at Amazon<\/a>)
\n___________________<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
We are told (23)that Jesus performed miracles (creeds: Acts 2:22; 10:38; Acts of Pilate; Quadratus; Barnabas; Justin). It is reported (24)that some people were healed and others raised from the dead and (25)that some of the eyewitnesses of these occurrences were still alive (Quadratus). It is also claimed (26)that Pilate filed a report with the Roman officials that corroborated these details (Justin). Additionally, Jesus both (27)fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, thereby validating his claims (creeds: Acts 2:25\u201331; 3:21\u201325; 4:11; 10:43; 13:27\u201337; Justin; cf. Josephus) and (28)made prophecies himself that were later fulfilled (Phlegon), (29) such as predicting his own resurrection (Justin). The Person of Jesus<\/p>\n
Many of the sources that we investigated comment on the person of Jesus.^2 In contemporary theology, the titles of Jesus are taken to be exceptionally important indications of who he thought he was, as well as how the early church identified him. The pre-New Testament creeds are crucial in this regard because of their early and authoritative nature. These confessional statements agree that Jesus was deity. We are told (30)that he was of the same nature or essence as God (creed: Phil. 2:6). He is specifically given the titles of (31)Lord (creeds: 1 Cor. 11:23; Acts 2:36; 10:36; Rom. 1:4; Rom. 10:9; Luke 24:34), (32)Son of God (creeds: Acts 13:33; Rom. 1:3\u20134) and (33)Christ (creeds: 1 Cor. 15:3; Acts 2:36, 38; 3:18, 20; 4:10; 10:36; Rom. 1:4; 1 Tim. 6:13; 2 Tim. 2:8; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1 John 4:2). Other titles from the Acts traditions include (34)Savior (Acts 5:31; 13:23), (35)the Holy and Righteous One (Acts 3:14; cf. 2:27; 13:35), and (36)Prince (Acts 5:31).<\/p>\n
Secular sources report some similar data. (37)Jesus was worshiped as deity (Pliny; Lucian), (38)some believed that he was the Messiah (Josephus) and (39) called him \u201cKing\u201d (Mara Bar-Serapion).<\/p>\n
The Gnostic sources are even in agreement here. (40)We are told that on one occasion Jesus asked his disciples who they believed he was (Gospel of Thomas). Various answers are given in the Gnostic works, all of which agree (41)that he was both God and man. While he was a real flesh and blood person (Gospel of Truth; Treatise on Resurrection), as indicated (in the context) by the title Son of Man (Gospel of Thomas), he is also called (42)the Son of God (Treatise on Resurrection; Gospel of Truth) and (43)the \u201cAll\u201d (Gospel of Thomas). The Teachings of Jesus<\/p>\n
It is recorded (44)that Jesus preached to and taught Israel, a people whom he loved (Barnabas). (45)He exhorted the Jews to repent, yet they refused to do so even after he rose from the dead (Justin).<\/p>\n
2 Our explicit intention in Chapter 10 was only to mention the post-New Testament Christian sources that reported historical facts during the life of Jesus. We did not mention the sources that also make claims concerning Jesus\u2019 deity. For examples, see Clement, Corinthians, 36; Ignatius, Ephesians, 7, 18; Romans, Introduction; Smyrnaeans, 1; To Polycarp, 8; Polycarp, Philippians, 12. In these examples from Ignatius and Polycarp, Jesus is specifically called God.<\/p>\n
(46)Jesus\u2019 major teaching was the gospel (creed: 1 Cor. 15:1\u20134), (47)which he received from God and later imparted to his apostles (Clement; Barnabas). (48)The apostles were fully convinced of the truthfulness of the gospel and they, in turn, preached the Kingdom of God everywhere (Clement).
