ANCIENT NON-CHRISTIAN SOURCES
Cornelius Tacitus (55-120 AD),
"the greatest historian" of ancient Rome:
"Consequently, to get rid of
the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures
on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace.
Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty
during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius
Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment,
again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in
Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find
their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all
who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was
convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against
mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the
skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to
crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly
illumination, when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the
spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the
people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for
criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling
of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut
one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed."
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillas, chief
secretary of Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD):
"Because the Jews of Rome
caused continous disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, [Claudius]
expelled them from the city."
"After the great fire at Rome
[during Nero's reign] ... Punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a
sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief."
Flavius Josephus (37-97 AD), court
historian for Emperor Vespasian:
"At this time there was a wise
man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good and he was known to be
virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and other nations became his
disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had
become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he
had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive;
accordingly, he was perhaps the messiah concerning whom the prophets have
recounted wonders." (Arabic translation)
Julius Africanus, writing around 221
AD, found a reference in the writings of Thallus, who wrote a history of the
Eastern Mediterranean around 52 AD, which dealt with the darkness that
covered the land during Jesus' crucifixion:
"Thallus, in the third book of
his histories, explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the
sun--unreasonably, as it seems to me." [A solar eclipse could not take
place during a full moon, as was the case during Passover season.]
Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of
Bithynia in Asia Minor around 112 AD:
"[The Christians] were in the
habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in
alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a
solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or
adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be
called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and
then reassemble to partake of food--but food of an ordinary and innocent
kind." Pliny added that Christianity attracted persons of all societal
ranks, all ages, both sexes, and from both the city and the country. Late in
his letter to Emperor Trajan, Pliny refers to the teachings of Jesus and his
followers as excessive and contagious superstition.
Emperor Trajan, in reply to Pliny:
"The method you have pursued,
my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those denounced to you as Christians is
extremely proper. It is not possible to lay down any general rule which can be
applied as the fixed standard in all cases of this nature. No search should be
made for these people; when they are denounced and found guilty they must be
punished; with the restriction, however, that when the party denies himself to
be a Christian, and shall give proof that he is not (that is, by adoring our
gods) he shall be pardoned on the ground of repentance, even though he may have
formerly incurred suspicion. Informations without the accuser's name subscribed
must not be admitted in evidence against anyone, as it is introducing a very
dangerous precedent, and by no means agreeable to the spirit of the age."
Emporer Hadrian (117-138 AD), in a
letter to Minucius Fundanus, the Asian proconsul:
"I do not wish, therefore, that
the matter should be passed by without examination, so that these men may
neither be harassed, nor opportunity of malicious proceedings be offered to
informers. If, therefore, the provincials can clearly evince their charges
against the Christians, so as to answer before the tribunal, let them pursue
this course only, but not by mere petitions, and mere outcries against the
Christians. For it is far more proper, if anyone would bring an accusation,
that you should examine it." Hadrian further explained that if Christians
were found guilty they should be judged "according to the heinousness of
the crime." If the accusers were only slandering the believers, then those
who inaccurately made the charges were to be punished.
The Jewish Talmud, compiled between
70 and 200 AD:
"On the eve of the Passover
Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went
forth and cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised
sorcery and enticed Israel to apostacy. Anyone who can say anything in his
favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.' But since nothing was
brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover."
[Another early reference in the
Talmud speaks of five of Jesus' disciples and recounts their standing before
judges who make individual decisions about each one, deciding that they should
be executed. However, no actual deaths are recorded.]
Lucian, a second century Greek
satirist:
"The Christians, you know,
worship a man to this day--the distinguished personage who introduced their
novel rites, and was crucified on that account. ... You see, these misguided
creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all
time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which
are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original
lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted,
and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his
laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all
worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property." Lucian
also reported that the Christians had "sacred writings" which were
frequently read. When something affected them, "they spare no trouble, no
expense."
Mara Bar-Serapion, of Syria, writing
between 70 and 200 AD from prison to motivate his son to emulate wise teachers
of the past:
"What advantage did the
Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them
as a judgment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from
burying Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What
advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise king? It was just after
that that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men:
the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were overwhelmed by the sea; the
Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion. But
Socrates did not die for good; he lived on in the teaching of Plato. Pythagoras
did not die for good; he lived on in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise king
die for good; he lived on in the teaching which he had given."
The Gospel of Truth, probably by Valentius, around 135-160 AD:
"For when they had seen him and
had heard him, he granted them to taste him and to smell him and to touch the
beloved Son. When he had appeared instructing them about the Father. ... For he
came by means of fleshly appearance." Other passages affirm that the Son
of God came in the flesh and "the Word came into the midst. ... it became
a body."
"Jesus, was patient in
accepting sufferings. . . since he knows that his death is life for many. . . .
he was nailed to a tree; he published the edict of the Father on the cross. ...
He draws himself down to death through life. ... eternal clothes him. Having
stripped himself of the perishable rags, he put on imperishability, which no
one can possibly take away from him."
The Aprocryphon of John, probably by Saturninus, around 120-130 AD:
"It happened one day when John,
the brother of James,--who are the sons of Zebedee--went up and came to the
temple, that a Pharisee named Arimanius approached him and said to him, `Where
is your master whom you followed?' And he said to him, 'He has gone to the
place from which he came.' The Pharisee said to him, 'This Nazarene deceived
you with deception and filled your ears with lies and closed your hearts and
turned you from the traditions of your fathers.'"
The Gospel of Thomas, probably from 140-200 AD:
Contain many references to and
alleged quotations of Jesus.
