Jesus was about 30 years old when He began His ministry. He was commonly thought to be the son of Joseph… (Luke 3:23)
Introduction
Jesus Christ is the central figure in the New Testament, and at the core of Christianity and its claims that He is the only way to know God. So, as we explore the New Testament in this series of posts, we need to answer an important question about Jesus: Did Jesus ever exist?
There are many skeptics, especially on the internet, who claim that there is no evidence that the man called Jesus written about in the New Testament existed. They claim that He was simply made up by those who started the Christian religion. If this is true, then there is no point in looking at what is in the New Testament because it is meaningless.
As believers, we should be prepared to answer this question, not only to answer skeptics, but also to assure those who are sincerely seeking Jesus. The Apostle Peter admonishes those who follow Jesus:
But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. (1 Peter 3:15 NET)
The Christian’s hope is in Jesus. But that hope is only real if Jesus is real. So, how would we answer someone who asks this question: Is there any historical evidence that Jesus existed?
Below I will summarize five responses to this question that you can have ready as an answer about the hope you possess.
Responses
(1) The Four Gospels
One source of evidence that Jesus existed is the four Gospels in the New Testament.
Skeptics will often poo-poo the Gospels as valid sources of evidence claiming they are merely religious propaganda. For them, the question, “Is there any historical evidence that Jesus existed?,” really means, “Is there any historical evidence that Jesus existed other than the Bible,” implying it can’t be trusted.
However, we shouldn’t discount the evidence in the four Gospels. Why should they be excluded? The New Testament is a reliable historical document, as proven numerous times from historical and archaeological information. The Gospels are four historical accounts of the life of Jesus written by eyewitnesses who were contemporaries of His life and ministry. They provide firsthand testimony of His existence. Luke, in fact, claims that his Gospel is based on eyewitness information and research (Luke 1:1-4).
A skeptic may not believe everything the Gospels report about Jesus, but the Gospels clearly show that there was a historical person called Jesus.
Regarding the charge that the Gospels are religious propaganda, it’s important to realize that all history is written from a certain political or religious perspective (bias). That does not invalidate it or exclude it as a source of information.
With the last U.S. presidential election now in our rearview mirrors, think about a biography written about President Biden or President Trump. They will certainly be written from a certain political and ideological perspective. The author will have an agenda. The author will interpret the actions of each president based on his own ideology. But that does not make these biographies useless for gathering historical information.
It’s not surprising that our main sources of information about Jesus and the beginnings of Christianity are the four Gospels, written by Christians. They had an agenda, which was to convince people to believe in Jesus. But that does not mean they are not trustworthy sources of historical information about Jesus and the times in which He lived. The writers were passionate but did not distort what the wrote.
The Gospels are reliable historical documents that give reliable and undeniable evidence that Jesus did exist, even if you don’t believe everything they say. Both Christian and secular scholars agree on this point.
(2) Second Generation Christian Accounts
There is also historical evidence that Jesus existed from people who knew the disciples who knew Jesus firsthand. This is second generation reporting. These include the church leaders such as Papias, Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp.
These men had direct contact with some of the disciples who were eye-witnesses to the life of Jesus. They wrote many books which assume the historicity of Jesus based on what they heard directly from the disciples and gathered from other historical sources. From them we learn that Jesus existed, that he was Jewish, and that He died by crucifixion under Pilate. They also record many things that Jesus taught that they learned from the disciples.
(3) Non-Christian Historical Evidence
There is also historical evidence for Jesus’ existence from outside the New Testament in various non-Christian written sources. It is difficult to put an exact number on how many of these there are, because scholars debate the authenticity and historical value of some of them. But if you are interested, this Wikipedia link lists and evaluates 18 non-Christian sources for the historicity of Jesus. It is a good, balanced presentation.
For the purposes of this post, let’s look at just two key sources that historians judge to be authentic – one Roman and one Jewish.
Roman Source – Cornelius Tacitus
A key Roman source is Cornelius Tacitus (b. AD 56). He was a Roman Historian who held a number of distinguished Roman offices, including senator and consul. He was not a Christian. In fact, his writings show an anti-Christian bias. Scholars judge his historical accounts to be extremely reliable.
Tacitus wrote a history of the Roman Empire covering the time from the reign of Emperor Tiberius to the reign of Emperor Nero (AD 14-68). Tiberius was the emperor during the time of Jesus earthly ministry years, and Nero persecuted the Christians later in the first century.