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\nThe tendency among some of the secular sources was (49)to view Jesus as a philosopher with some distinct teachings (Lucian; Mara Bar Serapion; cf. Gospel of Thomas). For instance, Lucian refers to Jesus as a \u201csage.\u201d Lucian and Pliny, in particular, corroborate some of the major teachings of Jesus as mentioned earlier in the Christian sources.<\/p>\n
Lucian asserts (50)that Jesus introduced new teachings in Palestine. These included (51)the need for conversion, (52)the denial of the gods, and (53)the brotherhood of all believers. Jesus\u2019 teachings additionally included and encouraged<\/p>\n
(54)worship of himself, (55)living according to his teachings, (56)the importance of faith, and (57)immortality, which led to a contempt for death among believers. Lucian also notes (58)that Christians had sacred Scripture which was frequently read.<\/p>\n
In addition to the point mentioned earlier, that Jesus was worshiped by early believers as deity, Pliny also reports (59)an oath taken by believers not to commit sin, that typifies Jesus\u2019 ethical teachings. Additionally, Pliny tells us (60)that true believers could not be enticed or forced to worship the gods, and (61)that they worshiped on a certain day of the week before dawn, both of which also reflect Jesus\u2019 teachings.<\/p>\n
Lastly, the Gospel of Truthadds two other items. (62)Jesus taught his listeners about his Father and (63)Jesus realized that his death was the basis for the life of many people. The Death of Jesus<\/p>\n
From the early creed in 1 Corinthians 11:23ff. we learn (64)that Jesus attended a dinner (65)on the evening on which he was betrayed. At this meal he (66)gave thanks for the food, and (67)shared both bread and drink, (68)which he referred to as the sacrifice of his body and blood for sin.<\/p>\n
(69)The Jewish leaders determined that Jesus was guilty of teaching spiritual heresy and of leading Israel to apostasy (Talmud; cf. Apocryphon of John). (70)As a result, the Jews sent out a herald who proclaimed that Jesus would be stoned for his teachings, though anyone who wished was invited to defend him. However, no one came forward to speak for him (Talmud).<\/p>\n
Jesus (71)appeared before Pilate (creeds: Acts 3:13; 13:28) and (72)made a good confession (creed: 1 Tim. 6:13), which may have been an affirmation of his messiahship. (73)After being persecuted (Gospel of Truth) and (74)as a result of his teachings (Lucian), (75)Jesus was put to death (creeds: 1Co 15:3; Acts 3:13\u201315; 13:27\u201329; 1 Pet. 3:18; Rom. 4:25; 1 Tim 2:6; Gospel of Thomas; Treatise on Resurrection). He died (76)at the hands of the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate (Talmud; Ignatius), (77)during the local rule of Herod (Ignatius). (78)More specifically, Jesus was crucified (Josephus; Talmud; Lucian; Gospel of Truth; Acts of Pilate; creeds: Acts 2:23, 36; 4:10; 5:30; 10:39; Phil. 2:6f.; Ignatius; Barnabas; Justin), (79)by wicked men (creed: Acts 2:23), (80)in the city of Jerusalem (creed: Acts 13:27\u201328; cf. 10:39), (81)during the reign of Roman Emperor Tiberius (Tacitus; Phlegon).
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\nEven some details of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion are provided by these sources. (82)The event reportedly occurred on Passover Eve (Talmud). (83)Victims of crucifixion were apparently made to carry at least a portion of their crosses to the site, which sometimes resulted in stumbling to the ground (shroud). (84)Jesus had his wrists and feet nailed to the cross (cf. Tacitus; Gospel of Truth; Acts of Pilate; Ignatius; Justin; cf. Shroud; Yohanan). (85)Crucifixion could also involve the administering of a coup de grace, such as breaking the victim\u2019s legs (cf. Yohanan with ancient historical reports) in order to hasten death by asphyxiation, (86)which is the normal cause of death in crucifixion, as revealed by the need for the person to push up and down in order to breathe (cf. shroud; Yohanon with modern medical studies).<\/p>\n
As long as the shroud is not a fake, and especially if it is Jesus\u2019 burial garment, it confirms several details of crucifixion involving more-or-less uncommon procedures. These include (87)the \u201ccrown of thorns,\u201d (88)the severity of the beating and whipping, (89)the absence of broken ankles, (90)the post-mortem chest wound, and (91)the blood and watery fluid that flowed from the wound.<\/p>\n
