The life and teachings of Jesus Christ as reflected in the lives of his disciples through the millennia in literature, art, music, architecture, religion, politics, law, philosophy, and changed life-styles are faithful witnesses of his existence and influence all over the world.
History is a witness of the horrendous acts and omissions committed by false disciples of his. Who used his name to advance their own agendas, apart from Jesus commandments to love God and one-another, even our enemies.
History is also a witness of the remarkable acts of love and forgiveness (even in the face of false accusations, persecutions, ridicule, mockery, personal attacks, and discrimination) displayed by Jesus' true followers, those who love and obey him.
We would like to share some quotes from people who lived in the first-second century, to provide further testimony to the fact that Jesus, the Christ, was among us approximately somewhere between 3 BC and 33 AD.
"Nero fastened the guilt . . . on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of . . . Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome. . . ."
(Tacitus, Annals 15.44, cited in Strobel, The Case for Christ, 82. Nero unjustly fastened the guilt related to Rome's fire to the Christians.)
Publius (Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56 - AD 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works--the Annals and the Histories--examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to (presumably) the death of emperor Domitian in AD 96. Other writings by him discuss oratory (in dialogue format--Dialogus de oratoribs), Germania (in De origine et situ Germanorum), and the life of his father-in-law Agricola.
Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and as well as the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, he is known for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics.
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"They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to do any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food--but food of an ordinary and innocent kind."
(Pliny, Letters, transl. by William Melmoth, rev. by W.M.L. Hutchinson Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1935, vol. II, X:96, cited in Habermas, The Historical Jesus, 199.)
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 AD - ca. 112 AD), better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him. They were both witnesses to the eruption of Vesuvius on 24 August 79 AD.
Pliny is known for his hundreds of surviving letters, which are an invaluable historical source for the time period. Many are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian, Tacitus. Pliny himself was a notable figure, serving as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (reigned AD 98-117). Pliny was considered an honest and moderate man, consistent in his pursuance of suspected Christian members according to Roman law, and rose through a series of Imperial civil and military offices, the cursus honorum. He was a friend of the historian Tacitus and employed the biographer Suetonius in his staff.
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"About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he . . . wrought surprising feats. . . . He was (thought to be) the Christ. When Pilate . . .condemned him to be crucified, those who had . . . come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared . . . restored to life. . . . And the tribe of Christians . . . has . . . not disappeared."
(Josephus, Antiquities 18.63-64, cited in Yamauchi, "Jesus Outside the New Testament", 212.)
Titus Flavius Josephus (37 - c. 100 CE), also called Joseph ben Matityahu, was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century CE and the First Jewish-Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 CE.
His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75 CE) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94 CE). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation (66-70). Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into 1st century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity.
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"The Christians . . . worship a man to this day--the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. . . . [It] was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws."
(Lucian, The Death of Peregrine, 11-13, in The Works of Lucian of Samosata, transl. by H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler, 4 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1949, vol. 4., cited in Habermas, The Historical Jesus, 206.)
Lucian of Samosata (Latin: Lucianus Samosatensis; c. AD 125 - after AD 180) was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature. His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph. Lucian was trained as a rhetorician, a vocation where one pleads in court, composing pleas for others, and teaching the art of pleading.
Lucian also wrote a satire called The Passing of Peregrinus, in which the lead character, Peregrinus Proteus, takes advantage of the generosity and gullibility of Christians. This is one of the earliest surviving pagan perceptions of Christianity.
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"For what benefit did the Athenians obtain by putting Socrates to death, seeing that they received as retribution for it famine and pestilence? Or the people of Samos by the burning of Pythagoras, seeing that in one hour the whole of their country was covered with sand? Or the Jews by the murder of their Wise King, seeing that from that very time their kingdom was driven away from them? For with justice did God grant a recompense to the wisdom of all three of them. For the Athenians died by famine; and the people of Samos were covered by the sea without remedy; and the Jews, brought to desolation and expelled from their kingdom, are driven away into every land. Nay, Socrates did "not" die, because of Plato; nor yet Pythagoras, because of the statue of Hera; nor yet the Wise King, because of the new laws which he enacted."
Mara bar Sarapion was a Syrian Stoic. While imprisoned by the Romans, she wrote a letter to his son that includes the text above.
