A last reference which Ignatius makes concerning the historical Jesus is found in his epistle to the Magnesians: Be ye fully persuaded concerning the birth and the passion and the resurrection, which took place in the time of the governorship of Pontius Pilate; for these things were truly and certainly done by Jesus Christ our hope.^7
Here Ignatius assures his readers that they can be certainly persuaded of the facticity of Jesus’ (16)birth, (17)death and (18)resurrection, the last two having occurred while Pontius Pilate was governor.
As in other references, Ignatius attempts to place such events firmly in the realm of history. His purpose, at least partially, is to provide an answer to the threat of Gnosticism, which often denied physical interpretations of some of these events. Quadratus
One of the early apologists to begin answering claims raised against Christianity, Quadratus wrote his apology to Emperor Hadrian about AD 125. Unfortunately, this work is presently known only from one statement preserved by Eusebius in the fourth century.
Eusebius relates that Quadratus wrote his apology in order to answer malicious claims meant to harass Christians. It is stated that this defense was both sound in doctrine and revealed Quadratus’ knowledge of the situation. Then Eusebius quotes a sentence from Quadratus’ apology: The deeds of our Saviour were always before you, for they were true miracles; those that were healed, those that were raised from the dead, who were seen, not only when healed and when raised, but were always present. They remained living a long time, not only whilst our Lord was on earth, but likewise when he had left the earth. So that some of them have also lived to our own times.^8 This brief quotation from Quadratus’ apology reports several important items concerning Jesus’ miracles. (1)The facticity of Jesus’ miracles could be checked by interested persons, since they were done publicly.
