“Did Jesus Really Exist?” Pt. 1
"Did Jesus Really Exist?" • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 19:00
0 ratings
· 18 viewsDid Jesus Really Exist? Where is the proof from non-Biblical sources that He is real? These questions and others like it are often asked by Bible skeptics and atheists alike. This two-part lesson will show that not only is there legitimate historical evidence (from secular sources as well as Christian) that Jesus Christ was real and existed, but also that Jesus Christ is the most documented and historically verifiable figure in antiquity!
Files
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
2 Jn 1:7-8 “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.”
Flavius Josephus (AD 37-100)
1) 1st-century Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry.
2) Recorded key events of Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70.
He did not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God or Christianity. In The
Antiquities of the Jews, book 18, chapter Flavius Josephus writes:
“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 amongst 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 tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not
extinct at this day.”
Later Josephus writes:
“But the younger Ananus who, as we said, Received the high priesthood, was of a
bold disposition and exceptionally daring; he followed the party of the Sadducees,
who are severe in judgment above all the Jews, as we have already shown.
As therefore Ananus was of such a disposition, he thought he had now a good
opportunity, as Festus was now dead, and Albinus was still on the road; so,
he assembled a council of judges, and brought before it the brother of Jesus the
so-called Christ, whose name was James, together with some others, and having
accused them as law-breakers, he delivered them over to be stoned.”
Josephus, widely considered one of the greatest historians of antiquity,
independently provides proof and evidence…
1) That Jesus was a real person.
2) Jesus was crucified on the cross under the orders of Pontius Pilate.
Unintentionally confirming the Biblical account!
Tacitus (AD 55-120)
1) A Roman Historian.
In 115 AD, wrote the following regarding a six-day fire burned much of 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,
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. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon
their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime
of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.
Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts,
they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed
to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had
expired.” (The Annals, Book 15, chapter 44.)
Pliny the Younger (AD 61-112)
1) A lawyer, author, and magistrate of ancient Rome.
2) Served as an imperial magistrate under Roman emperor, Trajan (AD 98–117).
3) Considered an honest and moderate man, consistent in his pursuit of suspected
Christian members according to Roman law.
Correspondence with Trajan on dealing with Christians (Epistulae X.96):
“They were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a
hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to any wicked
deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, adultery, never to falsify their word, not
to deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up.
When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of
a meal–but ordinary and innocent food. Even this practice, however, they had
abandoned after the publication of my edict, by which, according to your orders, I had
forbidden political associations. I therefore judged it so much more the necessary to
extract the real truth, with the assistance of torture, from two female slaves, who were
styled deaconesses: but I could discover nothing more than depraved and excessive
superstition. In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have
denounced to me as Christians is this: I interrogated them whether they were
Christians; if they confessed it I repeated the question twice again, adding the threat of
capital punishment; if they still persevered, I ordered them to be executed. For whatever
the nature of their creed might be, I could at least feel not doubt that contumacy and
inflexible obstinacy deserved chastisement.
There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens,
I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.”
Julius Africanus & Tallus (AD 160-240)
1) A Christian traveler and historian of the late 2nd and early 3rd century AD.
2) He is important chiefly because of his influence on Eusebius, on all the later writers
of Church history among the Fathers, and on the whole Greek school of chroniclers.
Julius quotes the writings of Tallus, (1st century non-Christian historian) explaining the darkness at Jesus’ crucifixion:
“…An eclipse of the sun unreasonably, as it seems to me (unreasonably of course,
because a solar eclipse could not take place at the time of the full moon, and it
was at the season of the Paschal full moon that Christ died.)”
-Julius Africanus, Chronography, 18.
Lucian of Samosata (AD 115-125?)
1) A well-known Greek satirist and traveling lecturer. More than eighty works bear
his name.
2) He mocked Christians in his writing, but at the same time provided evidence that
Jesus really did exist.
“He was second only to that one whom they still worship today, the man in Palestine
who was crucified because he brought this new form of initiation into the world. Having
convinced themselves that they are immortal and will live forever, the poor wretches
despise death and most willingly give themselves to it. Moreover, that first lawgiver of
theirs persuaded them that they are all brothers the moment they transgress and deny
the Greek gods and begin worshiping that crucified sophist and living by his laws.
They scorn all possessions without distinction and treat them as community property.
They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So, if a fraudulent and
cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them;
he can make himself rich in a short time.”
Suetonius (AD 69/75 – after 150)
1) Was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era.
2) His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman
rulers, from Julius Caesar to Domitian, entitled De Vita Caesarum.
In his writings, Suetonius:
1) States emperor Claudius reigned AD 41 to 54.
2) He reports that the emperor expelled the Jews from Rome, since they “constantly made
disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus” (Christ). (Acts 18:1-2)