While the crucifixion was in progress, (92)Jesus\u2019 executioners gambled for his garments (Acts of Pilate; Justin). (93)Mara Bar-Serapion asserted that Jesus was executed unjustly and that, as a result, the Jews were judged by God. (94)The creed in 1 Peter 3:18 also notes the contrast between a righteous person dying for sinners.<\/p>\n
(95)It is reported that darkness covered the land during the crucifixion (Thallus, Phlegon), (96)followed by earthquakes (Phlegon). (97)Jesus was on the cross until evening, (98)after which his body was removed and he was buried (Justin; creeds: 1 Cor. 15:4; Acts 13:29).<\/p>\n
The man buried in the Shroud of Turin was also buried (99)hastily, (100) individually, and (101)in fine linen, all of which are uncommon procedures for a victim of crucifixion. Furthermore, (102)Jewish burial procedure sometimes involved sealing the tomb (Nazareth Decree). Even though it may not directly concern Jesus, grave robbing was punishable by death in Palestine (Nazareth Decree). The Resurrection of Jesus<\/p>\n
(103)During this time Jesus\u2019 friends left and denied him (Justin), experiencing despair at his death. (104)Then, three days after Jesus\u2019 death, the tomb in which he was buried was found empty (Justin; creeds: Acts 10:40; 1 Cor. 15:4, implied; cf. Toledoth Jesu). (105)The Jews claimed that the disciples stole the body and proclaimed him risen (Toledoth Jesu; Justin), but such a view fails to explain the known facts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Numerous sources assert (106)that Jesus was raised from the dead (creeds: Luke 24:34; Acts 2:24, 31\u201332; 3:15, 26; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30\u201337; 2 Tim. 2:8; Clement; Ignatius; Justin; Gospel of Truth; Gospel of Thomas; Treatise on Resurrection). Strong evidence for the resurrection appearances comes from the<\/p>\n
(107)early reports of this event, probably dating from the AD 30s, and from the eyewitnesses themselves, who reported having seen the risen Jesus personally (creeds: 1Co 15:3ff.; Luke 24:34; Acts 2:32; 3:15; 5:30\u201332; 10:39\u201342; 13:28\u201331).<\/p>\n
More specifically, reports indicated (108)that Jesus appeared to Peter (creeds: 1 Cor. 15:5; Luke 24:34) and (109\u2013110)to the other disciples on more than one occasion (creeds: 1 Cor. 15:5, 7; Acts 10:39\u201342; 13:28\u201331; cf. Josephus; Ignatius; Justin), (111)as well as to over 500 people at once (creed: 1 Cor. 15:6). (112)Jesus invited them to touch his resurrected body (Phlegon), which they did (Ignatius),<\/p>\n
(113)and he even ate and drank in their presence (creed: Acts 10:41; Ignatius). During this time, Jesus also taught his disciples (114)concerning the Old Testament prophecy that he had fulfilled (Justin) and (115)told them to preach the gospel (creed: Acts 10:42). But Jesus did not appear only to believers. For instance, he was seen by two of the best known skeptics in the early church\u2014(116)James, the brother of Jesus (creed: 1 Cor. 15:7) and (117)Paul (creed: 1 Cor. 15:8).<\/p>\n
If Jesus is the man buried in the Shroud of Turin and the cloth is not a fake, there are additional evidences here for his resurrection from the dead. (118)There is no decomposition on the shroud, indicating a hasty departure of the body. But further,<\/p>\n
(119)the body buried in the cloth was apparently not unwrapped, while (120)the most probable cause for the image on the shroud is a scorch from a dead body.<\/p>\n
It is asserted that after Jesus\u2019 resurrection and his subsequent brief ministry on earth, (121)he ascended to heaven (creeds: 1 Tim. 3:16; Phil. 2:6f.; Justin; cf. Quadratus) and (122)was exalted (creeds: Acts 2:33; 5:31; 13:21; Apocryphon of John; Gospel of Thomas). The Earliest Church<\/p>\n
As a result of these events, (123)Jesus\u2019 disciples were transformed from persons who were afraid to be associated with him just a short time before to strong witnesses whose lives were changed (Tacitus; Suetonius; Mara Bar-Serapion; Josephus; Clement; cf. Pliny; cf. creed: 1 Tim. 3:16). (124)The gospel became the center of early Christian preaching (creed: 1 Cor. 15:1\u20134; Clement) and (125) salvation was taught through Jesus Christ (creeds: Acts 2:38\u201339; 3:19\u201323; 4:11\u201312; 5:32; 10:42\u201343; 13:26; 38\u201341).<\/p>\n
(126)The resurrection of Jesus was the validation of his claims and showed that Jesus was approved by God as an accredited spokesman (creeds: Acts 2:22\u201324, 36; 3:13\u201315; 10:42; 13:32\u201333; Rom. 1:3\u20134; 10:9\u201310; Clement; Ignatius). (127)Early Christian preaching took place in Jerusalem, where Jesus had been crucified shortly before. (128)The church began and grew, (129)with Sunday as the primary day of worship (cf. Pliny; Barnabas).
