Thallus
Thallus
was a historian who lived in the middle of the first century C.E. His
writings focus partly on the historical events of the Roman empire of
the first century C.E. We do not have his original works, written around
52 C.E., but we do have the writings of men who referred to his work.
Julius
Africanus, an early church father, writing in the year 221 C.E. wrote
about the writings of Thallus. In a document written by Julius
Africanus, there is a discussion about the darkness that was recorded by
the writers of the New Testament at the time of the crucifixion of
Jesus.
"Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land." [That is, from noon to 3:00pm.] (
Matthew 27:45
)
Now
the skeptic might easily dismiss this event, recorded in the gospel of
Matthew, as mere dramatics, an attempt to dress up the crucifixion event
with some supernatural imagery. However, the darkness which occurred at
the time of a full moon was recorded by Thallus.
Africanus notes that Thallus had attempted to explain away the event:
"Thallus, in the third book of his history explains away the darkness as an eclipse of the sun, unreasonably as it seems to me."
Africanus,
writing in the year 221 C.E., had access to the writings of Thallus.
Thallus in his third book wrote that this darkness, which occurred
during the reign of Caesar Tiberius, was a result of an eclipse of the
sun. Africanus makes the point that this could not have been a solar
eclipse, because the crucifixion took place at Passover, which always
occurs during a full moon. During a full moon, there can be no solar
eclipse, and Africanus recognized this.
An
interesting aspect of this reference is that Thallus does not try to
deny the existence of Jesus of Nazareth, the occurrence of his
crucifixion nor the historical fact that the darkness occurred. He
presents Jesus of Nazareth as an historical person, and the darkness as
an historical event. His motive in writing about the darkness is to
explain it as a natural event.
Philopon
Philopon, a sixth-century secular historian, wrote regarding Phlegon as well. He wrote:
"And about this darkness...Phlegon recalls it in his book The Olympiads."
Like
Thallus, Phlegon verifies the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth
and the historicity of the darkness which occurred during the reign of
Tiberius Caesar. These common threads occurring in the writings of two
men who were not Christians, is powerful evidence that Jesus is an
historical figure and an unnatural darkness(not an eclipse) occurred
during his life.
Tacitus
Cornelius
Tacitus, born circa 52-55 C.E., became a senator in the Roman
government under Emperor Vespasian. He was eventually promoted to
governor of Asia. Writing in the year 116 C.E., in his Annals, he writes
of the burning of Rome in 64 C.E. And how Caesar Nero had tried to stop
the rumor that he (Nero) was behind the destruction.
"Therefore,
to scotch the rumor (that Nero had burned Rome) Nero substituted as
culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class
of men, loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styled Christians.
Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in
the reign of tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus,
and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break
out once more, not merely in Judea, the home of the disease, but in the
capital itself, where all things horrible or shameful in the world
collect and find a vogue...They [the Christians] were covered with wild
beasts' skins and torn to death by dogs; or they were fastened on
crosses, and, when daylight failed were burned to serve as lamps by
night. Nero had offered his gardens for the spectacle, and gave an
exhibition in his circus, mixing with the crowd in the habit of a
charioteer, or mounted on his car. Hence, in spite of a guilt which had
earned the most exemplary punishment, there arose a sentiment of pity,
due to the impression that they were being sacrificed not for the
welfare of the state but to the ferocity of a single man."
This
amazing document verifies that Jesus, or Christus, was a true
historical figure, that he lived and was killed during the reign of
Caesar Tiberius, that he was sentenced under Pontius Pilate and that by
about 64 C.E., Christianity had spread rapidly throughout the Roman
empire. Tacitus verifies that Christians were viciously tortured by Nero
only 32 years after the death of Jesus of Nazareth. The historical
validity of this letter by Tacitus is doubted by very few scholars.
According to some scholars, Tacitus is:
"Universally
considered the most reliable of historians, a man in whom sensibility
and imagination, though lively, could never spoil a critical sense rare
in his time and a great honesty in the examination of the documents."
