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 center and become popular. - Tacitus, quote from the Annals
The Roman historian Tacitus lived from c. 55-120 AD. He wrote two famous works - the Annals and the Histories. The above quote is referring to the great fire of Rome, which many people thought was started by Nero so he could rebuild the city. To take the attention off of himself, Nero blamed the Christians and persecuted them. It was under his reign that the apostles Peter and Paul were martyred. From this quote, we can learn a few historical facts about Jesus:
�Jesus (Christus) was put to death ("suffered the extreme penalty") by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius.
�His death caused the "superstition" to be checked, but it broke out again, possibly referring to the apostles' preaching and gaining converts after Jesus' resurrection and ascension.
About this time there lives Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to live him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the prophets of God had prophesied these and countless other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of Christians, so called after him, has still to this day not disappeared. - Josephus, quote from the Antiquities (emphasis mine)
Josephus was a Pharisee who, after surviving a battle against the Romans, became a historian for them. His major work, the Antiquities, was written at around 90-95 AD.
Scholarship has gone through three phases regarding this quote: 1) At first, it was considered completely authentic and valuable evidence for Christianity, 2) Next, its authenticity was questioned, and 3) Today, many scholars think that while the core of the passage is authentic, the parts that I italicized are later Christian interpolations. There are two opinions in modern scholarship about the suspected interpolations: 1) They are complete interpolations, or 2) They are changes made to the original phrases. For example, some scholars think that instead of "He was the Christ," Josephus might have said, "He was CALLED the Christ."
In 1972, Professor Schlomo Pines of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem released the results of a study based on an Arabic text of Josephus's statement about Jesus. Because this text would have had less of a chance of having interpolations and because it excludes the reference to the Jews as the killers of Jesus, it is likely to be a more accurate version than the one I have quoted above and is more likely to contain the authentic words of Josephus. Here is the text:
At this time there was a wise man who was called 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 had become 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.
This version is shorter than the previous version, and it has different versions of the passages in question. It omits "if indeed one ought to call him a man," and the reference to Jesus' miracles ("surprising feats"). Rather than say that Jesus appeared to His disciples, it says that He is reported to have appeared. And rather than say that the prophets prophesied about Him, it says that the prophets prophesied about the Messiah, who is not necessarily Jesus. So, from both versions of this quote, we can learn a few things:
�Jesus was known to be a good man
�He had many disciples
�He was crucified under Pontius Pilate
�He was reported to have risen from the dead and appeared to His disciples
�He was perhaps the Messiah
He convened a meeting of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus, who was called the Christ, and certain others. - Josephus, quote from the Antiquities
This quote, also from Josephus, is not as well-known as the previous one, but its authenticity is not disputed. From this small quote we can corroborate that Jesus was called the Messiah.
On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf." But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover! - The Talmud
The Jewish Talmud is the collection of the Jewish oral traditions. It was put together by various rabbis and completed in the fifth century. It contains two parts: the Mishnah and the Gemaras. This quote is from the earliest period of compilation, the Tannaitic period, which was from 70-200 AD. From this quote we learn a few facts:
�Jesus (Yeshu) was crucified (crucifixion, under Jewish law, was the same as hanging) on the eve of Passover
�Jesus was accused of sorcery; note that His miracles are not denied, just explained away as sorcery
�Jesus was accused of leading Israel into apostasy
The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account�You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then 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
Lucian was a second century Greek satirist who, as is evident from this quote, criticized Christians and Christianity. From this quote, we learn a few things:
�Jesus was crucified
�Jesus was a "sage" and "lawgiver"
�Jesus was worshipped
�Jesus taught that all believers are brothers
�Jesus taught not to worship the gods of Greece
"one whom they still worship, the man who was crucified in Palestine because he introduced this new cult into the world." - Lucian
This, another quote from Lucian, corroborates that Jesus was crucified in Palestine.
They (the Christians) were ion 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 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 the Younger
Pliny the Younger, a Roman administrator, served as governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. Ten books of his letters have survived until today, and the above quote comes from the tenth book. From this quote we can corroborate that Jesus was worshipped as God.
These are the best and clearest early non-Christian references to Jesus' life that we have. While there are others (such as from Thallus, Mara Bar-Serapion, and other quotes from the Talmud), I chose not to include them because they are either unclear (such as the quotes from Mara Bar-Serapion and Thallus), too late (such as other quotes from the Talmud), or they provide information about the early Christians and not about Jesus specifically.
We can sum up the main information gained about Jesus from these sources in four points
�He was crucified in Palestine under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius
�Jesus was reported to have risen from the dead and appeared to His disciples
�Jesus was known as a wise sage and law-giver
�Jesus was worshipped as God and considered the Messiah
While we can gain other information from these sources, these four facts sum up the main points about Jesus and His life.
One may ask why, if Jesus was so important and had such a huge impact on life, is He not mentioned more often in secular history? Well, Judaism was a small religion confined mostly to Palestine, and most people back then were pagans and didn't care about Judaism. Many people claiming to be the Messiah had come and gone, so one more was nothing new. Christianity started out as a small, insignificant cult, but eventually grew to the world religion we know today.