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Evaluation of Sources <\/p>\n
The Life of Jesus<\/p>\n
We have examined a total of 45 ancient sources for the life of Jesus, which include 19 early creedal, four archaeological, 17 non-Christian, and five non-New Testament Christian sources. From this data we have enumerated 129 reported facts concerning the life, person, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus, plus the disciples\u2019 earliest message. This is not to say that all of these sources are of the same quality (for a variety of reasons). But these facts (and those mentioned below) are spread out across all of the categories and types of writers and are rather evenly balanced.<\/p>\n
There can be little doubt that this is a substantial amount of pre- and non-New Testament material for Jesus\u2019 existence and for numerous facts about his life. In light of these reports we can better understand how groundless the speculations are that deny his existence or that postulate only a minimal amount of facts concerning him. Much of ancient history is based on many fewer sources that are much later than the events that they record, as we have seen. While some believe that we know almost nothing about Jesus from ancient, non-New Testament sources, this is plainly not the case. Not only are there many such sources, but Jesus is one of the persons of ancient history concerning whom we have a significant amount of quality data. His is one of the most mentioned and most substantiated lives in ancient times. The Person of Jesus<\/p>\n
The deity of Jesus was widely reported in the ancient writings that we investigated. Of our 45 sources, 30 record this teaching, which surprisingly includes seven of the 17 secular sources.<\/p>\n
It was pointed out in Chapter 4 that Jesus claimed to be deity, as indicated, for example, by such titles as \u201cSon of God\u201d and \u201cSon of Man.\u201d^4 The pre-New Testament creeds (the six Acts texts, along with Rom. 1:3\u20134, 1 Cor. 11:23ff., 15:3ff., and Phil. 2:6ff., in particular), provide especially strong evidence for the deity of Jesus. This conclusion rests on the authoritative, apostolic sources for the creeds and the incredibly early time period to which they date, right after the conclusion of Jesus\u2019 ministry.<\/p>\n
These creeds show that the church did not simply teach Jesus\u2019 deity a generation later, as is so often repeated in contemporary theology, because this doctrine is definitely present in the earliest preaching. The best explanation for these creeds is that they properly represent Jesus\u2019 own teachings, especially since he made similar claims. The Teachings of Jesus<\/p>\n
There is remarkably little dispute about the teachings of Jesus as found in the list above.^5 That Jesus\u2019 central message was the Kingdom of God and the entrance requirements is rarely questioned, even by critics. That this is his chief theme is<\/p>\n
4 For a detailed case arguing for Jesus\u2019 unique claims concerning his deity and their corroboration, see Miethe and Habermas, chapter 27.<\/p>\n
5 See Norman Anderson, The Teachings of Jesus(Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1983).
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\nsignificant in light of his resurrection, for if Jesus was raised from the dead, confirmation is provided regarding the truthfulness of his most important teaching.^6<\/p>\n
The Death of Jesus<\/p>\n
Of all the events in Jesus\u2019 life, more ancient sources specifically mention his death than any other single occurrence. Of the 45 ancient sources, 28 relate to this fact, often with details. Twelve of these sources are non-Christian,^7 which exhibits an incredible amount of interest in this event.<\/p>\n
Not only is Jesus\u2019 death by crucifixion of major concern to these authors, but 14 of the 28 sources give various details about the crucifixion, from medical observations to political information concerning the current rulers, to historical specifications of the times in which Jesus died, to religious details about the reason for his death. These data witness to the facticity of Jesus\u2019 death by crucifixion, regarding both the reality of the event itself, as well as numerous details surrounding it. It is fair to assert that this is one of the best-attested facts in ancient history.<\/p>\n
After Jesus\u2019 death, he was buried. This fact is not only strongly confirmed by five different sources,^8 but is generally a normal consequence of dying. The Resurrection of Jesus<\/p>\n
At this point in our evaluation we arrive at the crucial issue that brings us face to face with a miracle-claim. Again, it is not our purpose in this volume to make a judgment as to whether the resurrection is an actual miracle, as an act of God, but to evaluate whether it was an actual historical event. An examination of the details provides us with an affirmative answer\u2014the facts demonstrate Jesus\u2019 resurrection from the dead according to the canons of history.<\/p>\n
Of our 45 sources, 18 specifically record the resurrection, while an additional eleven more provide relevant facts surrounding this occurrence. Even if we were only to use the known facts that are accepted as historical by critical scholars, we still arrive at three major categories of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus.<\/p>\n
