Is Jesus a Historical Figure or a Fictitious Character?

Tacitus, the Roman historian

Tacitus (circa A.D. 56-117) should be among the first of several hostile witnesses. His famous work, Annals, was a history of Rome written in approximately A.D. 115. In the Annals he told of the Great Fire of Rome, which occurred in A.D. 64. Nero, the Roman emperor in office at the time, was suspected by many of having ordered the city set on fire. The fire raged for several days and a large part of Rome was destroyed. Nero blamed the Christians for burning the city. From that moment onward the Romans’ persecution of Christians started and lasted for 250 years. Nero considered himself a talented musician and a great singer. It is said that Nero was singing in his palace while Rome was burning. Tacitus wrote:

“Nero fabricated scapegoats-- and punished with every refinement the notoriously depraved Christians (as they were popularly called). Their originator, Christ, had been executed in Tiberius’ reign by the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilatus. But in spite of this temporary setback the deadly superstition had broken out afresh, not only in Judea (where the mischief had started) but even in Rome.”

Tacitus hated both Christians and their namesake, Christ. He therefore had nothing positive to say about what he referred to as a “deadly superstition.” He did, however, have something to say about it. His testimony establishes beyond any reasonable doubt that the Christian religion not only was relevant historically, but that Christ, as its originator, was a verifiable historical figure of such prominence that he even attracted the attention of the Roman emperor himself.

Suetonius

Additional hostile testimony originated from Suetonius, who wrote around A.D. 120. Robert Graves, as translator of Suetonius’ work, The Twelve Caesars, declared: Suetonius was fortunate in having ready access to the Imperial and Senatorial archives and to a great body of contemporary memoirs and public documents, and in having himself lived nearly thirty years under the Caesars. Much of his information about Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero comes from eye-witnesses of the events described. The testimony of Suetonius is a reliable piece of historical evidence. Twice in his history, Suetonius specifically mentioned Christ or His followers. He wrote, for example: 

“Because the Jews at Rome caused continuous disturbance at the instigation of Chrestus, he (Claudius) expelled them from the city” (Chrestus is a misspelling of Christos, “the Greek word that translates the Hebrew ‘Messiah’). Suetonius further commented: “Punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief.”

Again, it is evident that Suetonius and the Roman government had feelings of hatred toward Christ and his alleged mischievous band of rebels. It is equally evident that Suetonius (and most of Rome) recognized that Christ was the noteworthy founder of a historically significant new religion.

Pliny the Younger

Along with Tacitus and Suetonius, Pliny the Younger must be allowed to take a seat among hostile Roman witnesses. Pliny was sent by the Roman emperor Trajan to govern the affairs of the region of Bithynia. From this region, Pliny corresponded with the emperor concerning a problem he viewed as quite serious. He wrote:

“I was never present at any trial of Christians; therefore I do not know the customary penalties or investigations and what limits are observed”. He then went on to state: “This is the course that I have adopted in the case of those brought before me as Christians. I ask them if they are Christians. If they admit it, I repeat the question a second and a third time, threatening capital punishment; if they persist, I sentence them to death.

It is undeniably the case that Christians, with Christ as their founder, had multiplied in such a way as to draw the attention of the emperor and his magistrates by the time of Pliny’s letter to Trajan. It is impossible to deny the fact that Jesus Christ existed and was recognized by the highest officials within the Roman government as an actual, historical person.

The testimony of hostile Jews

If a person as influential as Jesus had existed in the land of Palestine during the first century, surely the rabbis would have had something to say about him. Undoubtedly, a man who confronted the most astute religious leaders of his day-- and won-- would be named among the opinions of those who shared His rabbinical title.

According to the earlier Rabbis whose opinions are recorded in these writings, Jesus of Nazareth was a transgressor in Israel, who practiced magic, scorned the words of the wise, led the people astray, and said that he had not come to destroy the law but to add to it. He was hanged on Passover Eve for heresy and misleading the people. His disciples, of whom five are named, healed the sick in his name. First-century Judaism, in large part, refused to accept Jesus Christ as the Son of the God. Yet it did not refuse to accept Him as a historical man from a literal city known as Nazareth or to record for posterity crucial facts about His life and death.

Josephus, the Jewish historian

Josephus is another important Jewish witness. Perhaps the most remarkable reference to Jesus outside the Bible can be found in the writings of Josephus. His education in biblical law and history stood among the best of his day. When Jerusalem rebelled against the Roman authorities, he was given command of the Jewish forces in Galilee. After losing most of his men, he surrendered to the Romans. After the fall of Jerusalem, Josephus settled down to live a life as a government pensioner. It was during these latter years that he wrote “Antiquities of the Jews.”

From the pen of Josephus

“And there arose about this time Jesus, a wise man, if indeed we should call him a man; for he was a doer of marvelous deeds, a teacher of men who receive the truth with pleasure. He led away many Jews, and also Greeks. This man was the Christ. And when Pilate had condemned him to the cross on his impeachment by the chief men among us, those who had loved him at first did not cease; for he appeared to them on the third day alive again, the divine prophets having spoken these and thousands of other wonderful things about him: and even now the tribe of Christians, so named after him, has not yet died out.”

In conclusion

This small selection of ancient non-Christian sources helps corroborate our knowledge of Jesus from the gospels. No one has the right to be an agnostic till he has thus dealt with the question of whether or not Jesus is a historical figure, and faced this fact with an open mind. If we maintain that the life of our Lord is not a historical event, we are landed in hopeless difficulties; we shall have to give up all ancient history. Faced with such overwhelming evidence, it is unwise to reject the position that Jesus Christ actually walked the streets of Jerusalem in the first century. He taught love and the Kingdom of Heaven. He cast out demons in people. He raised people from the dead. He healed the lames to walk, the blinds to see and cured people of various ailments. He was tried in a mock trial, humiliated, tortured, sentenced to a gruesome Roman crucifixion and buried in a tomb. He paid in full the penalty of our sins. But he rose from the dead on the third day, ascended to heaven after forty days and is seated at the right hand of God-- a position of power, honour and authority.

Selie Visa