Messed-Up Bible Stories - Forum Spirit of Metal

The first-century Roman Tacitus, who is
considered one of the more accurate historians of the ancient world,
mentioned superstitious “Christians” (from Christus, which is
Latin for Christ), who suffered under Pontius Pilate during the reign of
Tiberius. Suetonius, chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian, wrote that
there was a man named Chrestus (or Christ) who lived during the first
century (Annals 15.44).

Flavius Josephus is the most famous Jewish historian. In his Antiquities
he refers to James, “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ.”
There is a controversial verse (18:3) that says, “Now there was about
this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man. For he
was one who wrought surprising feats....He was [the] Christ...he
appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had
foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.”
One version reads, “At this time there was a wise man named Jesus. His
conduct was good and [he] was known to be virtuous. And many people from
among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate
condemned him to be crucified and to die. But those who became his
disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had
appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was
alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the
prophets have recounted wonders.”

Julius Africanus quotes the historian Thallus in a discussion of the darkness which followed the crucifixion of Christ (Extant Writings, 18).

Pliny the Younger, in Letters 10:96, recorded early Christian
worship practices including the fact that Christians worshiped Jesus as
God and were very ethical, and he includes a reference to the love feast
and Lord’s Supper.

The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a) confirms Jesus' crucifixion
on the eve of Passover and the accusations against Christ of practicing
sorcery and encouraging Jewish apostasy.

Lucian of Samosata was a second-century Greek writer who admits that
Jesus was worshiped by Christians, introduced new teachings, and was
crucified for them. He said that Jesus' teachings included the
brotherhood of believers, the importance of conversion, and the
importance of denying other gods. Christians lived according to Jesus’
laws, believed themselves to be immortal, and were characterized by
contempt for death, voluntary self-devotion, and renunciation of
material goods.

Mara Bar-Serapion confirms that Jesus was thought to be a wise and
virtuous man, was considered by many to be the king of Israel, was put
to death by the Jews, and lived on in the teachings of His followers.

Then we have all the Gnostic writings (The Gospel of Truth, The Apocryphon of John, The Gospel of Thomas, The Treatise on Resurrection, etc.) that all mention Jesus.

In fact, we can almost reconstruct the gospel just from early
non-Christian sources: Jesus was called the Christ (Josephus), did
“magic,” led Israel into new teachings, and was hanged on Passover for
them (Babylonian Talmud) in Judea (Tacitus), but claimed to be
God and would return (Eliezar), which his followers believed,
worshipping Him as God (Pliny the Younger).

There is overwhelming evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ, both
in secular and biblical history. Perhaps the greatest evidence that
Jesus did exist is the fact that literally thousands of Christians in
the first century A.D., including the twelve apostles, were willing to
give their lives as martyrs for Jesus Christ. People will die for what
they believe to be true, but no one will die for what they know to be a
lie.

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