Roman Elites Who Acknowledged Reality of Christ

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Three Roman society elites – a Roman Senator and Consul; an imperial archive custodian turned Roman historian; a famous comedian – all have one thing in common. Each ridiculed the crucified Jewish Christ and in doing so confirmed his historical existence.

A prominent Roman political figure, Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (56-120 AD), served as a Roman Senator, a Consul, and a provincial governor.^[1] Highly esteemed in Roman society was his position as a Senator; moreover, he was voted as a Consul, a dual leader of the Roman Senate.^[2]

As a Consul, he was eligible and believed to have served as a provincial governor though he gained more fame for his historical work, Annales. In it, he inadvertently made a defense of Christians.

Tacitus called out Nero for falsely blaming the Christians for burning Rome as a means to cover up his own duplicity. Though far from a sympathetic manner, Tacitus was obligated to explain the identity of the Christians:

“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.”^[3]

Christus is Latin for Christ as well as the Greek word Christos, both meaning “Messiah.”^[4] Some skeptics suggest that since the name of Jesus was not actually mentioned, there is no proof Christus refers to Jesus.^[5]

Skeptic’s claim of omission presents a dilemma that can be answered with simple logic. What are the chances this Christus could be anyone else in Judea called the Messiah who suffered the extreme penalty at the hands of Procurator “Pontius Pilatus” spawning a new belief by Christians?

Suetonius (circa 71-135 AD), another Roman historian, was a close friend with Roman Consul Pliny the Younger, who was also a lawyer and author. Pliny considered Suetonius as a scholar of the highest integrity.

Friendship with Pliny the Younger opened the door to Suetonius for extraordinary opportunities. Suetonius had full access to all of Rome’s libraries; was custodian of the archives of imperial letters written by previous Emperors; and had the responsibility for all imperial correspondence for Emperor Hadrian.^[6]

Known for his historical work, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, written less than 100 years after the crucifixion, it covered he reigns of the first twelve Roman Emperors from Julius Caesar to Domitian. Attention is drawn to a quote from The Life of Claudius placing blame on “Chrestus” as the source of the Jews causing trouble in Rome:

“Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome.”^[7]

New Testament Book of Acts 18:2 corroborates the statement in The Life of Claudius. The reference says, “… Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.”^[8]

Critics again do not dispute the slightly different spelling of “Christus.” Instead, the same argument used against the comment by Tacitus saying that since “Jesus” is not mentioned specifically by name, there is no proof that Chrestus is a historical reference to Jesus of Nazareth.

Suetonius made a similar reference to The Life of Claudius when he wrote The Life of Nero. In it, he defined Christians as a class of men motivated by their new Christian teachings deemed to be a “mischievous superstition,” the same words used by Tacitus to describe Christian beliefs.

“Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition.”^[9]

New Christian beliefs were indeed causing problems for Roman rulers. Among them, the Sanhedrin had filed formal charges with Roman Procurator Festus against the Apostle Paul whereupon Paul was discovered to be a Roman citizen who appealed to Caesar and was then imprisonment in Rome.

Another incident dragged in Rome when an illegal execution was reported to Roman Procurator Albinus. According to Josephus, the provocative stoning deaths of Jesus’ brother James and his companions were ordered by the Sanhedrin Chief Priest.

On a much lighter note, newsworthy personalities of today – gladly or not – know they are in the national discourse when they become the subject of a Saturday Night Live satirical skit. The humor of SNL is based on satire of real high-profile current events with the assumption that their public TV audience is aware of the subject matter.

Lucian, a Greek satirist (circa 115-200 AD), who authored more than 70 works, is considered to be among the greatest of Roman era satirists. As a celebrity, he toured and presented his shows throughout the regions of Greece, Italy and Gaul (France and surrounding areas).^[10]

Among Lucian’s works is The Death of Peregrine, a satire about the factual events of a man, Peregrinus Proteus, who cremated himself at the Greek Olympics in 165 AD. Peregrine, at one point in the satire, encountered some Christians of Palestine:

“It was now that he came across the priests and scribes of the 11 Christians, in Palestine, and picked up their queer creed…. 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.”^[11]

Lucian’s satire literally played off the actual Gospel’s message little more than a century after the crucifixion of Jesus. At the risk of his reputation as a famous satirist, he assumed his audiences in the late 100s were aware of the fact that Jesus lived; was a Jewish lawgiver who taught the gift of eternal life; and was crucified for his new teachings.