[Amoit, Francois; Brunot, Amedee; Danielou, Jeah; Daniel-Rops, Henri.
The Sources for the Life of Christ. Translated by P.J. Herpburne-Scott.
New York; Hawthorn Books, 1962, pg. 16.]
Emperor Hadrian
During
the period when Hadrian was emperor of Rome, 117-138 C.E., there
continued to be tremendous persecution of Christians. Serenius
Granianus, the governor of Asia at that time, wrote a letter to Emperor
Hadrian asking for his advice regarding how he should handle the
Christians. Hadrian wrote back to Serenius' successor, Minucius
Fundanus, his response. This letter was preserved by Eusebius. This is
an excerpt;
"I do
not wish, therefore, that the matter should be passed be 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."
This
fascinating letter from the Roman emperor himself verifies the
historical existence of the church, the belief that Christians were
trouble-makers, that Christianity was illegal at that time, and that
Christians would be taken before a counselor simply for admitting that
they were Christians. Though not a specific reference to Jesus of
Nazareth, this very early historical reference to the church, its
illegality in the Roman Empire and the persecutions (malicious
proceedings) are powerful evidences for the rapid spread of the church
within one generation of the life of Jesus. Therefore, this increases
the reliability that Jesus was an historical figure and that the events
surrounding his life were extraordinary, so much so that people were
willing to die for the belief that he was the Messiah.
Lucian of Samosata
Lucan of Samosata, a Greek satirist, wrote a remarkable statement regarding the church in 170 C.E.
"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."
That
is quite a testimony. This letter confirms that Christians worshipped a
crucified Jewish sage, that they faced death bravely, and that they
despised worldly attributes. He explains this on the basis that
Christians believed they were immortal and would spend eternity with
God.
Mara Bar-Serapion
Mara Bar-Serapion, a Syrian and a stoic philosopher, wrote this letter to his son from prison sometime after 70 C.E.
"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 burning Pythagoras? In a moment their
land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from their
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 statue 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."
This
letter refers to Jesus of Nazareth as being the "wise King." The writer
is obviously not a Christian because he places Jesus on a par with
Pythagoras and Socrates. Consequently, the writer can hardly be
described as biased in his reference to Jesus and the church. Therefore,
it is a valuable historical reference regarding the historicity of
Jesus. There are many other non-Christian historical sources for Jesus
of Nazareth but since space is limited we will move on to rabbinical
sources.
Ancient Rabbinical References to Y'shua (Jesus)
Of
all the ancient historical sources for Jesus of Nazareth, the least
favorably biased would have to be rabbinic in origin. There are actually
quite a large number of such references to Jesus of Nazareth. The
problem with the rabbinical writings is that they use names like "such
and such" and "so and so" or "that man" when they refer to Jesus of
Nazareth. Consequently, some of the references are considered to be
unreliable. During the middle ages and the early renaissance, the Talmud
and Midrash were cleaned up with the removal of most of the references
to Jesus of Nazareth.
As
expected, the remaining references to Jesus are very unflattering.
However, they do verify a number of important historical facts that the
gospels proclaim regarding Jesus of Nazareth. As mentioned earlier by
Shlomo Pines, no one doubted that Jesus was an historical figure up
until about two to three hundred years ago. The myth theory was created
and perpetuated by atheists, agnostics and embraced by mainstream
Judaism during the Renaissance.
In
the Babylonian Talmud, which was compiled between the years 200-500
C.E., in Sanhedrin, 43a, there is a fascinating reference to Jesus of
Nazareth:
"It has
been taught: On the Eve of the Passover, they hanged Yeshu. And an
announcer went out in front of him, for forty days saying: 'he is going
to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and enticed and led Israel
astray.' Anyone who knows anything in his favor, let him come and plead
in his behalf.' But, not having found anything in his favor, they hanged
him on the Eve of the Passover."
