CHRISTIAN EVIDENCES (Part 2)
By: Cougan Collins
lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net
Notice the following non-believing early Gentile writers who help prove that Jesus was a real person that existed in the first century:
1. Thallus writing around A.D. 52 argued that the abnormal darkness alleged to have accompanied the death of Christ was a purely natural phenomenon and coincidence (a fragment preserved by Julius Africanus).
Notice, Thallus did not deny Jesus’ existence or that He was crucified; he was simply trying to explain away the darkness that happened that day. In doing so, he shows that it must have been common knowledge that Jesus existed and the darkness happened that day just as recorded in Mark 15:33.
2.
Cornelius
Tacitus was the governor of
This bit of history proves several things. 1. Christianity was prevalent during the 1st century just as the Bible says it was. 2. It proves that Jesus is the source of Christianity. 3. It gives us a time frame of when Jesus was put to death by Pontius Pilate because Jesus was put to death in the reign of Tiberius who reigned from A.D. 14 to A.D. 37. 4. It adds additional proof that Jesus was real and was crucified by the order of Pilate (Mt. 27).
3.
Pliny the
younger writing around A.D. 112 wrote a letter to the Emperor Tragan telling him information he had extracted from
Christians by torture. “They were in the
habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light when the sang an anthem to Christ as God, and bound
themselves by a solemn oath not to commit any wicked deeds.”
This shows how Christians came together and how they regarded Jesus as God.
4. Suetonius writing around A.D.
120 wrote about the life of Claudius and how he expelled all
the Jews from
Presumably, since so many Jews had become Christians,
Claudius thought all Jews were Christians. The Bible agrees with the history
recorded by Suetonius (Acts 18:1-2).
5. Celsus, a pagan philosopher of the second century, produced the oldest extant literary attack against Christianity. His True Discourse (A.D. 178) was a bitter assault on Christ. Celsus argued that Jesus was born in low circumstances, being the illegitimate son of a soldier named Panthera. As he grew, He announced Himself to be God, deceiving many. Celsus charged that Christ’s own people killed Him and that His resurrection was a deception. But Celsus never questioned the historicity of Jesus. (Wayne Jackson)
6. Lucian
of Samosata (A.D. 115-200) was
called “the Voltaire of Grecian literature.” He wrote against
Christianity more with patronizing contempt than volatile hostility. He said
Christians worshipped the well-known “sophist” who was crucified in
Be sure to read next week’s article, as we examine more external evidence for Jesus’ existence from history. Feel free to join us for worship at the Lone Grove Church of Christ.