Strength of the evidence from these three sources of antiquity that Jesus is a real historical figure comes in part from their close proximity in history to Judea governed by Procurator Pilate. None of them had favorable views of the teachings of the founder of Christianity – Tacitus and Suetonius viewed it as a “mischievous superstition” and Lucian made fun of its “queer creed.”

Are the historical references by Tacitus, Suetonius and Lucian to the historic existence of Jesus of Nazareth fact or baseless?

Updated October 18, 2023.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] “Tacitus.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2014. “Gaius Cornelius Tacitus.” UNRV History |The Roman Empire. <http://www.unrv.com/bio/tacitus.php> “Tacitus.” Livius.org. Ed. Jona Lendering. 2019. <https://www.livius.org/sources/content/tacitus> “Tacitus.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2023.<https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tacitus-Roman-historian>
[2] Livius.org. Ed. Jona Lendering. 2019. <http://www.livius.org/cn-cs/consul/consul.html> Roman Consuls.” UNRV History |The Roman Empire. <http://www.unrv.com/government/consuls.php>
[3] Tacitus, Gaius Cornelius. The Annals. 109 AD. Trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb. Internet Classic Archive. 2009. Book XV. <http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.html>
[4] “Christus.” Latin Dictionary. 2008. Latin-Dictionary.org. <http://www.latin-dictionary.net> Strong, James, LL.D., S.T.D. “christos <5547>” (Greek). Lexicon-Concordance Online Bible. <http://lexiconcordance.com>
[5] Murdock, D.M. aka S., Acharya. “Pliny, Tacitus and Suetonius: No Proof of Jesus.” Truth Be Known. 2017. <http://www.truthbeknown.com/suetoniuschresto.htmlrel=”nofollow”>
[6] “Suetonius.” Livius.org. Ed. Jona Lendering. 2019. <http://www.livius.org/su-sz/suetonius/suetonius.html> “Pliny the Younger.” TheFamousPeople. n.d. <https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/pliny-the-younger-6380.php>
[7] Suetonius (C. Suetonius Tranquillus or C. Tranquillus Suetonius). The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Book VI “Nero.” #16. University of Chicago|Bill Thayer. <http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/home.html>
[8] New American Standard Bible translation
[9] Suetonius.The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Book V “Claudius.”
[10] Pearse, Roger, ed. “Lucian of Samosata : Introduction and Manuscripts.” The Tertullian Project. <http://www.tertullian.org/rpearse/lucian/lucian_intro.htm> “Lucian” and “Peregrinus Proteus.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2017.<https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucian>. “The Lucian of Samosata Project.” LucianOfSamosata.info. <http://lucianofsamosata.info/#sthash.lMVtk483.dpbs>
[11] Lucian of Samosata. “The Death of Peregrine.” The Works of Lucian of Samosata. Volume IV. Internet Sacred Text Archive. <http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl4/wAXl420.htm>

Josephus – Pharisee Turned Roman Jewish Historian

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Josephus – Pharisee Turned Roman Jewish Historian

Perhaps the most famous secular source outside the Bible who twice made reference to Jesus as a real historical figure was a Jewish Pharisee turned Roman citizen and historian. Born in 37 AD as Joseph son of High Priest Matthias is better known by his Roman name Flavius Josephus.

Born during the first year of Caligula’s (Caius) reign meant Josephus grew up during the era of Jesus’ disciples, the beginning of Christianity.^[1]

Josephus was appointed by the Sanhedrin to be the governor of Galilee and served as its military General commanding over 100,000 men. As a result of Jewish political treachery on multiple fronts, it led to his eventual defeat and capture by Roman Legion commander Vespasian.

Eventually befriending his Roman captor, Josephus told Vespasian he would one day become Emperor of Rome, a concept that did not seem possible at the time. Vespasian did indeed become Emperor of Rome within two years.

