The Historical Jesus

⁴Ignatius, Trallians, 9.

⁵Ignatius, Smyrneans, 1.

⁶Ibid., 3.

⁷Ignatius, Magnesians, 11.

⁸Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History IV:III.

⁹Barnabas, 5.

¹⁰Justin Martyr, First Apology, XLVII.

¹¹Ibid., XXXIV. Quotations from the works of Justin Martyr are taken from the Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3.

¹²See chapter 9.

¹³Justin Martyr, First Apology, XLVIII.

¹⁴Ibid., XXX. For some specific Messianic prophecies, see XXXII-XXXV.

¹⁵Ibid., XXXII.

¹⁶Ibid., XXXV.

¹⁷Ibid., L.

¹⁸Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, LXXVII.

¹⁹Ibid., XCVII.

²⁰Ibid., CVIII; cf. XVII.

²¹This is “the sign of the prophet Jonah” (see Matt. 12:38-40).

²²Dialogue with Trypho, XCVII.

²³Justin refers to it as a “cross” in CVIII, for instance.

²⁴Cf. ibid., CV and CVI, for examples.

²⁵See Ignatius, Romans, 4; cf. Clement, Corinthians, 47.

²⁶For example, see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History III: XV-XVI.

²⁷Ibid., III:XV-XXII.

²⁸Ibid., IV:XVI.

²⁹Cf. Dialogue with Trypho, CV and CVI.

11Summary and Assessment

Having finished our treatment of the ancient pre- and non-New Testament sources for Jesus’ life, we turn now to a final assessment of this material.¹ Our first interest is to present an integrated summary of all the reports concerning Jesus’ life, teachings, death, and resurrection from Part Two of this volume. Then we will give a final evaluation of the strength of these sources in establishing the facts.

Synopsis of Sources

Many aspects of Jesus’ life have been reported by the four categories of evidence that we have examined. The ancient material from creedal (plus critically-ascertained facts), archaeological, non-Christian, and non-New Testament Christian sources presents quite a detailed look at the career of Jesus. We will begin this chapter by summarizing all of the reports from these four areas, which will help to give us a complete view of this data.

The Life of Jesus

It is reported ⁽¹⁾ that Jesus became a man (creeds: Phil. 2:6ff.; 1 John 4:2; Barnabas) and ⁽²⁾ lived on the earth in human history (Ignatius). ⁽³⁾ He came from the tribe of Judah (Justin) and ⁽⁴⁾ was of the lineage of Jesse and David (creeds: Acts 13:23; 2 Tim. 2:8; Justin; Ignatius).

Archaeological discoveries have shown that, before Jesus’ birth, ⁽⁵⁾ a taxation was proclaimed by the Roman authorities, ⁽⁶⁾ who required that people travel back to their home cities. ⁽⁷⁾ Required nearly every fourteen years, just such a taxation apparently occurred at approximately the same time as Jesus’ birth.

⁽⁸⁾ Jesus was born of Mary (Ignatius), ⁽⁹⁾ who was a virgin (Ignatius; Justin), and ⁽¹⁰⁾ he had a brother named James (Josephus). ⁽¹¹⁾ Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, located about five miles from Jerusalem, and it is recorded ⁽¹²⁾ that his birth could be verified by the records of Cyrenius, who was the first procurator of Judea (Justin). ⁽¹³⁾ Later, Jesus was visited by Arabian Magi, who had first seen Herod (Justin). ⁽¹⁴⁾ He was also from the town of Nazareth (creeds: Acts 2:22; 4:10; 5:38).

With regard to his public ministry, Jesus ⁽¹⁵⁾ was preceded by John (creeds: Acts 10:37; 13:24-25), ⁽¹⁶⁾ was baptized by him (Ignatius; cf. creed: Rom. 10:9-10), and ⁽¹⁷⁾ chose his apostles (Barnabas; Justin). Geographically, ⁽¹⁸⁾ Jesus’ ministry began in Galilee and ⁽¹⁹⁾ extended to Judea in Palestine (Tacitus; Lucian; Acts of Pilate; creed: Acts 10:37).

⁽²⁰⁾ Jesus was known as a wise, virtuous, and ethical man (Josephus; Mara Bar-Serapion). ⁽²¹⁾ As the result of his ministry and teaching (creed: 1 Tim. 3:16), ⁽²²⁾ he made many disciples from both the Jews and the Gentiles (Josephus; Talmud; creed: 1 Tim. 3:16).

We are told ⁽²³⁾ that Jesus performed miracles (creeds: Acts 2:22; 10:38; Acts of Pilate; Quadratus; Barnabas; Justin). It is reported ⁽²⁴⁾ that some people were healed and others raised from the dead and ⁽²⁵⁾ that some of the eyewitnesses of these occurrences were still alive (Quadratus). It is also claimed ⁽²⁶⁾ that Pilate filed a report with the Roman officials that corroborated these details (Justin). Additionally, Jesus both ⁽²⁷⁾ fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, thereby validating his claims (creeds: Acts 2:25-31; 3:21-25; 4:11; 10:43; 13:27-37; Justin; cf. Josephus) and ⁽²⁸⁾ made prophecies himself that were later fulfilled (Phlegon), ⁽²⁹⁾ such as predicting his own resurrection (Justin).

The Person of Jesus

Many of the sources that we investigated comment on the person of Jesus.² In contemporary theology, the titles of Jesus are taken to be exceptionally important indications of who he thought he was, as well as how the early church identified him. The pre-New Testament creeds are crucial in this regard because of their early and authoritative nature. These confessional statements agree that Jesus was deity. We are told ⁽³⁰⁾ that he was of the same nature or essence as God (creed: Phil. 2:6). He is specifically given the titles of ⁽³¹⁾ Lord (creeds: 1 Cor. 11:23; Acts 2:36; 10:36; Rom. 1:4; 10:9; Luke 24:34), ⁽³²⁾ Son of God (creeds: Acts 13:33; Rom. 1:3-4) and ⁽³³⁾ Christ (creeds: 1 Cor. 15:3; Acts 2:36, 38; 3:18, 20; 4:10; 10:36; Rom. 1:4; 1 Tim. 6:13; 2 Tim. 2:8; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 4:2). Other titles from the Acts traditions include ⁽³⁴⁾ Savior (Acts 5:31; 13:23), ⁽³⁵⁾ the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14; cf. 2:27; 13:35), and ⁽³⁶⁾ Prince (Acts 5:31).

Secular sources report some similar data. ⁽³⁷⁾ Jesus was worshiped as deity (Pliny; Lucian), ⁽³⁸⁾ some believed that he was the Messiah (Josephus) and ⁽³⁹⁾ called him “King” (Mara Bar-Serapion).