The Historical Facts

A recent "history" television show made the claim that "we only have four stories about the life of Jesus, all of them decades removed from his day." The host then retorted, "It's like a bunch of people writing about what their grandparents saw back then." General mocking laughter followed.  

This is not the case. The facts about the life of Jesus are some of the most well-supported and well-documented of any from the ancient world. Here are some of the lines of evidence supporting the basic fact of His existence. 

 

  • His four authentic biographies were written within the lifetimes of thousands of people who knew and followed him.  Myriad opportunities existed for those accounts to be nullified or challenged by others who had also known Him.  No such challenges existed within this window of time. 
  • The first account of His life, the gospel of Matthew, was written in 41 AD, according to Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis (c. 60-130 AD).  That this early date is supported by contemporaries of Matthew's actual life lends strong historical support to the gospel's authenticity.  If an actual disciple of Jesus Christ wrote the account within 10 years of Christ's ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension, there is little time for the facts of the story to decay in fading memories.  Supporting this, the Church Father Origen, in his commentary on Matthew, written in the mid-200s AD, also claimed an early date of publication at the pen of the Apostle. 
  • Mark wrote His gospel based on his second-hand knowledge of the life of Jesus.  He was a disciple of Peter, the early leader of the Apostles, a cousin of Barnabas, and the traveling companion and friend of the Apostle Paul.  It was in the home of Mark's family that the early church met.  Mark is believed to have written his gospel based on the stories and recollections of Peter while Peter sat in prison in the final years of His life.  It is believed that Peter died around 64 AD, so the authorship of Mark is best placed sometime just before this time. 
  • Luke wrote his gospel based on interviews of eyewitnesses he performed.  Eyewitnesses therefore needed to be still living. Much of his material is based on the previous testimonies of Matthew and Mark, in addition to the research he performed on his own.  Luke does not name his sources, but his unique material on the birth and childhood accounts of Jesus strongly implies that Mary was among his sources.  Luke was the traveling companion of Paul in the latter years of his life, and Luke carries the narrative of the history of the early church in the book of Acts up to the time when Paul is awaiting trial in Rome.  Many feel that the story stops there because this would have been the contemporary situation when Luke wrote his accounts.  That imprisonment was somewhere in the early 60's AD.  The publication of the gospel of Luke therefore likely follows shortly after the creation of the gospel of Mark.   In fact, it is quite possible that Peter and Paul were both imprisoned in Rome in overlapping windows of time, which might explain why their authors have so much material in common. 
Be Our Guest!
If you live in Northern Indiana, please visit us on a Sunday morning! We would love to answer your questions in person and walk with you as you explore faith!
Be Our Guest!
  • The last gospel was written by another witness to the life and ministry of Jesus, his best friend John.  John was among the first called to follow Jesus, was with him in every moment of ministry, and then cared for his mother after his ascension into heaven.  John's account is widely regarded as the last one written, and it focuses on different themes and moments of the story.  John lived the longest of the Apostles and likely had the opportunity to reflect on what the other accounts left out.  His gospel makes mention of aspects of the temple complex still existing that were obliterated in the destruction of the temple in AD 70, so there is at least some reason to place the writing of his gospel before that date.  Even if it wasn't written until much later (AD 80-90), his account is still born of an intimate knowledge of the life and ministry of Christ in his lifetime. 

The account of the life of Jesus is also not limited to his friends and followers. Secular historians, including those hostile to his cause, recorded his life and ministry. 

  • Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, wrote his history of the Jews in AD 93.  In Jewish Antiquities 18:3:3, he records:  “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 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.”
  • The Roman historian Tacitus, who was hostile to Christianity (as was vogue in his day), recorded in his Annals, written in AD 115, "Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called “Chrestians” by the populace,” wrote Tacitus.” 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 Pilate, 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.”
  • Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor, wrote to Emperor Trajan about AD 112 the following description of Christianity and its progenitor in Epistles 10.96. “They (Christians) were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food, but of an ordinary and innocent kind ,” 
  • The Babylonian Talmud (70 AD), mentions in Sanhedrin 43a, that "On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald ... cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy."  Obviously, there are some differences in the account here, but the fact that he was killed by the state for perceived religious crimes upholds the broad testimony of the gospels. 
  • Lucian of Samosata was a Greek satirist who wrote mockingly of Christianity in The Death of Peregrinein AD 165.  While he was not a fan, he did help us to validate the early teachings of the church and the historical existence of Jesus Christ when he wrote, "The Christians ... 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 that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws"
Early Christian Writings

Another important source of data is the prolific writing of several of the early leaders of the Church after the Apostles, collectively called the Apostolic Fathers.  Hundreds of manuscripts, very close in space and time to the original events, support the testimony of the gospels and epistles with additional evidence and testimony.  No such cascading evidence exists for any other religious figure. 

Let's put this into clear numerical focus.  Within the 100 years following Pentecost, not only do we have all 29 books of the New Testament written and verified by the church, but we also have the four letters of Polycarp, the three major works of Irenaeus, the epistle of Clement of Rome,  the seven epistles of Ignatius of Antioch, the epistle of Barnabas, the Didache, the Shepherd of Hermas, the epistle of Diognetius, the fragments of the writings of Papias of Heirapolis, the Apology of Quadratus, the Apology of Aristides, and the eight writings of Justin Martyr.  That survey presents 59 sources pointing to the life and work of Christ written within the first 100 years after his death and resurrection.  

To this, add the five secular sources mentioned above, and we have 64 reputable historical documents pointing to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Christ in the first 100 years after his life.  How does this body of evidence compare with other religious leaders? 

There is not a single document about Gautama Buddha written within 200 years of his death.  Everything known of him was orally transferred for at least two centuries. 

Krishna was purported to live around 3,200 BC, but nothing was written down about him that can be traced to before 400 BC at the oldest, most generous dating. 

There are 40 texts that testify to the existence of Mohammed. Twelve of these texts were written by Christians about his political and military activities and by no means assert his status as a prophet.  These would be more like the five secular sources mentioned above.  The remaining 28 sources written about Mohammed within 100 years of his life are written by Muslims, but they hotly contrast each other, so that very little about his historical life can be solidly established by their testimony beyond broad strokes.  This lack of a uniform witness is made all the more meaningful when one considers that we are 635 years closer to Mohammed's story than Christ's. 

The most striking counter-example is the collection of early sources around the life and work of Joseph Smith.  Smith was the author of the Book of Mormon, which he completed in 1829, less than 200 years ago.  The Mormon church just published a book of photographs of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, but they only have 28% of it by their own admission. The rest has been destroyed and lost.  Also, the Mormon church acknowledges eight official biographies of Joseph Smith, but only three were written in the first 100 years.  The poverty of the near-historical record for this young cult is profound. 

 

The Evidence of Growth and Suffering

The early church was launched in earnest in AD 33 on Pentecost, 50 days after the crucifixion of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection.  From that original group of 120 followers, 3000 believers were added in one day, and by the end of the first decade of the church, there were conservatively tens of thousands of people following "The Way" of Jesus. These people all lived in a time and place where it was easy to double-check the facts.  At any point, counter-witnesses or whistleblowers could have shut the whole thing down.  They didn't though. 

Quite to the contrary, numerous historical accounts describe the fidelity of early Christians to their belief in the person and work of Jesus Christ in the face of horrendous suffering.  Lives were gruesomely forfeited in all manner of torturous deaths, and all that would have been needed to escape that fate would have been to denounce Christ and offer a Pagan sacrifice. Martyr after martyr continued to face the lions rather than break faith with their Lord.  

Liars don't do this.  Con artists don't die for their tales.  People who have met the incarnate God and whose lives have been forever changed do. 

Be Our Guest!
We don't do awkward first visits here! Come explore your faith with us, where you can ask your questions in person!
Be Our Guest!

Other Resources To Consider