The question of the historicity of Jesus is part of the study of the

historical Jesus The term "historical Jesus" refers to the reconstruction of the life and teachings of Jesus by critical historical methods, in contrast to religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived. ...

as undertaken in the

quest for the historical Jesus The quest for the historical Jesus consists of academic efforts to determine what words and actions, if any, may be attributed to Jesus, and to use the findings to provide portraits of the historical Jesus.. Since the 18th century, three scholarl ...

and the scholarly reconstructions of the life of Jesus. Virtually all scholars of antiquity accept that Jesus was a historical figure, although interpretations of a number of the events mentioned in the

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

s (most notably his

miracles A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

and

resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...

) vary and are a subject of debate. Standard historical criteria have aided in evaluating the historicity of the gospel narratives, and only two key events are subject to "almost universal assent", namely that Jesus was baptized by

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

and

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

by order of the Roman Prefect

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of ...

Historical existence

The

and the scholarly reconstructions of the life of Jesus are based primarily on critical analysis of the gospel texts and applying the standard criteria of historical-critical investigation, and

methodologies In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bri ...

for analyzing the reliability of

primary sources In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time unde ...

and other historical evidence. Virtually all scholars of antiquity agree that a historical human Jesus existed.

Bart Ehrman Bart Denton Ehrman (born 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of the New Testament, the historical Jesus, and the origins and development of early Christianity. He has written and edited 30 books, including t ...

(a secular agnostic) wrote: "He certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees, based on certain and clear evidence." B. Ehrman, 2011 ''Forged : writing in the name of God'' . p. 256-257''Jesus Now and Then'' by Richard A. Burridge and Graham Gould (1 April 2004) p. 34 Historian Michael Grant asserts that if conventional standards of historical textual criticism are applied to the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

, "we can no more reject Jesus' existence than we can reject the existence of a mass of pagan personages whose reality as historical figures is never questioned."Michael Grant (1977), ''Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels''

Christ myth theory

The

Christ myth theory The Christ myth theory, also known as the Jesus myth theory, Jesus mythicism, or the Jesus ahistoricity theory, is the view that "the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology", possessing no "substantial claims to historical fact". Alternative ...

, which developed within the scholarly research on the historical Jesus, is the view that "the story of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

is a piece of

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

", possessing no "substantial claims to historical fact". Alternatively, in terms given by

paraphrasing Earl Doherty, "the historical Jesus did not exist. Or if he did, he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity." Virtually all scholars of antiquity see the theories of his non-existence as effectively refuted, James D. G. Dunn (1974) ''Paul's understanding of the death of Jesus'' in ''Reconciliation and Hope. New Testament Essays on Atonement and Eschatology Presented to L.L. Morris on his 60th Birthday.'' Robert Banks, ed., Carlisle: The Paternoster Press, pp. 125–141, Citing G. A. Wells (''The Jesus of the Early Christians'' (1971)): "Perhaps we should also mention that at the other end of the spectrum Paul’s apparent lack of knowledge of the historical Jesus has been made the major plank in an attempt to revive the nevertheless thoroughly dead thesis that the Jesus of the Gospels was a mythical figure." An almost identical quotation is included in Dunn, James DG (1998) ''The Christ and the Spirit: Collected Essays of James D.G. Dunn, Volume 1'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., p. 191, and Sykes, S. (1991) ''Sacrifice and redemption: Durham essays in theology.'' Cambridge ngland Cambridge University Press. pp. 35–36. and in modern scholarship, the Christ myth theory is a fringe theory and finds virtually no support from scholars.

Sources

The New Testament represents sources that have become

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical examp ...

for Christianity, and there are many apocryphal texts that are examples of the wide variety of writings in the first centuries AD that are related to Jesus.

New Testament sources

Synoptic Gospels

The Synoptic Gospels are the primary sources of historical information about Jesus and of the religious movement he founded.Vermes, Geza. The authentic gospel of Jesus. London, Penguin Books. 2004. The

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...

