Historicity of Jesus

The historicity of Jesus is the scholarly question in Biblical criticism and early Christian history of whether Jesus historically existed or was a purely mythological figure. Scholarly discussions questioning the historical existence of Jesus have remained marginal within academic circles for over two hundred years, and the question of historicity was generally settled in scholarship in the early 20th century. Modern scholars agree that a Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth existed in the Herodian Kingdom of Judea and the subsequent Herodian tetrarchy in the 1st century AD, upon whose life and teachings Christianity was later constructed. However scholars distinguish between the 'Christ of faith' as presented in the New Testament and the subsequent Christian theology and a minimal 'Jesus of history', of whom almost nothing can be known.

Beyond this, there is no scholarly consensus concerning most elements of Jesus's life as described in the Bible, and only two key events of the biblical story of Jesus's life are widely accepted as historical, based on the criterion of embarrassment, namely his baptism by John the Baptist and his crucifixion by the order of Pontius Pilate. Furthermore, the historicity of supernatural elements like his purported miracles and resurrection are deemed to be solely a matter of 'faith' or of 'theology', or lack thereof.

The Christ myth theory, developed in 19th century scholarship and gaining popular attraction since the turn of the 20th century, is the view that Jesus is purely a mythological figure and that Christianity began with belief in such a figure. Proponents use a three-fold argument developed in the 19th century: that the New Testament has no historical value with respect to Jesus's existence, that there are no non-Christian references to Jesus from the first century, and that Christianity had pagan or mythical roots. The idea that Jesus was a purely mythical figure has a fringe status in scholarly circles and has no support in critical studies, with most such theories going without recognition or serious engagement.

Academic efforts in biblical studies to determine facts of Jesus's life are part of the " quest for the historical Jesus", and several criteria of authenticity are used in evaluating the authenticity of elements of the Gospel-story. The criterion of multiple attestation is used to argue that attestation by multiple independent sources confirms his existence. There are at least fourteen independent sources for the historicity of Jesus from multiple authors within a century of the crucifixion of Jesus such as the letters of Paul (contemporary of Jesus who personally knew eyewitnesses),''Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey'' by Craig L. Blomberg 2009 Baker Academic pp. 441-442 the gospels, and non-Christian sources such as Josephus (Jewish historian and commander in Galilee) and Tacitus (Roman historian and Senator).

Modern scholarship

A historical Jesus existed

Scholars regard the question of historicity as generally settled in the early 20th century, and scholars agree that a Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth existed in the Herodian Kingdom of Judea in the 1st century AD. 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'' (1997) pp. 9–13''Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee'' by Mark Allan Powell (1999) pp. 19–23 Modern scholarly research on the historical Jesus focuses on what is historically probable or plausible about Jesus.

There is no scholarly consensus concerning most elements of Jesus's life as described in the Christian and non-Christian sources. Reconstructions of the "historical Jesus" are broadly debated for their reliability, but two events of this historical Jesus are subject to "almost universal assent," namely that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate (who officiated 26–36 AD). Lightfoot Professor of Divinity James Dunn stated that these two facts "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."

Based on the criterion of embarrassment, scholars argue that the early Christian Church 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,''Who Is Jesus?'' by John Dominic Crossan, Richard G. Watts 1999 pp. 31–32 given that John baptised for the remission of sins, although Jesus was viewed as without sin and this 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

In his popular book '' Did Jesus Exist?'' (2012), American New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman explained:

A distinction is made between 'the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith', and the historicity of the supernatural elements of the latter narrative, including his purported miracles or resurrection, are outside the reach of the historical methods.

Christ myth theory

The Christ myth theory, which developed within scholarly research in the 19th century, is, in Geoffrey W. Bromiley's words, the view that "the story of Jesus is a piece of mythology" possessing no "substantial claims to historical fact". Bart Ehrman summarises Earl Doherty's view as being "that no historical Jesus worthy of the name existed, that Christianity began with a belief in a spiritual, mythical figure, that the Gospels are essentially allegory and fiction, and that no single identifiable person lay at the root of the Galilean preaching tradition".