As Emperor, Vespasian granted Josephus Roman citizenship and was then employed by the Roman government as a Jewish historian.^[2] His responsibility as a historian was to cover the historical account of the Jews with a focus on Greek influences.^[3]

While Josephus had enemies among both the Jewish and Roman populations, he was trusted by the house of Vespasian. He eventually went on to serve both of Vespasian’s sons, Titus and Domitian, each of whom also ruled as Roman Emperors.

The Antiquity of the Jews consisting of 20 books written by Josephus is considered by some to be one of the greatest works of antiquity. It chronicles Hebrew history from creation of the earth to the era of Roman Emperor Nero and Procurator Florus.

Previously Josephus penned The Jewish Wars consisting of seven books chronicling his unique experiences and insights, both from the perspective as a Jewish General and as an eyewitness from a Roman military perspective to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Two other works by him included Against Apion and his autobiography, The Life of Josephus.

Today, in-spite-of critics charging that he embellished some of the accounts, Josephus’ works are widely accepted to be authentic, factual Jewish historical accounts.^[3] That is, except for one particular section making reference to Jesus by name, commonly referred to by scholars as the Testimonium Flavianum.^[4]

Conspiracy theorists allege that Christian scribes intentionally manipulated the handwritten texts of the Testimonium where 133 copies are still in existence today, in part or in whole, dating back to 324 AD.^[5] Quoted from Antiquities is the Testimonium with the most commonly alleged interpolations appearing in italics:^[6]

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure: he drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles also: this was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first, did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these, and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And still the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”^[7]

One undisputed key phrase is “Jesus, a wise man” whereas the phrase “this was the Christ” is disputed. Taking out the disputed phrases still leaves in place the portions of Josephus’ account that says a wise man named Jesus drew many followers including Gentiles, known as Christians, and he was crucified by order of Pilate.

A curious fact, typically unmentioned by Christian conspiracy theorists, is that Josephus made another reference to Jesus. Typically not disputed, the historian wrote in a second reference of Antiquities that Jesus “who was called Christ”:

“…Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions.] And when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned…”^[8]

Undisputed perhaps for good cause – too much specific historical detail to explain away. A highly charged political issue involving a King, a Roman Procurator, an illegal Sanhedrin-ordered execution, a formal Jewish complaint to Rome and the forced removal of the High Priest would be very difficult to make a reasonable claim of interpolation.

Two secular references are made by Josephus to a historical figure named Jesus, the “Christ,” the Greek word for “Messiah,” but only one is disputed by critics. How likely is it that one is an interpolation while the other is not?

Update October 17, 2023.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] “Flavius Josephus,” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com> “Flavius Josephus.” Encyclopædia Britannica. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com> “Josephus.” Livius.org. Ed. Jona Lendering. 2016. <http://www.livius.org/person/augustus> White, L. Michael. “Josephus, Our Primary Source.” PBS|Frontline. Apr. 1998. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/josephus.html> Josephus, Flavius. The Complete Works of Josephus. image. 1850. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false> Josephus, Flavius. The Life of Flavius Josephus. The Complete Works of Josephus. Trans. and Commentary by William Whitson. 1-2. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false> Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Book XVIII, Chapter VI.3; Book XIX, Chapter VI.4; Book XX, Chapter VIII.7.
[2] Josephus. The Life of Flavius Josephus. Suetonius (C. Suetonius Tranquillus or C. Tranquillus Suetonius). The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Book VIII, “Tacitus,” #6. University of Chicago|Bill Thayer. <http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/home.html>
[3] Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews. Book XX, Chapter XI.2. n.d <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false> Carrier, Richard C. “Herod the Procurator: Was Herod the Great a Roman Governor of Syria?” 2011. p 7-8. <https://www.academia.edu/1203990/Herod_the_Procurator_Was_Herod_the_Great_a_Roman_Governor_of_Syria?email_work_card=view-paper>
[4] “Josephus, Flavius.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. “Flavius Josephus.” Encyclopædia Britannica.
[5] Goldberg, G. J. “Josephus’ Account of Jesus – The Testimonium Flavianum”. Josephus.org. <http://www.josephus.org/testimonium.htm>
[6] Van Voorst, Robert E. Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Pages 93-96. Google Books. <http://books.google.com/books?id=lwzliMSRGGkC> Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 11. 2nd edition. Gale Virtual Reference Library. “Jesus.” Pages: 246-251. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/infomark.do?action=interpret&eisbn=9780028660974&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=imcpl1111&type=aboutBook&version=1.0&authCount=1&u=imcpl1111>
[7] Westcott, Brooke F. & Hort, John A. The New Testament in the Original Greek – Introduction | Appendix. 1907. “Introduction , #7, #10, #5, #6-11, #240, #313, #363. Google Book. <http://books.google.com/books?id=0xtVAAAAMAAJ&pg=ACfU3U33CMW3331Vv20NgGvjyOs52I1mlA&vq=%22will+not+be+out+of+place+to+add+here+a+distinct+expression+of+our+belief+that+even+among+the+numerous%22&source=gbs_quotes_r&cad=2_0#v=onepage&q=criticism%20is%20still%20necessary%20&f=false>
[8] Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. Book XX, Chapter IX.1.
[9] CR Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. Book XX, Chapter IX.4.