, the Gospel of Mark, and the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-vol ...

recount the

life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

, ministry,

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

and

of a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

named Jesus who spoke

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

. There are different hypotheses regarding the origin of the texts because the gospels of the New Testament were written in Greek for Greek-speaking communities, and were later translated into Syriac, Latin, and Coptic. Scholars argue that the surviving Gospels show usage of earlier independent written and oral sources that extended back to the time of Jesus death, but did not survive. Historians often study the

historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles The historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles, the principal historical source for the Apostolic Age, is of interest for biblical scholars and historians of Early Christianity as part of the debate over the historicity of the Bible. Arc ...

when studying the reliability of the gospels, as the Book of Acts was seemingly written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke.

Pauline epistles

The seven Pauline epistles considered by scholarly consensus to be genuine are dated to between AD 50 and 60 (i.e., approximately twenty to thirty years after the generally accepted time period for the death of Jesus) and are the earliest surviving Christian texts that may include information about Jesus.Edward Adams in ''The Cambridge Companion to Jesus'' by Markus N. A. Bockmuehl (2001) pp. 94–96. Although Paul the Apostle provides relatively little biographical information about Jesus and states that he never knew Jesus personally, he does make it clear that he considers Jesus to have been a real person and a Jew.''Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making'' by James D. G. Dunn (2003) p. 143''Jesus Christ in History and Scripture'' by Edgar V. McKnight (1999) p. 38''Jesus according to Paul'' by Victor Paul Furnish (1994) pp. 19–20 Moreover, he interacted with eyewitnesses of Jesus since he wrote about meeting and knowing James, the brother of Jesus and Jesus's apostles

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

Non-Christian sources

Josephus and Tacitus

Non-Christian sources used to study and establish the historicity of Jesus include the first century Jewish historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

and Roman historian

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

. These sources are compared to Christian sources, such as the

Pauline letters The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest extan ...

and synoptic gospels, and are usually independent of each other; that is, the Jewish sources do not draw upon the Roman sources. Similarities and differences between these sources are used in the authentication process.''The Cambridge Companion to Jesus'' by Markus N. A. Bockmuehl (2001) pp. 121–125''Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey'' by Craig L. Blomberg (2009) pp. 431–436 In Books 18 and 20'' of Antiquities of the Jews'', written around AD 93 to 94, Josephus twice refers to the biblical Jesus. The general scholarly view holds that the longer passage, known as the

Testimonium Flavianum The extant manuscripts of the book ''Antiquities of the Jews'', written by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus around AD 93–94, contain two references to Jesus of Nazareth and one reference to John the Baptist. The first a ...

, most likely consists of an authentic nucleus that was subjected to later Christian interpolation or forgery. On the other hand, Josephus scholar

Louis H. Feldman Louis Harry Feldman (October 29, 1926 – March 25, 2017) was an American professor of classics and literature. He was the Abraham Wouk Family Professor of Classics and Literature at Yeshiva University, the institution at which he taught s ...

states that "few have doubted the genuineness" of the reference found in Antiquities 20, 9, 1 to "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James".''The new complete works of Josephus'' by Flavius Josephus, William Whiston, Paul L. Maier pp. 662–663 Tacitus, in his ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'' (written AD 115), book 15, chapter 44, describes

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...

scapegoating Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g. "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g., ...

of the Christians following the Fire of Rome. He writes that the founder of the sect was named Christus (the Christian title for Jesus); that he was executed under

; and that the movement, initially checked, broke out again in

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sou ...

and even in Rome itself. The scholarly consensus is that Tacitus' reference to the execution of

is both authentic and of historical value as an independent Roman source.''Mercer dictionary of the Bible'' by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard (2001) page 343''Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation'' by Helen K. Bond (2004) page xi

Mishnah

The

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

( 200) may refer to Jesus as it reflects the early Jewish traditions of portraying Jesus as a sorcerer or magician.In ''Jesus: The Complete Guide'' edited by J. L. Houlden (8 Feb 2006) pp. 693–694''Jesus in the Talmud'' by Peter Schäfer (24 Aug 2009) pp. 9, 141''Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey'' by Craig L. Blomberg (1 Aug 2009) p. 280 Other references to Jesus and his execution exist in the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, but they aim to discredit his actions, not deny his existence.''Jesus and the Politics of his Day'' by E. Bammel and C. F. D. Moule (1985) p. 393Kostenberger, Andreas J.; Kellum, L. Scott; Quarles, Charles L. (2009). ''The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament'' . pp. 107–109

