The Jesus Proof

There are people out there who would deny evidence if it got up and slapped them in the face. The two most obvious examples of this are the Shakespeare deniers and the Jesus deniers. Now the Shakespeare deniers are so fixed in their views, that even with the evidence is handed to them on a platter, they still cling to their theories that he never existed.

The Traditional Depiction Of Jesus

However, many people also believe that the evidence for the existence of Jesus comes mainly from the accounts of his life in the Bible, many of which are second and third-hand. But in fact there is substantial archaeological and documentary proof of his existence.

• For instance the Roman senator and historian Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 120), explicitly mentions Jesus when discussing the life of the Roman Emperor Nero. In Annals: "[N]either human effort nor the emperor’s generosity nor the placating of the gods ended the scandalous belief that the fire had been ordered [by Nero]. Therefore, to put down the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits and punished in the most unusual ways those hated for their shameful acts… whom the crowd called 'Chrestians'. The founder of this name, Christus, had been executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate".

• The Dead Sea Scrolls, written at some point between 150 BC and AD 70, also apparently confirm the existence of the "Teacher of Righteousness" who was picked by God to reveal "the hidden things in which all Israel had gone astray". Although the teacher is not mentioned by name, many believe that the description matches that of Jesus.

• Flavius Josephus (37 AD - 100 AD), a Jewish historian, wrote the book of The Jewish Antiquities which mentioned Jesus when talking about the period of governance under Roman procurator Pontius Pilate. "About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And when, upon the accusation of the principal men among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease. He appeared to them spending a third day restored to life, for the prophets of God had foretold these things and a thousand other marvels about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared."

• He also writes of "the brother of Jesus, who  was called Christ, whose  name  was James. Jesus did have a-brother called James."

• The Roman satirist Lucian of Samosata wrote the Passing of Peregrinus: in it he states that "the Christians... worship a man to this day a distinguished personage who introduced a new cult, and was crucified on that account... you  see, these  misguided  creatures."

Historians Say Jesus Might Have Looked More Like This .....

• The Greek historian Thallus speaks about "a solar eclipse in Judea – some believe this is the eclipse when Christ was crucified." In fact the eclipse is not believed to have been a literal event by many scholars, but Thallus must have been aware of Christ to have written this account.

• Pliny the Younger (61 AD - 113 AD), and a friend of the historian Tacitus wrote in a letter about the Christians that they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ as to a god ... many interpret the comment as proof that he had been a real person.

• Saint Paul's (5 AD - 67 AD) epistles are the earliest known reference to Jesus.

• The Jewish text the Talmud contains references to Jesus.

• In 1980, an ossuary (a box which stored bones of the dead) was found, marked Jesus son of Joseph.

Even the critics add further near contemporary proof ..... Celsus was a Greek philosopher in the 2nd century. He wrote a damning tirade against Christ, saying he was in fact fathered by a Roman soldier called 'Pantera'. A tombstone of a Roman soldier bearing the name Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera was found in Bingerbrück, Germany, in 1859.The soldier had a career that suggests he was both Jewish and could have been in Galilee at the correct time.

This claim was repeated by some Jewish texts such as in the Talmud and in medieval Jewish writings where Jesus is referred to as “Yeshu ben Pantera”.

Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera Father of Yeshu?

    TIB(erius) IUL(ius) ABDES PANTERA                   Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera
    SIDONIA ANN(orum) LXII                                      from Sidon, aged 62 years
    STIPEN(diorum) XXXX MILES EXS(ignifer?)        served 40 years, former standard bearer (?)
    COH(orte) I SAGITTARIORUM                              of the First Cohort of Archers
    H(ic) S(itus) E(st)                                                    lies here

*‘Abdes’ (‘servant of God’) suggests a Jewish background

Now I admit, there is no photograph, or copy of Pontius Pilate's colonial memoires, but its still a lot more evidence than you might be aware of. Certainly it was more evidence than I was aware of .... you live and learn.