Jesus of Nazareth – a Real Historical Figure?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Jesus of Nazareth – a Real Historical Figure?

Media today widely treats Jesus of Nazareth as a real historical figure. Evidence can be seen in many forms such as via NBC, National Geographic and The History Channel.

Premises of these media presentations is based on the factualness of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem during the end of King Herod’s reign; his Roman crucifixion at Jerusalem, and the claims of his Resurrection that spawned a new religion.

The History Channel mini-series The Bible in 2013 became the adaption into the 2014 major motion picture release of Son of God. The next year this was followed with the 2015 NBC mini-series A.D.: Beyond the Bible picking up where the Gospels ended with the crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.^[1]

National Geographic in 2015 published the hard cover book Jesus: An Illustrated Life where its website promo begins by saying “Two thousand years after his death, Jesus of Nazareth remains one of history’s most influential and fascinating figures.” The 2016 spin-off magazine special edition entitled The Story of Jesus states “Jesus of Nazareth remains one of history’s most influential and fascinating figures.”^[2]

New York Times reported decades earlier in 1977 an article entitled Jesus of Nazareth which was then turned into a 6 hour TV episode that later aired on NBC.^[3] US News & World Report magazine ran as its cover story on April 16, 1990, The Last Days of Jesus: The new light on what happened based on the premise that Jesus was a real person who lived, died and quite possibly rose from the dead.

Movies, books and magazines do not necessarily prove Jesus was a true historical figure. While many may react by thinking the historicity of Jesus is an established fact, there are those who are skeptical with some adamantly insisting he never existed at all and, as a consequence, Jesus cannot then be the Son of God.

Of those skeptics who do not believe the historical reality of Jesus of Nazareth, that small percentage still translates into millions of people. Many consider themselves to be agnostics or atheists, but not all.

Theories against the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth fall into two basic areas. One is based on a passive form of legend that developed over centuries about a figure known as Jesus.

Another theory is loosely centered on some manner of Christian conspiracy where Christian activists created a fictitious messiah figure, some believing it is a full blown conspiracy.^[4] Quotes from the promo webpage for the aptly named book, The Christ Conspiracy by D. M. Murdock, are examples of these views:^[5]

“Jesus is a mythical figure in the tradition of pagan mythology and almost nothing in all of ancient literature would lead one to believe otherwise. Anyone wanting to believe Jesus lived and walked as a real live human being must do so despite the evidence, not because of it.” – C. Dennis McKinsey

“The gospel story is an artificial, non-historical work. It has been fabricated from source materials that can be identified and traced to their incorporation into the gospels. There is not a particle of hard evidence that ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ ever existed.” – Harold Leidner

Standing opposed to these charges are diverse sources outside the Bible reaching back through the centuries to within just a few years after the Roman destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD. They come from Roman era sources; major, non-Christian religions – even some atheists.

