Is There Evidence for Jesus Outside the Bible - J. Warner & Jimmy Wallace
Top Ten Historical References to Jesus Outside of the Bible
"After publishing my blog of Top Ten Discoveries Related to Jesus, I faced some criticism from people who noted that none of the discoveries proved Jesus existed. Leaving aside the facts that “proof” is subjective and is not the purpose of archaeology, these individuals misunderstood my intent. As I noted in my blog, those discoveries affirmed and illuminated details about Jesus’ life as recorded in the gospels; they were not meant to prove his existence.
However, their feedback has inspired me to write this follow-up article addressing the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth. Did he exist? There is ample evidence to suggest that he did indeed live early in the first century.
While I believe the gospels in the New Testament are the earliest and most reliable records of the life of Jesus of Nazareth, for the purpose of this blog, I’m going to focus on non-biblical references to him. In order to make this list, I’ve used the following criteria:
The sources must be from the first or second century, not later. So, for example, while some quote rabbinic references to Jesus from the Talmud (ca. AD 400-700) or the Toledot Yeshu (ca. AD 1000), I have left them off this list. The reality is that they are really of little or no value in determining the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth.1
Secondly, the sources must reference Jesus, not just to Christians.
Here then are the top ten historical references to Jesus in literary works outside of the Bible.
10. Early Christian Writers (ca. 50-157)
It is difficult to explain the explosive growth of Christianity within the first 100 years or so of Christ’s life if he himself did not actually exist. One of the often-overlooked group of extra-biblical texts which testify to the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth are those from early Christian writers, some of whom reported what they heard directly from those who met Jesus personally. Their letters and treatises record details about Jesus’ life, his death, and the fact that they believed he rose from the dead..." from the article: Top Ten Historical References to Jesus Outside of the Bible
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