Christ

[guest119]

No Evidence for Christ?
"There is no evidence that Jesus even existed.?
?We have absolutely no credible evidence outside the Christian gospels that Jesus lived or died.?

Claims like these float around (see here), and sadly, I used to swallow them whole. I thought the Bible and Christian writings were the only ancient writings that mentioned Christ. Wrong! There are extra-biblical sources, both Jewish and pagan, that (a) mention the existence of Jesus Christ and (2) were written sufficiently close to the life of Christ to be historical credible.

Here's an example:


Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (c. A.D. 115-117)

P. Cornelius Tacitus, a member of the Roman senatorial aristocracy, wrote a history of Rome covering A.D. 14-68 called Annals.

Therefore, to squelch the rumor, Nero created scapegoats and subjected to the most refined tortures those whom the common people called "Christians" [a group] hated for their abominable crimes. The author of this name, Christ, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Suppressed for the moment, the deadly supersition broke out again, not only in Judea, the land which originated this evil, but also in the city of Rome, where all sorts of horrendous and shameful practices from every part of the world converge and are fervently cultivated.

[Guest]

You've got to be kidding. That would not even be admitted as evidence in a court of law.

[Guest]

You've got to be kidding. That would not even be admitted as evidence in a court of law.