In his history called The Annals, he writes about how Nero was accused of ordering the great fire that destroyed Rome. In order to throw suspicion from himself, Nero blamed Christians for the fire and then persecuted them. Here is a short passage from Tacitus with my remarks in brackets:
Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. [It’s clear that Tacitus does not like Christians.] Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty [i.e., crucifixion] during the reign of Tiberius [the Roman emperor at the time of Jesus, so this establishes the time of Jesus’ ministry] at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, [Tacitus again provides the historical setting] and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil [this locates the geographic origin of Christianity], but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their center and become popular. 1
From his history we learn that there was a large number of Christians in Rome; they were being persecuted; the Christians derived their name and origin from a person called Christ; who was executed during the reign of Emperor Tiberius (AD 14-37), by the sentence of Pontius Pilate who was in charge of Judaea (AD 25-36). Much of this same information is recorded in the Gospels.[See Luke 3:1; Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18–19.]
So here we have evidence of the existence of Jesus from a Roman historian.
As a side note, Tacitus calls Pilate the ‘procurator’ (highlighted in the quote above). He is wrong about this. Pilate was actually the ‘prefect’ as confirmed by a stone inscription discovered in 1961. Even historians get facts wrong, but that does not invalidate them as sources of evidence. [Click here for more information on the Pilate Stone.] Interestingly, the Gospel of Luke uses the correct Greek term for Pilate’s title during his governorship, hegemon (ἡγεμών / hēgemōn), which is a general term that corresponds to the military title ‘prefect’. This is a small example that shows that the Gospels are historically reliable.
Jewish Source – Flavius Josephus
A key Jewish source is Flavius Josephus (b. AD 37). He was a commander of Jewish forces in Galilee during the rebellion of the Jews against Rome in AD 66. He defected to the Romans and later became a Jewish historian. He is the single most important historian for events in first-century Palestine. 2
He wrote an extensive 20 volume account of the history of the Jewish people entitled Antiquities of the Jews (written around AD 93-94).
Here is a passage about Jesus from his historical account:
Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works – a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. 3
This passage was possibly altered by a Christian scribe, because Josephus probably did not think that Jesus was the Christ. But for the most part, scholars judge that what is written here is by Josephus, and so it does verify the historical existence of Jesus.
Josephus also comments in another undisputed passage about the High Priest putting James, the brother of Jesus to death:
[Ananus the High Priest] assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned. 4
Based on these passages from Josephus’ Antiquities we learn of the existence of Jesus; that some people considered Him to be the Christ (i.e., Messiah) and a wise teacher; that He was crucified by Pilate; and that James was a brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19) who was condemned to death by the High Priest and Sanhedrin. All these facts are in line with what is recorded in the New Testament. Interestingly, in another passage Josephus also talks about the baptizing ministry of John the Baptist and how Herod put him to death, information that is also recorded in the New Testament (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9), and again indicating its historical reliability.
These two examples, Tacitus and Josephus, considered to be reliable historians, show that there is information about Jesus in historical sources outside the Bible that demonstrate the existence of Jesus. There are a number of other historical sources that you can learn more about at the link mentioned above.
(4) No Denials of His Existence
A fourth evidence for the existence of Jesus is that there are no contemporary historical records from the first or second century that deny the existence of Jesus, even from those that opposed Christianity. His existence was treated as a given.
It would have been easy for a Roman or Jewish antagonist to dismiss Christianity by simply saying that Jesus never existed. This would have been an effective way to discredit Christianity which was a source of much trouble to the Romans and Jews. But no contemporary Roman or Jewish writer questioned the existence of Jesus because it was a well-known fact that He was a real person.
(5) A Wealth of Material About Jesus
We know as much about the life of Jesus as we know about any other ancient historical person of His time. In many cases, more.
The amount of material we have in the four Gospels is remarkable for any individual of that time period. Even though Jesus was on the periphery of the Roman Empire, in the obscure province of Palestine, we have as many early sources about his life and teaching as we have about the activities of other famous people during that time. 5
Peter J. Williams, in his book Can We Trust the Gospels?, gives an excellent example to demonstrate this claim as summarized below. 6
Tiberius Caesar was the Roman Emperor during much of Jesus’ earthly life (reigned AD 14-37). He was perhaps the most famous person in the world at that time. There are four main historical sources that contain information about him 7, just as there are four main sources about Jesus (the Gospels). But when you compare the sources, Jesus has much more written about Him in the Gospels than what is written about His contemporary Emperor Tiberius in his four sources. No one doubts the existence of Tiberius Caesar. No one should doubt the existence of Jesus.