Composed sometime between 73 AD and the 3rd century, some scholars believe this describes the fall of Jerusalem as the gods' punishment for the Jews having killed Jesus because they infer that Jesus must be "the wise king" referred to by Mara.
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Early Church fathers
Early Christian sources outside the New Testament also mention Jesus and details of his life. Important texts from the Apostolic Fathers are, to name just the most significant and ancient:
Clement of Rome (c. 96): Clement's only genuine extant writing is his letter to the church at Corinth (1 Clement), in response to a dispute in which certain presbyters of the Corinthian church had been deposed. He asserted the authority of the presbyters as rulers of the church, on the grounds that the Apostles had appointed such. It was read in church, along with other epistles, some of which later became Christian canon; and is one of the oldest extant Christian documents outside the New Testament. This important work was the first to affirm the apostolic authority of the clergy.
A second epistle, 2 Clement, was attributed to Clement although recent scholarship suggests it to be a homily by another author. In the legendary Clementine Literature, Clement is the intermediary through whom the apostles teach the church. According to a tradition not earlier than the 4th century, Clement was imprisoned under the Emperor Trajan but nonetheless led a ministry among fellow prisoners. He was then executed by being tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea.
Ignatius of Antioch (Also known as Theophorus from Greek "God-bearer"; ca. 35 or 50-between 98 and 117) was among the Apostolic Fathers, was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.
Saint Polycarp (69 - 155) was a 2nd century Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to touch him. Polycarp is regarded as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran Churches.
It is recorded by Irenaeus, who heard him speak in his youth, and by Tertullian, that he had been a disciple of John the Apostle.
The sole surviving work attributed to his authorship is his Letter to the Philippians; it is first recorded by Irenaeus of Lyons.
Justin Martyr, also known as just Saint Justin (103-165), was an early Christian apologist. Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and a dialogue survive. Eusebius of Caesarea deals with him at some length, and names the following works:
1. The First Apology addressed to Antoninus Pius, his sons, and the Roman Senate;
2. a Second Apology addressed to the Roman Senate;
3. the Discourse to the Greeks, a discussion with Greek philosophers on the character of their gods;
4. a Hortatory Address to the Greeks;
5. a treatise On the Sovereignty of God, in which he makes use of pagan authorities as well as Christian;
6. a work entitled The Psalmist;
7. a treatise in scholastic form On the Soul; and
8. the Dialogue with Trypho.
Other Patristic sources are the early references of Papias and Quadratus (d. 124), mostly reported by Eusebius in the 4th century, which both mention eyewitnesses of Jesus' ministry and healings who were still alive in their own time (the late 1st century). Papias, in giving his sources for the information contained in his (largely lost) commentaries, stated (according to Eusebius):
...if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders should come my way, I inquired about the words of the elders -- that is, what according to the elders Andrew or Peter said, or Philip, or Thomas or James, or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord's disciples, and whatever Aristion and the elder John, the Lord's disciples, were saying.
Thus, while Papias was collecting his information (c. 90), Aristion and the elder John (who were Jesus' disciples) were still alive and teaching in Asia minor, and Papias gathered information from people who had known them. Another Father, Quadratus, who wrote an apology to the emperor Hadrian, was reported by Eusebius to have stated:
The words of our Savior were always present, for they were true: those who were healed, those who rose from the dead, those who were not only seen in the act of being healed or raised, but were also always present, not merely when the Savior was living on earth, but also for a considerable time after his departure, so that some of them survived even to our own times.
By "our Savior" Quadratus means Jesus, and by "our times" it has been argued that he may refer to his early life, rather than when he wrote (117-124), which would be a reference contemporary with Papias.
The quotes hereby presented have been kindly provided by The Vatican and Wikipedia. There are, however, more writers who left us a written record of the life of Jesus. They are his disciples, people who lived nearly 24/7 with him for about 3 years (Matthew, Mark, Peter, Jude, John, James), and people who met him after his resurrection (Luke and Paul). The Bible's New Testament contains those records.
Feel free, dear reader, to make copies of this article indicating the sources. And may God give you a Merry Christmas and a pleasant New Year 2012. May we all get closer to our Father God and to each other in practical acts of forgiveness and love.
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