The Treatise On Resurrection, by uncertain author of the late second century, to
Rheginos:
"The Lord ... existed in flesh
and ... revealed himself as Son of God ... Now the Son of God, Rheginos, was
Son of Man. He embraced them both, possessing the humanity and the divinity, so
that on the one hand he might vanquish death through his being Son of God, and
that on the other through the Son of Man the restoration to the Pleroma might
occur; because he was originally from above, a seed of the Truth, before this
structure of the cosmos had come into being."
"For we have known the Son of
Man, and we have believed that he rose from among the dead. This is he of whom
we say, 'He became the destruction of death, as he is a great one in whom they
believe.' Great are those who believe."
"The Savior swallowed up death.
... He transformed himself into an imperishable Aeon and raised himself up,
having swallowed the visible by the invisible, and he gave us the way of our
immortality."
"Do not think the resurrection
is an illusion. It is no illusion, but it is truth. Indeed, it is more fitting
to say that the world is an illusion, rather than the resurrection which has
come into being through our Lord the Savior, Jesus Christ."
". . . already you have the
resurrection ... why not consider yourself as risen and already brought to
this?" Rheginos was thus encouraged not to "continue as if you are to
die."
LOST WORKS QUOTED IN OTHER SOURCES
Acts of Pontius Pilate, reports sent from Pilate to Tiberius, referred to by
Justin Martyr (150 AD):
"And the expression, 'They
pierced my hands and my feet,' was used in reference to the nails of the cross
which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after he was crucified, they cast
lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And
that these things did happen you can ascertain the 'Acts' of Pontius
Pilate." Later Justin lists several healing miracles and asserts,
"And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius
Pilate."
Phlegon, born about 80 AD, as reported by Origen (185-254 AD),
mentioned that Jesus made certain predictions which had been fulfilled.
ANCIENT CHRISTIAN SOURCES
(extra-biblical)
Clement, elder of Rome, letter to
the Corinthian church (95 AD):
"The Apostles received the
Gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ was sent forth from God.
So then Christ is from God, and the Apostles are from Christ. Both therefore
came of the will of God in the appointed order. Having therefore received a
charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the Holy
Ghost, they went forth with the glad tidings that the kingdom of God should
come. So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their
firstfruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons
unto them that should believe."
Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, letter
to the Trallians (110-115 AD):
"Jesus Christ who was of the
race of David, who was the Son of Mary, who was truly born and ate and drank,
was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the
sight of those in heaven and on earth and those under the earth; who moreover
was truly raised from the dead, His Father having raised Him, who in the like
fashion will so raise us also who believe on Him."
Ignatius, letter to the Smyrneans
(110-115 AD):
"He is truly of the race of
David according to the flesh, but Son of God by the Divine will and power,
truly born of a virgin and baptised by John that all righteousness might be
fulfilled by Him, truly nailed up in the flesh for our sakes under Pontius
Pilate and Herod the tetrarch (of which fruit are we--that is, of his most
blessed passion); that He might set up an ensign unto all ages through His
resurrection."
"For I know and believe that He
was in the flesh even after the resurrection; and when He came to Peter and his
company, He said to them, 'Lay hold and handle me, and see that I am not a
demon without body.' And straightway they touched him, and they believed, being
joined unto His flesh and His blood. Wherefore also they despised death, nay
they were found superior to death. And after His resurrection He ate with them
and drank with them."
Ignatius, letter to the Magnesians
(110-115 AD):
"Be ye fully persuaded
concerning the birth and the passion and the resurrection, which took place in
the time of the governorship of Pontius Pilate; for these things were truly and
certainly done by Jesus Christ our hope."
Quadratus, to Emperor Hadrian about
125 AD:
"The deeds of our Saviour were
always before you, for they were true miracles; those that were healed, those
that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when
raised, but were always present. They remained living a long time, not only
whilst our Lord was on earth, but likewise when He had left the earth. So that
some of them have also lived to our own times."
(Pseudo-)Barnabas, written 130-138
AD:
"He must needs be manifested in
the flesh. ... He preached teaching Israel and performing so many wonders and
miracles, and He loved them exceedingly. ... He chose His own apostles who were
to proclaim His Gospel. ... But He Himself desired so to suffer; for it was
necessary for Him to suffer on a tree."
Justin Martyr, to Emperor Antoninus
Pius about 150 AD:
After referring to Jesus' birth of a
virgin in the town of Bethlehem, and that His physical line of descent came
through the tribe of Judah and the family of Jesse, Justin wrote, "Now
there is a village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem,
in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registers of
the taxing made under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judea."
"Accordingly, after He was
crucified, even all His acquaintances forsook Him, having denied Him; and
afterwards, when He had risen from the dead and appeared to them, and had
taught them to read the prophecies in which all these things were foretold as
coming to pass, and when they had seen Him ascending into heaven, and had
believed, and had received power sent thence by Him upon them, and went to
every race of men, they taught these things, and were called apostles."
Justin Martyr, in Dialogue with
Trypho, around 150 AD:
"For at the time of His birth,
Magi who came from Arabia worshipped Him, coming first to Herod, who then was
sovereign in your land."
"For when they crucified Him,
driving in the nails, they pierced His hands and feet; and those who crucified
Him parted His garments among themselves, each casting lots for what he chose
to have, and receiving according to the decision of the lot."
"Christ said amongst you that
He would give the sign of Jonah, exhorting you to repent of your wicked deeds
at least after He rose again from the dead ... yet you not only have not
repented, after you learned that He rose from the dead, but, as I said before,
you have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that
'a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver,
whom we crucified, but His disciples stole Him by night from the tomb, where He
was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that
He has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.'"
"For indeed the Lord remained
upon the tree almost until evening, and they buried Him at eventide; then on
the third day He rose again."