Historical-critical research

Quest for the historical Jesus

Since the 18th century, three separate scholarly quests for the historical Jesus have taken place, each with distinct characteristics and based on different research criteria, which were often developed during that phase.Ben Witherington, ''The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth'' (8 May 1997) pp. 9–13''Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee'' by Mark Allan Powell (1 Jan 1999) pp. 19–23 Various criteria of authenticity are developed and employed to distinguish early oral elements from later literary elements in the Gospel stories, regarding those early elements as original elements of Jesus' teachings and biography. Currently modern scholarly research on the historical Jesus focuses on what is historically probable, or plausible about Jesus. Since the late 2000s, concerns have been growing about the usefulness of these criteria.

Historical Jesus

There is widespread disagreement among scholars on the historicity of specific episodes described in the biblical accounts of Jesus, the details of the life of Jesus mentioned in the gospel narratives, and on the meaning of his teachings.

Baptism and crucifixion

The only two events subject to "almost universal assent" are that Jesus was baptized by

and was crucified by order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate. Bautismo de Cristo por Navarrete el Mudo

According to New Testament scholar James Dunn, nearly all modern scholars consider the baptism of Jesus and his crucifixion to be historically certain. He states that these "two facts in the life of Jesus command almost universal assent" and "rank so high on the 'almost impossible to doubt or deny' scale of historical 'facts' they are obvious starting points for an attempt to clarify the what and why of Jesus' mission." John P. Meier views the crucifixion of Jesus as historical fact and states that based on the '' criterion of embarrassment'' Christians would not have invented the painful death of their leader.John P. Meier "How do we decide what comes from Jesus" in ''The Historical Jesus in Recent Research'' by James D. G. Dunn and Scot McKnight 2006 pp. 126–128 The criterion of embarrassment is also used to argue in favor of the historicity of the baptism of Jesus by

as it is a story which the

early Christian Church Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...

would have never wanted to invent.''Who Is Jesus?'' by John Dominic Crossan, Richard G. Watts 1999 pp. 31–32''Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching'' by Maurice Casey 2010 p. 35 Based on this criterion, given that John baptised for the remission of

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

s, and Jesus was viewed as without sin, the invention of this story would have served no purpose, and would have been an embarrassment given that it positioned John above Jesus.''Jesus as a figure in history: how modern historians view the man from Galilee'' by Mark Allan Powell 1998 p. 47 Amy-Jill Levine has summarized the situation by stating that "there is a consensus of sorts on the basic outline of Jesus' life" in that most scholars agree that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, and over a period of one to three years debated Jewish authorities on the subject of God, gathered followers, and was crucified by Roman prefect Pontius Pilate who officiated 26–36 AD.

General biographical elements

There is much in dispute as to his previous life, childhood, family and place of residence, of which the

canonical gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

are almost completely silent. Scholars attribute varying levels of certainty to other episodes.

E. P. Sanders Ed Parish Sanders (April 18, 1937 – November 21, 2022) was an American New Testament scholar and a principal proponent of the "New Perspective on Paul". He was a major scholar in the scholarship on the historical Jesus and contributed to the v ...

proposed eight "indisputable facts" about Jesus's life as a framework for biographical discussion:''Authenticating the Activities of Jesus'' by Bruce Chilton and Craig A. Evans 2002 pp. 3–7 * Jesus was a Galilean preacher. * His activities took place in Galilee and Judea. * He was baptized by John the Baptist. * He called disciples. * He had a controversy at the Temple. * Jesus was crucified by the Romans near Jerusalem. * After his death his disciples continued. * Some of his disciples were persecuted. Scholarly agreement on this extended list is not universal.''Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee'' by Mark Allan Powell (1 Nov 1998) p. 117 Elements whose historical authenticity are disputed include the two accounts of the

nativity of Jesus The nativity of Jesus, nativity of Christ, birth of Jesus or birth of Christ is described in the biblical gospels of Luke and Matthew. The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, his mother Mary was engaged to a man ...

