PROOF FOR THE HISTORICAL JESUS CHRIST

Copyright 1994 - 2025 Bill's Bible Basics

Published On : April 11, 2025

Last Updated : April 11, 2025

False Claim That Jesus Christ Is Not Mentioned Outside Of The

Scriptures, Flavius Josephus: "The Antiquities of the Jews",
Jesus Appears Before Pontius Pilate, James The Lord's Brother
And Companions Are Stoned To Death, Publius Cornelius Tacitus
And "The Annals", Nero And The Great Fire of Rome, Christians
Blamed Torture And Martyred, Pliny The Younger's Letter To
Emperor Trajan, Suetonius Tranquillus And "The Lives Of The
Twelve Emperors", Emperor Claudius Kicks Jews Out Of Rome Due
To Disturbances About Jesus, Emperor Nero Inflicts Punishment
On The Christians, Closing Remarks, Suggesting Reading List

As some of you will know, there are certain nonbelievers who

vehemently insist that Jesus Christ never actually existed,
because -- at least they foolishly claim -- there supposedly
exists no clear proof of His existence outside of the pages
of the Holy Scriptures, meaning, of course, the Holy Bible.
However, their proud boast is really in error, either out of
pure ignorance, or because they knowingly and willingly have
chosen to ignore the evidence for the same. So what evidence
am I referring to? Please continue reading this article and
you will quickly find out.

One of our primary sources of information is a literary work

by first century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, called
"The Antiquities of the Jews". For those of you who may not
be familiar with this work, aside from the Holy Scriptures
themselves, much of what we know and understand concerning
the Creation of the world, the Old Testament history of the
Jewish people, the two destructions of Jerusalem and the
temple compound, and later events, is in fact derived from
this important work, as well as from Josephus' other work
entitled "The Wars of Jews", or "The Jewish Wars".

"The Antiquities of the Jews" was written by Josephus during

the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Domitian.
This places its creation in the year 94 AD. Written in Greek,
this twenty-volume work is divided into two sections. In the
first ten volumes, Josephus follows the events of the Hebrew
Bible beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve. In the
following ten volumes, Josephus continues the history of the
Jewish people beyond what we find in the Holy Bible, up to
the time of the First Jewish-Roman War, which occurred from
66 AD to 73 AD. On a side note, I discuss this latter event
in articles such as the following, which you'll find listed,
with links, at the end of this same article:

Abomination of Desolation: Explained!

Jesus Christ's Return: Have We Been Deceived?
Vespasian, Titus and the Fall of Jerusalem

To continue then, in Book 18 Chapter 3 Paragraph 3 of "The

Antiquities of the Jews", we find the following mention of
Jesus Christ, and how He was crucified by Roman procurator
Pontius Pilate, at the instigation of the Jewish religious
leaders:

----- Begin Quote -----

"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 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; for he appeared to them alive again at the
third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten
thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the
tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at
this day."

----- End Quote -----

But this is not the only place where Josephus mentions Jesus.
In Book 20 Chapter 9 Paragraph 1 of "The Antiquities of the
Jews", Josephus also mentions the death of James, who was the
biological brother of Jesus, as we see here:

----- Begin Quote -----

"But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already,

took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and
very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who
are very rigid in judging offenders above all the rest of
the Jews, as we have already observed: when, therefore,
Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a
proper opportunity [to exercise his authority.] Festus was
now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled
the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother
of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and
some others, [or, some of his companions.] And when he had
formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he
delivered them to be stoned;"

----- End Quote -----

Next we turn to the works of Roman historian and senator,

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, who is the author of "The
Annals", as well as "The Histories". Combined, these two
works are a history of the Roman Empire, and describe the
reigns of the following emperors:

Tiberius
Caligula
Claudius
Nero
Galba
Otho
Vitellius
Vespasian
Titus
Domitian

In other words, these two works span the history of the Roman
Empire from the death of Augustus in the year 14 AD, to the
death of Domitian in the year 96 AD. In Book 15 Chapter 44,
of "The Annals", we find the following description of some of
the events which transpired following the conflagration. That
is to say, the Great Fire of Rome which occurred on July 19,
64 AD. While some people suspect that Emperor Nero himself was
responsible for the fire, as some of you may know, he in fact
successfully blames the Christians for it instead, which began
the first Roman persecution against the Christians.

What makes Publius Tacitus' account particularly believable

is the fact that he had a very negative view of the Christian
faith. That is why in the quotes below, he refers to it as a
"mischievous superstition". Yet despite not being a Christian
himself, Tacitus obviously believed that the story regarding
Jesus was true, and thus he mentions it in his "The Annals".
Consider now the following quote where Tacitus writes about
these events:

----- Begin Quote -----

"Such indeed were the precautions of human wisdom. The next

thing was to seek means of propitiating the gods, and
recourse was had to the Sibylline books, by the direction of
which prayers were offered to Vulcanus, Ceres, and
Proserpina. Juno, too, was entreated by the matrons, first,
in the Capitol, then on the nearest part of the coast,
whence water was procured to sprinkle the fane and image of
the goddess. And there were sacred banquets and nightly
vigils celebrated by married women.

But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor,
and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the
sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an
order. 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.

Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the
extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of
one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most
mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again
broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil,
but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from
every part of the world find their centre and become
popular.

Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded

guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude
was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city,
as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was
added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts,
they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to
crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as
a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.

Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was

exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the
people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car.
Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary
punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was
not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one
man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed."
----- End Quote -----

Our next piece of historical evidence is found in a letter

which Roman governor Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor
Trajan around 112 AD, in which he requested the emperor's
advice concerning how to deal with the Christians, and in
particular, how to punish them if they choose to not deny
their Christian faith. Likewise included below is Emperor
Trajan's short reply to Pliny, who was also known as
Secundus:

----- Begin Quote -----

XCVII: TO THE EMPEROR TRAJAN

"It is my invariable rule, Sir, to refer to you in all

matters where I feel doubtful; for who is more capable of
removing my scruples, or informing my ignorance? Having never
been present at any trials concerning those who profess
Christianity, I am unacquainted not only with the nature of
crimes, or the measure of their punishment, but how far it is
proper to enter into an examination concerning them.

Whether, therefore, any difference is usually made with

respect to ages, or no distinction is to be observed between
the young and the adult; whether repentance entitles them to
a pardon, or, if a man has been once a Christian, it avails
nothing to desist from his error; whether the very profession
of Christianity, unattended with any criminal act, or only
the crimes themselves inherent in the profession are
punishable; on all these points I am in great doubt.

In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those

who have been brought before me as Christians is this: I
asked them whether they were Christians; if they admitted it,
I repeated the question twice, and threatened them with
punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be at once
punished: for I was persuaded, whatever the nature of their
opinions might be, a contumacious and inflexible obstinacy
certainty deserved correction. There were others also brought
before me possessed with the same infatuation, but being
Roman citizens, I directed them to be sent to Rome.

But this crime spreading (as is usually the case) while it

was actually under prosecution, several instances of the same
nature occurred. An anonymous information was laid before me
containing a charge against several persons, who upon
examination denied they were Christians, or had ever been so.
They repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered
religious rites with wine and incense before your statue
(which for that purpose I had offered to be brought, together
with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ:
whereas there is no forcing, it said, those who are really
Christians into any of these compliances: I thought it
proper, therefore, to discharge them.

Some among those who accused by a witness in person at first

confessed themselves Christians, but immediately after denied
it; the rest owned indeed that they had been of that number
formerly, but had now (some above three, others more, and a
few above twenty years ago) renounced that error. They all
worshipped your statue and the images of the gods, uttering
imprecations at the same time against the name of Christ.
They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or this error, was,
that they met on a stated day before it was light, and
addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity,
binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for the purpose of
any wicked design, 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 eat in
common a harmless meal.

From this custom, however, they desisted after the

publication of my edict, by which, according to your
commands, I forbade the meeting of any assembles. After
receiving this account, I judged it so much the more
necessary to endeavor to extort the real truth, by putting
two female slaves to the torture, who were said to officiate
in their religious rites: but all I could discover was
evidence of an absurd and extravagant superstition. I deemed
it expedient, to adjourn all further proceedings, in order to
consult you.

For it appears to be a matter highly deserving your

consideration, more especially as great numbers must be
involved in the danger of these prosecutions, which have
already extended, and are still likely to extend, to persons
of all ranks and ages, and even of both sexes. In fact, this
contagious superstition is not confirmed to the cities only,
but has spread its infection among the neighbouring villages
and country. Nevertheless, it still seems possible to
restrain its progress. The temples, at least, which were once
almost deserted, begin now to be frequented; and the sacred
rites, after a long intermission, are again revived; while
there is a general demand for the victims, which till lately
found very few purchasers. From all this it is easy to
conjecture what numbers might be reclaimed if a general
pardon were granted to those who shall repent of their
error."

XCVIII: TRAJAN TO PLINY

"You have adopted the right course, my dearest Secundus, in

investigating the charges against the Christians who were
brought before you. It is not possible to lay down any
general rule for all such cases. Do not go out your way to
look for them. If indeed they should be brought before you,
and the crime is proved, they must be punished; with the
restriction, however, that where the party denies he is a
Christian, and shall make it evident that he is not, by
invoking our gods, let him (notwithstanding any former
suspicion) be pardoned upon his repentance. Anonymous
information ought not to be received in any sort of
prosecution. It is introducing a very dangerous precedent,
and is quite foreign to the spirit of our age."

----- End Quote -----

The final source we are going to look at is "The Lives of the

Twelve Emperors", which was written by the Roman historian C.
Suetonius Tranquillus during the early second century around
120 AD. In this particular work, Suetonius covers the lives
of the following Roman emperors:

Julius Caesar
Augustus
Tiberius
Caligula
Claudius
Nero
Galba
Otho
Vitellius
Vespasian
Titus
Domitian

Following are the two sections of "The Lives of the Twelve

Emperors" where Suetonius mentions Jesus Christ -- which he
mistakenly understood to be "Chrestus" instead of "Christus"
-- and the Christians:

----- Begin Quote -----

Emperor Claudius Section XXV:

"He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually
making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus."

Emperor Nero Section XVI:

"He likewise inflicted punishments on the Christians, a sort

of people who held a new and impious superstition."

----- End Quote -----

Thus we see that while, indeed, there may not be very much
extra-Biblical evidence, nevertheless, Jesus Christ is in
fact mentioned outside of the pages of the Bible, despite
opposition from the naysayers.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It

is my hope that you've found it informative and enlightening,
and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well.
If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with
any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd
take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that
is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you
abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want

to refer to the list of reading resources below which were
either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics
which are related to this article. All of these articles are
likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To
read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see
below.

Abomination of Desolation: Explained!

Jesus Christ's Return: Have We Been Deceived?
The Family Life of Jesus Christ: Did Jesus Have Siblings?
Vespasian, Titus and the Fall of Jerusalem

Written by Bill Kochman

[email protected]
https://www.billkochman.com