Credentials of these historical sources are important in weighing the integrity of their statements in-spite-of their antagonism. One is these is the highly recognized Roman historian of the Jews, Josephus, himself a former Jewish Pharisee priest and military General. Others include prominent Roman historical figures such as Tacitus and Suetonius. Perhaps the most credible sources are two major world religions, Judaism and Islam.

Some sources do not directly discuss the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but in denouncing or criticizing the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, they have conceded by inference that he was born, lived and walked this earth. Others refer to the crucifixion of Jesus, a recognition that he once lived in order to be crucified.

Virtually all the sources that corroborate the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth are antagonistic toward Christianity. When opposing forces agree on a common point of information, it becomes the strongest form of a truth because both sides have essentially established – willingly or reluctantly – that it is a fact. Trial lawyers use this strategy to artfully extract common points of truth from witnesses to establish factual information. Using factual testimony of their opposing witnesses, they strengthen their own cases.

Over the past 2000 years up to this very day, the personage of Jesus of Nazareth has and continues to make a monumental impact on the world stage. Continually seen in current news stories, the name of Jesus still causes religious tensions, political turmoil, persecution, brutal atrocities of martyrdom and wars to be fought.^[6]

What are the odds that all these consequences are the result of a false premise, one that says Jesus was not a real person? Something profound happened involving a historical figure two thousand years ago that forever changed history – even calendars – nevertheless, some will still continue to believe it is all a myth. Was Jesus of Nazareth a real person?

Updated November 11, 2022.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] “The Bible.” A&E Television Networks, LLC. 2022. <https://www.history.com/shows/the-bible> “Son of God.” IMDb.com, Inc. 2022. <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3210686> “Beyond AD.” NBCUniversal Media, LLC. <https://www.nbc.com/beyond-ad/about> “Jesus of Nazareth. Amazon.co.UK. image. 2011. <https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61mjpUpOKcL._AC_SL1051_.jpg>
[2] Isbouts, Jean-Pierre. “Jesus: An Illustrated Life.” National Geographic Society.2015. http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Illustrated-Life-Jean-Pierre-Isbouts/dp/1426215681/ref=sr_1_1/185-6473608-4923818?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462376067&sr=1-1&keywords=national+geographic+jesus>
[3] “Jesus of Nazareth.” The New York Times Company. 2022. <https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/02/archives/long-island-opinion-tv-jesus-of-nazareth-starts-on-nbc-tomorrow.html>
[4] Gauvin, Marshall J. “Did Jesus Christ Really Live?” (ca. 1922). Infidels.org. <http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/marshall_gauvin/did_jesus_really_live.html>
Ron Csillag. “For scholars, a combustible question: Was Christ real?” TheStar.com. 2008. <http://www.thestar.com/article/557548
“Was Jesus a Real Man?” The Atheist Apologist. 2010. <http://www.atheistapologist.com/2010/06/was-jesus-real-man.html>
“Historicity of Jesus.” New World Encyclopedia. 2012. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Info:Main_Page>
Roussos, Ioannis. “On the Historicity of Jesus Christ.” Atheist Foundation of Australia. <http://atheistfoundation.org.au/article/on-the-historicity-of-jesus-christ rel=”nofollow”>
Rich, Tracey R. “Looking for Jesus?”, JewFAQ.org. <http://www.jewfaq.org/search.shtml?Keywords=what+about+Jesus>
Wolchover, Natalie. “Proof of Jesus Christ? 7 Pieces of Evidence Debated.” 2013. LiveScience.com. <http://www.livescience.com/38014-physical-evidence-jesus-debated.html>
Gloag, Paton J. Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels. 1895. “Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels.” Online Books Page. <http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008728595>
[5] Murdock, D.M. aka S., Acharya. The Christ Conspiracy. Advertisement. <http://www.truthbeknown.com/christ.htm rel=”nofollow”>
[6] Chiaramonte, Perry. “Christian persecution seen in more locations across the globe, new report shows.” February 02, 2017. <http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/02/christian-persecution-seen-in-more-locations-across-globe-new-report-shows.html>