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"The Life and Times of Jesus (the Christ)" |
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JVH ^_^ |
| Date Posted: |
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Oct 30, 07 - 11:05 AM |
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 Incredulousness is not an argument against - it\'s an argument for - for one\'s own inability to conceive. |
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Tacitus (56 – 117 AD)
The first Roman historian to mention Christ is Tacitus, who wrote his last significant work, the Annals, around A.D. 115. In this treatise, Tacitus describes the great fire of Rome during the reign of Nero and the emperor's subsequent persecution of the Christians there. He states:
"Nero created scapegoats and subjected to the most refined tortures those whom the common people called 'Christians'.... Their name comes from Christ, who, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate". (Annals 15:44).
At first glance, this is an impressive passage. But let's dig a little deeper. Where did Tacitus get his information about Jesus' execution form? It is doubtful that he was quoting an official Roman document from the period because he mistakenly calls Pilate a procurator when he was actually a prefect.
Tacitus most likely received it from his close friend Pliny the Younger, who may well have shared the knowledge he had acquired from contact with Christians in Asia Minor. But even if this is the case, the most we can say is that Tacitus is simply repeating what Christians of his day were saying about their origins. There is not much basis here for concluding that he was presenting independent testimony about the historical figure of a Jesus.
Pliny the Younger (62 - 115 AD)
Pliny the Younger was proconsul of Bythinia, in Asia Minor, between A.D. 111 and 113. Pliny wrote a letter to the Emperor Trajan asking for advice on how to deal with the rapid growth of the Christian community in his area. Among other things, he describes the Christian custom of holding weekly meetings to sing praises "to Christ as to a god". (Letter 10. 96)
This passage is significant, because it is the only non-Christian source that tells us that Christians treated Christ as a "god." But Pliny is merely describing an element of Christian worship. His comments say nothing about the historicity of a Jesus.
Suetonius (70 – 140 AD)
In his biography of the emperor Claudius, written around A.D. 120, Suetonius writes about the expulsion of the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49. He states: "Since the Jews were constantly causing disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome". (Claudius 25:4).
Chrestus was a popular misspelling of the Greek Christos (Christ). Some scholars believe that Suetonius may have used a source that understood "Chrestus" to be Jesus. But he apparently misunderstood the police records, thinking that "Chrestus" was the name of some Jewish slave who became a ringleader during the riots of A.D. 49. Suetonius' account may be interesting, but, again, it is far from being an independent witness to a historical Jesus.
Note also that the birth dates of the authors in question place them outside the scope of personal eyewitness testimony.
Ref:
McKlintock and Strong's Cyclopædia of Theological Literature.
Acharya S, "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold"
Alvin Boyd Kuhn, "Who is this King of Glory?"
G. R. S. Mead, "Did Jesus Live 100 B.C.?"
Rev. Robert Taylor, "The Diegesis"
Kersey Graves, "The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors"
J. M. Robertson, "Pagan Christs"
Jim Herst, "How Do We Know About Jesus?"
Paul L. Maier, "Josephus and Jesus"
Edward Carpenter, "Pagan and Christian Creeds".
Lloyd Graham, "Deceptions and Myths of the Bible"
The works by Gerald Massey
The works by Hilton Hotema |
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