Dr. Bart Ehrman, a well know New Testament scholar, has noted that Jesus is one of the best attested people living in Palestine in the entire first century. There are no narratives about Caiaphas the High Priest, the most highly placed Jew of Jesus’ day. There are no narratives of the words and deeds of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, the most powerful man in all of Palestine in Jesus’ day. But for Jesus, we have a wealth of material. 8
So, was Jesus a real historical person? Yes!
The idea that Jesus was a purely mythical figure is considered an indefensible fringe theory by academic scholarship. But it has gained popularity in recent decades due to the internet where you can say anything you want without proving it.
No reputable historical scholar disputes Jesus’ existence. The evidence, both Christian and secular, is more than sufficient to demonstrate that Jesus was a real historical person. So, you can have confidence in what you believe and be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.
Word Focus Lexicon
Lexical Form: Ἰησοῦς -οῦ, ὁ
Transliteration: Iēsous
Gloss: Jesus
Part of Speech: Proper Masculine Noun
New Testament Frequency: 917
Strong’s Number: G2424 (Link to Blue Letter Bible Lexicon)
The name Ἰησοῦς / Iēsous is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua/Jeshua which means ‘God is salvation’. As applied to Jesus in the New Testament, it is His personal name that expresses His humanity, but also indicates his role – providing salvation from sin. It highlights the primary purpose of Jesus’ coming.
Jesus was a common name in the first century. For example, there are two others mentioned in the New Testament with this name: Jesus Barabbas who was released by Pilate instead of Jesus Christ (Matthew 27:16-17), and Jesus Justus, an associate of Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome (Colossians 4:11). The name has also been found in a number of tombs unearthed by archaeologists. The name fell out of use by the second century by Christians (who considered it sacred) and Jews (who considered it offensive).
As noted above, Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua. In Hebrew, the name begins with the Hebrew letter yod, for which there is no Greek letter equivalent. So, the letters Ιη- / Iē– (Iota-Eta) at the beginning of the Greek spelling of the name was used to approximate the sound of the Hebrew letter yod by Greek speakers. You can pronounce the Greek name as either ee-ay-SOUS or yea-SOUS.
Notes
1 The Annals by Tacitus, Book 15:44 (AD 116). Translation from Latin by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb, 1876. Source: wikisource.
2 Williams, Peter J. Can We Trust the Gospels?. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2018 by Peter John Williams.) Page 32.
3 Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3.3, trans. William Whiston. The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged. (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987). Page 480.
4 Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 20, Chapter 9.1, trans. William Whiston. The Works of Josephus, Complete and Unabridged. (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987). Page 538.
5 Williams, op. cit., 39.
6 Williams, Peter J. Can We Trust the Gospels?. Crossway, 2018 by Peter John Williams. See pages 39 to 42.
7 The four major sources are: Roman History by Velleius Paterculus, Annals by Tacitus, The Twelve Caesars – Tiberius by Suetonius, Roman History by Cassius Dio.
8 Information taken from https://ehrmanblog.org/the-gospels-and-the-existence-of-jesus, a blog post from The Bart Ehrman Blog: The History & Literature of Early Christianity.
Bibliography
Balz, Horst and Schneider, Gerhard, Editors. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990.
Beetham, Christopher A., Editor. The Concise New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Zondervan Academic, 2021.
Bromiley, Geoffrey W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985.
Danker, Frederick William. The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. The University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Gilbrant, Thoralf, International Editor. The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary. The Complete Biblical Library, 1990.
Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert. A Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford University Press. 1940. With a Supplement, 1996.
Plummer, Robert L. 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible. Kregel Academic, 2010, 2021 by Robert L. Plummer.
Verbrugge, Verlyn D. New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology: Abridged Edition. Zondervan, 2000.
Williams, Peter J. Can We Trust the Gospels. Crossway, 2018 by Peter John Williams.
Unless otherwise noted as below, English translations of Bible verses are by the author from the Greek text and are not quotations from any copyrighted Bible version or translation.
All scripture quotations marked (NET) are taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. Scripture quoted by permission. All rights reserved.
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