First, alternative theories that have been hypothesized by critics to explain the resurrection on naturalistic grounds have failed to explain the data and are refuted by the facts. Combinations of these theories also fail on these grounds. This is further illustrated by the refutation of David Hume\u2019s thesis concerning miracles (as well as other related approaches), by the nineteenth century liberal critiques of each of these naturalistic theories, and by the twentieth century rejection of them as a whole.<\/p>\n
6 For details on this message and its centrality, see Habermas, The Resurrection of Jesus: An Apologetic, chapters 4\u20135, Appendix 3, and Habermas and Moreland, chapter 9, for more on the confirmation of this theme.<\/p>\n
7 Of the remaining sources on the death of Jesus, twelve are from creedal texts, including the important traditions in the book of Acts.<\/p>\n
8 These sources include the early creeds in 1 Cor. 15:3ff. and Acts 13:29, as well as hostile sources such as Toledoth Jesuand the information implied in the Nazareth decree. The Shroud of Turin is perhaps helpful, even if it did not belong to Jesus, since it evidences post-crucifixion burial.<\/p>\n
\nSuch refutations of critical theories are a major blow to those who would deny this event.<\/p>\n
Second, even the accepted historical facts alone provide at least nine historical evidences for the resurrection, as enumerated above. In particular, that this event was reported early(probably in the AD 30s) by the very eyewitnesseswho attested to seeing the risen Christ (especially 1 Cor. 15:3ff. and the Acts creeds) is extremely strong evidence in favor of the literal resurrection. The historical evidence for the empty tomb is also very strong (even from secular sources alone), as are the changed lives of the disciples and the conversions of Paul and James. Therefore, a historical case for this event can be built on both a failure of critical hypotheses on the one hand plus the presence of valid, positive evidences on the other.<\/p>\n
Third, even if we were to utilize only the four minimal historical facts that are accepted by virtually all scholars who deal with this issue, we still have a significant basis on which to both refute the naturalistic theories and provide the major evidences for the resurrection. The primary strength of these four facts is that they have been established by critical methodology and thus cannot be rejected by those who have doubts concerning other issues such as Scripture. In other words, the minimum amount of historical facts is sufficient to establish the historicity of Jesus\u2019 resurrection. Doubts on other issues do not disturb this basic fact.<\/p>\n
If the Shroud of Turin is the burial garment of Jesus, we have another potential category of evidence for the resurrection, in that it would provide some strong scientific, repeatable evidence for this event. There is certainly no proof at this point, and the shroud could still turn out to be a fake, although the data appear to dictate otherwise. It would seem that, even if it did not belong to Jesus, the shroud is at least an actual archaeological artifact, thereby still providing some important information concerning death by crucifixion. The absence of bodily decomposition shows that the body was not in the cloth very long. Further, if the body was not unwrapped and if the image was created by a scorch from a dead body, we have sime potential data that could be highly evidential considerations in favor of Jesus\u2019 resurrection from the dead.<\/p>\n
These three major categories of arguments for the resurrection do not exhaust the ancient evidence for this event,^13 but they do demonstrate this fact as a literal event of history, according to normal historical methodology. This event is the final capstone and fitting conclusion for the unique life, person, teachings, and death of Jesus. In the earliest church, the resurrection served the purpose of confirming Jesus Christ\u2019s message and providing the basis for the truth of the Christian message.<\/p>\n
For instance, the evidence of the Nazareth Decree (see pp. 176\u2013177) and the assertions of Tacitus and Suetonius that Jesus\u2019 teachings broke out again in Palestine afterhis death are other avenues that might be explored. The direct testimonies of Josephus and Phlegon are the most helpful in arguing for this event from non-New Testament sources.<\/p>\n
The place that the resurrection might play in validating Christian theism today is a fit sequel for just such a study, for the only time that such a resurrection is ever known to have occurred, it happened to the very person who made the most unique claims in the history of religions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Having finished our treatment of the ancient pre- and non-New Testament sources for Jesus\u2019 life, we turn now to a final assessment of this material. Our first interest is to present an integrated summary of all the reports concerning Jesus\u2019 life, teachings, death, and resurrection from Part Two of this volume. Then we will give […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_disable_autopaging":false},"categories":[6702,6709,6708,6707],"tags":[6710,6711,6712],"class_list":["post-3299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thechrist","category-habermas-life-of-jesus-studies-thechristcontents","category-life-of-jesus-studies-thechristcontents","category-studies-thechristcontents","tag-habermas","tag-jesus-historical-facts","tag-life-of-jesus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}