This
is considered to be one of the very reliable rabbinical references to
Jesus ("Yeshu"). The writer here verifies that Jesus of Nazareth was an
historical figure, that he was crucified on the Eve of the Passover, and
that he did miracles, referred to as sorcery. The supernatural events
surrounding the life of Jesus were not denied, but verified. The
miracles of Jesus were simply explained away as being from a demonic
source, i.e., sorcery.
According
to Jewish law it is illegal to perform capital punishment on the Eve of
the Passover. However, this record verifies something that we wouldn't
expect to find in a rabbinical source, the fact that the Sanhedrin acted
illegally in condemning and crucifying Jesus on Passover. Consequently,
this reference is even more valuable in terms of validating the
historicity of Jesus. Certainly, if any passage should have been edited
from the Talmud, it should have been this one. The fact that a passage
which points out an illegal action was retained in the Talmud makes it a
credible and valuable source for the historicity of Jesus.
In the Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a, it says,
"Our rabbis taught that Yeshu had five disciples: Matti, Necki, Netsur, Burni, and Toda."
Now
one of those names we can recognize, Matti, the disciple named Matthew.
Again it is considered by historians to be another reliable reference
in the Talmud for the historicity Jesus of Nazareth.
Pliny the Younger
.
Those
who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the
gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to
your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together
with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ — none of which
those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do — these
I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared
that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had
been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years,
some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and
the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
Maimonides
Maimonides
was a very highly revered thirteenth century rabbi. There was a saying
back during the thirteenth century that, "there was never a greater man
than Maimonides except Moses." He was given the nickname, Rambam.
Maimonides
wrote a fourteen volume work called the Mishne Torah. In this he made
multiple references to the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth.
However, in the year 1631, Catholic and Jewish authorities censored the
fourteenth volume, removing all references to Jesus. It was censored
because there were multiple derogatory references to Jesus of Nazareth.
During the Spanish inquisition certain members of the Catholic church
used Maimonides' work, and his negative references about Jesus, to
justify the killing of Jews. Consequently, these references were removed
from most of the extant volumes of Maimonides' writings.
An excerpt from the uncensored versions of the Mishne Torah is a remarkable historical reference to Jesus.
"Jesus of Nazareth who aspired to be the Messiah and was executed by the court was also [alluded to] in Daniel's prophecies (
Daniel 11:14),
as 'the vulgar [common] among your people shall exalt themselves in an
attempt to fulfill the vision, but they shall stumble.' Can there be a
greater stumbling block than Christianity? All the prophets spoke of the
Messiah as the Redeemer of Israel and its Savior, who would gather
their dispersed and strengthen their [observation of] the Mitzvot [the
commandments]. By contrast, [Christianity] caused the Jews to be slain
by the sword, their remnant to be scattered and humbled, the Torah to be
altered and the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than
the Lord. Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not
within the power of man to comprehend, for his ways are not our ways,
nor are his thoughts, our thoughts. [Ultimately,] all the deeds of Jesus
of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite [Mohammed] who arose after him will
only serve to prepare the way for the Messiah's coming and the
improvement of the entire world [motivating the nations] to serve God
together, as [
Zephaniah 3:9] states: 'I will make the peoples pure of speech that they will all call upon the Name of God and serve him with one purpose.'"
Here
Maimonides, writing in the thirteenth century, verifies that Jesus of
Nazareth was executed by the Sanhedrin, that he aspired to be the
Messiah, that he was referred to in the prophecies of Daniel as one of
the sons of the lawless, and that Jesus of Nazareth led many astray.
It
is fascinating that Maimonides calls Jesus and his church "a stumbling
block." I don't think Maimonides remembered that the Tanakh states that
the Messiah would be a stumbling block to both houses of Israel.
He
will be as a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem."(
Isaiah 8:14 )
Surely Jesus of Nazareth was an historical figure and his life, message, ministry was a stumbling block to the Jews of his day.
God save us from our religious