Many mythicism proponents use a three-fold argument developed in the 19th century: that the New Testament has no historical value with respect to Jesus's existence, that there are no non-Christian references to Jesus from the first century, and that Christianity had pagan or mythical roots.

Mythicism has not gained traction among experts. The Christ myth theory has been on the fringes of scholarship for over two centuries, with virtually no support from scholars. Virtually all scholars dismiss theories of Jesus's non-existence or regard them as refuted.

Mythicism is criticized on numerous grounds such as commonly being advocated by non-experts or poor scholarship, being ideologically driven, its reliance on arguments from silence, lacking positive evidence, the dismissal or distortion of sources, questionable or outdated methodologies, either no explanation or wild explanations of origins of Christian belief and early churches, and outdated comparisons with mythology.

David Gullotta states that modern interest in mythicism has been "amplified by internet conspiracy culture, pseudoscience, and media sensationalism". Justin Meggitt, Professor of the Study of Religion at Cambridge University, partially attributed the recent cultural prominence of mythicism to the popularisation of a new wave of scholarship promoting the idea. Maurice Casey and Ehrman note that many mythicism proponents are either atheists or agnostics.

Sources for the historicity of Jesus

Methodological considerations

Multiple attestation

The criterion of multiple attestation looks at the number of early sources that mention Jesus and evaluates the reliability of those sources. 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 twelve independent sources from five authors in the first century from supporters and two independent sources from two authors from non-supporters, most of which represents sources that have become canonical for Christianity. Other independent sources did not survive.

There are Christian sources on the person of Jesus (the letters of Paul and the Gospels), and there are also Jewish and Roman sources (e.g. Josephus, Suetonius, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger) that mention Jesus. From Paul, Josephus, and Tacitus alone, the existence of Jesus along with the general time and place of his activity can be confirmed.

There are also apocryphal texts that are examples of the wide variety of writings from early Christianity. These are additional independent sources on Jesus's existence, and they corroborate details found in other surviving sources as a "bedrock of historical tradition". Contemporary non-Christian sources in the first and second century never deny the existence of Jesus, and there is also no indication that Pagan or Jewish writers in antiquity who opposed Christianity questioned the existence of Jesus.''Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi'' by Karl Rahner 2004 pp. 730–731Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence''. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 15 Taking into consideration that sources on other first-century individuals from Galilee were also written by either supporters or enemies as well, the sources on Jesus cannot be dismissed.

Early dates of the Christian oral traditions and Paul

Biblical scholarship assumes that the gospel-stories are based on oral traditions and memories of Jesus. These traditions precede the surviving gospels by decades, going back to the time of Jesus and the time of Paul's persecution of the early Christian Jews, prior to his conversion.

According to British biblical scholar and Anglican priest Christopher M. Tuckett, most available sources are collections of early oral traditions about Jesus. He states that the historical value of traditions are not necessarily correlated with the later dates of composition of writings since even later sources can contain early tradition material. Theissen and Merz state that these traditions can be dated back well before the composition of the synoptic gospels, that such traditions show local familiarity of the region, and that such traditions were explicitly called "memory", indicating biographical elements that included historical references such as notable people from his era. According to Maurice Casey, some sources, such as parts of the Gospel of Mark, are translations of early Aramaic sources that indicate proximity with eyewitness testimony.

Paul's letters (generally dated to circa 48–62 AD) are the earliest surviving sources on Jesus. Paul adds autobiographical details such as knowing and interacting with eyewitnesses of Jesus, including his most intimate disciples (Peter and John) and family members (his brother James) starting around 36 AD, within a few years of the crucifixion (30 or 33 AD). Paul was a contemporary of Jesus and a fairly full outline of the life of Jesus can be found throughout his letters.''Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey'' by Craig L. Blomberg 2009 Baker Academic pp. 441-442

Reliability of sources

Since the third quest for the historical Jesus, the four gospels and noncanonical texts have been viewed as more useful sources to reconstruct the life of Jesus compared to the previous quests.

