Sources for the historicity of Jesus

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Christian sources such as the New Testament books in the Christian Bible, include detailed accounts about Jesus, but scholars differ on the historicity of specific episodes described in the biblical accounts of Jesus.[1] The only two events subject to "almost universal assent" are that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

To establish the existence of a person without any assumptions, one source from one author (either a supporter or opponent) is needed; for Jesus there are at least 12 independent sources from five authors from supporters and 2 independent sources from two authors from non-supporters, within a century of the crucifixion.[10] Since historical sources on other named individuals from first century Galilee were written by either supporters or enemies, these sources on Jesus cannot be dismissed, and the existence of at least 14 sources from at least 7 authors means there is much more evidence available for Jesus than for any other notable person from 1st century Galilee.[10] Some scholars estimate that there are about 30 independent sources written by 25 authors who attest to Jesus overall.[11] It is notable that some independent sources did not survive, but are broadly referenced directly in the surviving sources themselves (e.g. Luke) or inferred from modern source analysis.[12]

The letters of Paul are the earliest surviving sources referencing Jesus, and Paul documents personally knowing and interacting with eyewitnesses such as Jesus' own brother James and some of Jesus' closest disciples (e.g. Peter and John) around 36 AD, within a few years of the crucifixion (30 or 33 AD).[13] Paul was a contemporary of Jesus and throughout his letters, a fairly full outline of the life of Jesus on earth can be found.[14][15]

The Gospels are commonly seen as literature that is based on oral traditions, Christian preaching, and Old Testament exegesis with the consensus being that they are a variation of Greco-Roman biography; similar to other ancient works such as Xenophon's Memoirs of Socrates.[16]

Non-Christian sources that are used to study and establish the historicity of Jesus include Jewish sources such as Josephus (Jewish historian and commander in Galilee) and Roman sources such as Tacitus (Roman historian and Senator). These sources are compared to Christian sources such as the Pauline Epistles and the Synoptic Gospels. These sources are usually independent of each other (i.e., Jewish sources do not draw upon Roman sources), and similarities and differences between them are used in the authentication process.[17][18]

From just Paul, Josephus, and Tacitus alone, the existence of Jesus along with the general time and place of his activity can be confirmed.[19]

  1. ^ Powell, Mark Allan (1998). Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-664-25703-3.
  2. ^ Levine, Amy-Jill (2006). Amy-Jill Levine; et al. (eds.). The Historical Jesus in Context. Princeton University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-691-00992-6.
  3. ^ Dunn, James D. G. (2003). Jesus Remembered. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 339. ISBN 978-0-8028-3931-2. States that baptism and crucifixion are "two facts in the life of Jesus command almost universal assent".
  4. ^ Herzog, William R. (1998). Prophet and Teacher: An Introduction to the Historical Jesus. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 1–6. ISBN 978-0664225285.
  5. ^ Crossan, John Dominic (1995). Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. HarperOne. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-06-061662-5. That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be, since both Josephus and Tacitus...agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact.
  6. ^ Evans, Craig A. (2001). Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies. BRILL. pp. 2–5. ISBN 978-0391041189.
  7. ^ Tuckett, Christopher M. (2001). Markus N. A. Bockmuehl (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Jesus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 122–126. ISBN 978-0521796781.
  8. ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (1999). Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. Oxford University Press. pp. ix–xi. ISBN 978-0195124736.
  9. ^ Chilton, Bruce; Evans, Craig A. (2002). Authenticating the Activities of Jesus. BRILL. pp. 3–7. ISBN 978-0391041646.
  10. ^ a b Dark, Ken (2023). Archaeology of Jesus' Nazareth. Oxford University Press. pp. 150–152. ISBN 978-0192865397.
  11. ^ Ehrman, Bart (October 28, 2016). "Gospel Evidence that Jesus Existed". Ehrman Blog.
  12. ^ Ehrman, Bart (2012). Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 78–79, 83–85. ISBN 978-0062206442.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ehrman James Peter was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey by Craig L. Blomberg 2009 Baker Academic ISBN 0805444823 pp. 441-442
  15. ^ Eddy, Paul; Boyd, Gregory (2007). The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition. ISBN 0-8010-3114-1 pp. 202, 209-228
  16. ^ Gray, Patrick, ed. (2021). The Cambridge Companion to the New Testament. Cambridge University Press. pp. 98–99. ISBN 9781108437707.
  17. ^ Bockmuehl, Markus N. A. (2001). The Cambridge Companion to Jesus. Cambridge University Press. pp. 121–125. ISBN 978-0521796781.
  18. ^ Chilton, Bruce; Evans, Craig A. (1998). Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research. BRILL. pp. 460–470. ISBN 978-9004111424.
  19. ^ Davies, W. D.; Sanders, E.P. (2008). "20. Jesus: From the Jewish Point of View". In Horbury, William; Davies, W.D.; Sturdy, John (eds.). The Cambridge History of Judaism. Volume 3: The Early Roman period. Cambridge Univiversity Press. p. 621. ISBN 9780521243773.
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