circumstances, being the illegitimate son of a soldier named Panthera
(see above). As he grew, He announced Himself to be God, deceiving many.
Celsus charged that Christ's own people killed Him, and that His resurrection
was a deception. But Celsus never questioned the historicity of Jesus.
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Lucian of Samosata (c. A.D. 115-200) was called "the Voltaire of Grecian
literature." He wrote against Christianity more with patronizing contempt
than volatile hostility. He said Christians worshipped the well-known "sophist"
Who was crucified in Palestine because He introduced new mysteries. He
never denied the existence of Jesus.
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Porphyry of Tyre was born about A.D. 233, studied philosophy in Greece,
and lived in Sicily where he wrote fifteen books against the Christian
faith. In one of his books, "Life of Pythagoras," he contended that magicians
of the pagan world exhibited greater powers than Christ. His argument was
an inadvertent concession of Jesus' existence, and power.
The Patristic Writers
The Patristic writers authored significant works between
the end of the first and eighth centuries A.D. These so called "church
fathers" (patres) produced volumes important to understanding the changes
occurring in the Christian religion during the post-apostolic age, and
testify profusely to the historical Christ (see Bettenson, 1956).
Polycarp (c. A.D. 69-155), for example, lived in the city
of Smyrna in Asia Minor. He spoke passionately of Christ, and wrote against
certain heretics of his day. Irenaeus (c. A.D. 130-200) said that Polycarp
had personal association with the apostle John, and with others who "had
seen the Lord" (Eusebius V.XX). He died a martyr, having served Jesus Christ
for eighty-six years (suggesting that almost his entire life was dedicated
to the Savior). The testimony of the "church fathers" certainly is more
compelling than the trifling objections of biased critics, twenty centuries
removed from the facts.
The Roman Catacombs
Beneath Rome there exists a maze of galleries that served,
from the second to the fifth centuries A.D., as tombs (and secret places
of worship during persecution) for early Christians. It has been estimated
that there are some six hundred miles of these subterranean passages, representing
1,175,000 to 4,000,000 graves (Blaiklock, 1970, p. 159). The catacomb vaults
are filled with art work, which testifies to the deep faith in Christ that
was embraced by legions in the capital of the Roman Empire. Common among
these inscriptions was the figure of a fish, frequently containing the
word ichthus (Greek for "fish"; Boyd, 1969, p. 203). The
letters, however, were an acrostic for the declaration, Jesus Christ, God's
Son, Savior. Did millions, living in the shadows of the first century
die for a "myth"? Such a theory makes no sense.
The Impact of Christianity
Finally, the impact of the Christian movement is powerful
testimony to the reality of its Founder. It is inconceivable that a non-existent
figure could have generated a societal force as world-shaking as Christianity.
There is no logical way to explain how the Christian system started, and
grew so rapidly, except for the fact that adherents knew of Jesus' life,
death, and resurrection. Christianity itself is a monument to the vibrant
presence of God's Son in history. The cause we espouse is not grounded
in a wispy vapor of antiquity, but on unshakable historical facts.
References
Allen, Steve (1990), Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion
& Morality (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus).
Barker, Dan (1992), Losing Faith In Faith
(Minneapolis, MN: Freedom From Religion Foundation).
Bettenson, Henry (1956), The Early Christian Fathers
(London: Oxford University Press).
Bettenson, Henry (1961), Documents of the Christian
Church (London: Oxford University Press).
Blaiklock, E.M. (1970), The Archaeology of the New
Testament Church (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
Boyd, Robert (1969), A Pictorial Guide to Biblical
Archaeology (New York: Bonanza Books).
Harrison, E.F. (1968), A Short Life of Christ
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
Hurst, John F. (1897), History of the Christian
Church (New York: Eaton & Mains).
Jackson, Wayne (1991), "Josephus and the Bible [Part II],"
Reason & Revelation, 11:29-32.
Klausner, Joseph (1989), Jesus of Nazareth
(New York: Bloch).
Metzger, Bruce M. (19658), The Text of the New Testament
(New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Metzger, Bruce M. (1965), The New Testament -- Its
Background, Growth, and Content (Nashville, TN: Abingdon).
Robinson, John A.T. (1976), Redating the New Testament
(Philadelphia, PA: Westminster). See also: "The New Testament Dating Game,"
Time (March 21, 1977), p. 95.
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