Historical Evidence of Jesus Outside the Bible

A common argument I hear being voiced is that we don’t have evidence for Jesus outside the Bible and Christian sources. This is in no way true and has not true grounding in historical fact. Here is a list which is by no means comprehensive.

Tasictus (c. 56-120 AD):

• In 116 AD, Tasictus, a Roman historian wrote about Jesus in his book “Annals”

• He was not a believer

Tasictus, Annals 15.44

Christians derived their name from a man called Christus, who, during the reign of Emperor Tiberius had been executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate. The deadly superstition, thus checked for the moment, broke out afresh not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but also in the City of Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world meet and become popular.

Josephus (c. 37-100 AD)

Josephus the Jewish historian writes about Jesus in Antiquities of the Jews and Testimonium Flavianum.

He wrote:

• About Jesus being a wise teacher
• His crucifixion under Pilate
• Claims of Jesus’ resurrection, he did not believe in the resurrection but wrote that there were people who believed it happened.

Suetonius (c. 69-122 AD)

Suetonius was a Roman historian who wrote about Jesus in The Twelve Caesars.

Babylonian Talmud, (c. 200-500 AD):

There are negative references to Christ in the Talmud which said that he was a sorcerer. This is fascinating because the enemies wrote that Jesus supposedly performed miracles.