German historian of religion Hans-Joachim Schoeps argued that the Gospels are unsatisfactory as they were not written as detailed historical biographies, that the non-Christian sources provide no new information, and that the sources hopelessly intertwine history and legend, but present the views and beliefs of the early disciples and the Christian community. However, evangelical New Testament scholars like Craig Blomberg argue that the source material on Jesus correlates significantly with historical data.

Christian origins scholar Craig A. Evans argued that there are also archeological finds that corroborate aspects of the time of Jesus mentioned in the surviving sources, such as context from Nazareth, the Caiaphas ossuary, numerous synagogue buildings, and Jehohanan, a crucified victim who had a Jewish burial after execution. Written sources and archeologist Ken Dark's excavations on Nazareth correlate with Jesus' existence, Joseph and Jesus' occupation as craftworkers, presence of literacy, existence of synagogues, Gospel accounts relating to Nazareth, and other Roman period sources on Nazareth.

Other historical persons in first-century AD sources

Historiographical approaches associated with the study of the poor in the past, such as microhistory, can help assess what type of sources can be reasonably expected in the historical record for individuals like Jesus. For instance, Justin Meggitt argues that since most people in antiquity left no sign of their existence, especially the poor, it is unreasonable to expect non-Christian sources to corroborate the specific existence of someone with Jesus's socio-economic status. Ehrman argues that the historical record for the first century was so lacking that no contemporary eyewitness reports for prominent individuals such as Pontius Pilate or Josephus survive. Theissen and Merz observe that even if ancient sources were to be silent on any individual, they would not impact their historicity since there are numerous instances of people whose existence is never doubted and yet were not mentioned by contemporary authors. For instance, Paul is not mentioned by Josephus or non-Christian sources; John the Baptist is not mentioned by Paul, Philo, or rabbinic writings; Rabbi Hillel is not mentioned by Josephus - despite him being a Pharisee; Bar Kochba, a leader of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, is not mentioned by Dio Cassius in his account of the revolt.

With at least 14 sources by believers and nonbelievers within a century of the crucifixion, there is more evidence available for Jesus than for other notable people from 1st-century Galilee. Classicist-numismatist Michael Grant argued that when the New Testament is analyzed with the same criteria used by historians on ancient writings that contain historical material, Jesus's existence cannot be denied any more than secular figures whose existence is never questioned.

New Testament sources

Pauline epistles

The seven Pauline epistles considered by scholarly consensus to be genuine were written in a span of a decade starting in the late 40s (i.e., approximately 20 to 30 years after the generally accepted time period of Jesus's death) and are the earliest surviving texts that include any information about Jesus. However, Paul started interacting with eyewitnesses of Jesus in the mid-30s AD, within a few years of the crucifixion, since he wrote about meeting and knowing James, the brother of Jesus and Jesus's intimate disciples Peterand John. From Paul's writings alone, a fairly full outline of the life of Jesus can be found: his descent from Abraham and David, his upbringing in the Jewish Law, gathering together disciples (including Cephas (Peter) and John), having a brother named James, living an exemplary life, the Last Supper and the betrayal, numerous details surrounding his death and resurrection (e.g. crucifixion, Jewish involvement in putting him to death, burial, resurrection; seen by Peter, James, the twelve and others) along with numerous quotations referring to notable teachings and events found in the Gospels. Although Paul the Apostle provides relatively little biographical information about Jesus compared to the Gospels, he was a contemporary of Jesus and provides numerous substantial biographical elements and he makes it clear that he considers Jesus to have been a real person who was "born of a woman" 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 Additionally, there are independent sources (Mark, John, Paul, Josephus) affirming that Jesus had brothers. The particular term used by Paul to refer to Jesus being 'born of a woman' also relates to human births in other ancient literature such as Plato’s ''Republic'' and Josephus’ ''Antiquities''.

Craig A. Evans and Ehrman argue that Paul's letters are among the earliest sources that provide a direct link to people who lived with and knew Jesus since Paul was personally acquainted with Peter and John, two of Jesus's original disciples, and James, the brother of Jesus. Paul's first meeting with Peter and James was around 36 AD. Paul is the earliest surviving source to document Jesus' death by crucifixion and his conversion occurred two years after this event. Paul mentioned details in his letters such as that Jesus was a Jew, born of the line of David, and had biological brothers. According to Simon Gathercole, Paul's description of Jesus's life on Earth, his personality, and family tend to establish that Paul regarded Jesus as a natural person, rather than an allegorical figure.