; the

, such as turning water into wine,

feeding the multitude In Christianity, the feeding the multitude is two separate miracles of Jesus reported in the Gospels. The first miracle, the "Feeding of the 5,000", is the only miracle—aside from the resurrection—recorded in all four gospels ( Matthew 14:13 ...

, walking on water, and various cures, exorcisms, and resurrections; his own

; and certain details about his

.Stagg, Evelyn and Frank. ''Woman in the World of Jesus.'' Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978 Funk, Robert W. and the Jesus Seminar. ''The acts of Jesus: the search for the authentic deeds of Jesus.'' HarperSanFrancisco. 1998. "Empty Tomb, Appearances & Ascension" pp. 449–495.

Portraits of the historical Jesus

The portraits of Jesus constructed in the quests have often differed from each other, and from the image portrayed in the gospel accounts. There are overlapping attributes among the portraits, and while pairs of scholars may agree on some attributes, those same scholars may differ on other attributes, and there is no single portrait of the historical Jesus that satisfies most scholars. The mainstream profiles in the third quest may be grouped together based on their primary theme as ''apocalyptic prophet''; ''charismatic healer''; ''Cynic philosopher''; ''Jewish Messiah''; and ''prophet of social change'';''The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament'' by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 pp. 124–125''The Cambridge History of Christianity'', Volume 1 by Margaret M. Mitchell and Frances M. Young (20 February 2006) p. 23 but there is little scholarly agreement on a single portrait, or the methods needed to construct it.''Images of Christ'' (Academic Paperback) by Stanley E. Porter, Michael A. Hayes and David Tombs (19 December 2004)

T&T Clark T&T Clark is a British publishing firm which was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1821 and which now exists as an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. History The firm was founded in 1821 by Thomas Clark, then aged 22 and who had a Free Church ...

p. 74''The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth'' by Ben Witherington (8 May 1997) p. 197 There are, however, overlapping attributes among the portraits, and scholars who differ on some attributes may agree on others.''Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth'' by Michael James McClymond (22 March 2004) pp. 16–22

Notes

References

Sources

* * * Daniel Boyarin (2004). ''Border Lines. The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity''. University of Pennsylvania Press. * * * * Doherty, Earl (1999). ''The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? : Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus''. * Drews, Arthur & Burns, C. Deslisle (1998). ''The Christ Myth'' (Westminster College–Oxford Classics in the Study of Religion). * * * * * France, R.T. (2001). ''The Evidence for Jesus''. Hodder & Stoughton. * George, Augustin & Grelot, Pierre (Eds.) (1992). ''Introducción Crítica al Nuevo Testamento''. Herder. * Gowler, David B. (2007). ''What Are They Saying About the Historical Jesus?''. Paulist Press. * Grant, Michael, ''Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels'', Scribner, 1995. * * * * Meier, John P., '' A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus'', Anchor Bible Reference Library, Doubleday : (1991), v. 1, ''The Roots of the Problem and the Person'', : (1994), v. 2, ''Mentor, Message, and Miracles'', : (2001), v. 3, ''Companions and Competitors'', : (2009), v. 4, ''Law and Love'', * Mendenhall, George E. (2001). ''Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context''. * Messori, Vittorio (1977). ''Jesus hypotheses''. St Paul Publications. * New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version. (1991) New York, Oxford University Press. * * * * * Wells, George A. (1988). ''The Historical Evidence for Jesus''. Prometheus Books. * Wells, George A. (1998). ''The Jesus Myth''. * Wells, George A. (2004). ''Can We Trust the New Testament?: Thoughts on the Reliability of Early Christian Testimony''. * * Wilson, Ian (2000). ''Jesus: The Evidence'' (1st ed.). Regnery Publishing. {{DEFAULTSORT:Historicity of Jesus Christ myth theory

Historical controversies Historicity of the Bible

Historical existence

Christ myth theory

Sources

New Testament sources

Synoptic Gospels

Pauline epistles

Non-Christian sources

Josephus and Tacitus

Mishnah

Historical-critical research

Quest for the historical Jesus

Historical Jesus

Baptism and crucifixion

General biographical elements

Portraits of the historical Jesus

See also

Notes

References

Sources