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Historical Evidence Concerning the Life of Jesus

Historical Evidence Concerning the Life of Jesus. F. W. Mattox, The Eternal Kingdom: A History of the Church of Christ , Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1961. Josephus. Born 37 A.D., the son of Matthias, a Jew. He was highly respected by the Romans.

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Historical Evidence Concerning the Life of Jesus

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  1. Historical Evidence Concerning the Life of Jesus F. W. Mattox, The Eternal Kingdom: A History of the Church of Christ, Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1961.

  2. Josephus • Born 37 A.D., the son of Matthias, a Jew. • He was highly respected by the Romans. • With Titus when he destroyed Jerusalem (70 A.D.) and wrote History of the Jewish War. • He wrote Jewish Antiquities and his autobiography. • Concerning Jesus, he said: • He was a wise man, performed many wonderful works. He was the Christ. • He was a teacher of those who received the truth with pleasure, both Jew and Gentile. • He documented Jesus’ trial with Pilate, his crucifixion and resurrection.

  3. Carius Cornelius Tacitus • The testimony of this 100 A.D. writer who had a strong dislike for Christians includes: • Christ is the founder of the Christian movement. • Christ was put to death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate. • Christ’s death was during the reign of Tiberius, therefore His birth must have been during the reign of Augustus.

  4. Tacitus continued • Christianity began in Judea, was suppressed for a time, reemerged and reached Rome before Tacitus wrote his Annuls. • Christians were persecuted in Rome as early as 64 A.D. • Vast multitudes of Christians were executed to gratify the cruelty of Nero. • Tacitus recognized they were innocent of the crimes charged against them. • His testimony confirms facts of the gospels, as well as the Christian dispersion as recorded in Acts.

  5. Suetonius • Born about 88 A.D., Suetonius confirmed the expulsion of the Jews from Rome (Acts 18:2) commanded by Claudius in his Life of Claudius. • He confirmed the Christian religion arose in the time and place set forth in the New Testament.

  6. Pliny the Younger • Born in A.D. 61, Pliny the Younger was sent by Emperor Trajan to Bithynia in A.D. 112. • He told of the moral integrity of the Christians and gave historical evidence concerning Christ. • He wrote to Emperor Trajan asking how to handle Christians brought before him.

  7. Conclusion • These writers give irrefutable evidence that within one man’s lifetime the church had spread from its beginning in Jerusalem to the entire Roman Empire. • So successful were the early Christians with evangelism that in some places pagan temples were being neglected. • These writers also give undeniable proof of the accuracy/truthfulness of the gospel accounts about the life of Christ.

  8. Conclusion • In particular, they confirm the following: • Jesus was not an ordinary man. • Jesus selected and taught the apostles, who then witnessed His ministry, death, burial and resurrection. • Jesus was an actual, historical figure. • Jesus ministry with miracles/signs, His atoning death and bodily resurrection were attested to by historical developments, such as Peter’s Pentecost sermon (Acts 2).

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