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 Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke recount the life, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of a Jew named Jesus who spoke Aramaic. 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's death, but did not survive. Aramaic sources have been detected in Mark's Gospel, which could indicate use of early or even eyewitness testimony when it was being written. Historians often study the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles when studying the reliability of the gospels, as the Book of Acts was seemingly written by the same author as the Gospel of Luke.

Among contemporary scholars, there is consensus that the gospels are a type of ancient biography.

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 and Roman historian Tacitus. These sources are compared to Christian sources, such as the Pauline letters and synoptic gospels, and are usually independent of each other. Similarities and differences between these sources are used in the authentication process.''Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction and Survey'' by Craig L. Blomberg (2009) pp. 431–436 From these two independent sources alone, certain facts about Jesus can be adduced: that he existed, his personal name was Jesus, he was called a messiah, he had a brother named James, he won over Jews and gentiles, Jewish leaders had unfavorable opinions of him, Pontius Pilate decided his execution, he was executed by crucifixion, and he was executed during Pilate's governorship. Josephus and Tacitus agree on four sequential points: a movement was started by Jesus, he was executed by Pontius Pilate, his movement continued after his death, and that a group of "Christians" still existed; analogous to common knowledge of founders and their followers like Plato and Platonists.

Josephus was personally involved in Galilee, where Jesus ministered and people who knew him resided, when he was the commander of Jewish forces during the revolt against Roman occupation and trained 65,000-100,000 fighters in the region. He even stationed in Sepphoris for a time, which was 3 miles away from Jesus's hometown of Nazareth and kept contact with people in the trials of Jesus and his brother James such as the Sanhedrin and Ananus II. Jesus is referenced by Josephus twice, once in Book 18 and once in Book 20'' of Antiquities of the Jews'', written around 93 to 94 AD. On the first reference, the general scholarly view holds that the longer passage, known as the '' Testimonium Flavianum'', in Book 18 most likely consists of an authentic nucleus that was subjected to later Christian interpolation or forgery. On the second reference, Josephus scholar Louis H. Feldman 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'' (written ), book 15, chapter 44, P. E. Easterling, E. J. Kenney (general editors), ''The Cambridge History of Latin Literature'', p. 892 (Cambridge University Press, 1982, reprinted 1996) describes Nero's scapegoating of the Christians following the Great Fire of Rome. He writes that the founder of the sect was named Christus (the Christian title for Jesus); that he was executed under Pontius Pilate; and that the movement, initially checked, broke out again in Judea and even in Rome itself. The scholarly consensus is that Tacitus' reference to the execution of Jesus by Pilate 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 ( 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, 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

Mara bar Serapion

Mara bar Serapion was a Stoic philosopher from the Roman province of Syria. In a letter he wrote to his son Serapion he refers to the unjust treatment of "three wise men": the murder of Socrates, the burning of Pythagoras, and the execution of "the wise king" of the Jews.''Evidence of Greek Philosophical Concepts in the Writings of Ephrem the Syrian'' by Ute Possekel 1999 pages 29-30 Most scholars date it to shortly after 73 AD during the first century.Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). ''Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence''. Eerdmans Publishing. pages 53-56

See also

* Chronology of Jesus
* Denial of the virgin birth of Jesus
* Historical background of the New Testament
* Historicity of Muhammad
* Historicity of the Bible
* Jesus and history (disambiguation)
* Jesus in comparative mythology
* Jesus in the Talmud
* Jesus Seminar
* Mara bar Serapion on Jesus
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* Suetonius on Christians

Notes

References

Sources

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* Boyarin, Daniel (2004). ''Border Lines. The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity''. University of Pennsylvania Press.
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* 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).
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* 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.
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* 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'',
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* 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.

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* 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''.
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* Wilson, Ian (2000). ''Jesus: The Evidence'' (1st ed.). Regnery Publishing.

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External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Historicity of Jesus


Christ myth theory
Jesus
Historical controversies
Historicity of the Bible