This post is part of a series "Let's Read: Did Jesus Exist? by Bart Ehrman, PhD" on the historicity of Jesus. In this series I will summarize the ideas of Dr. Ehrman, provide some of my own commentary, and attempt to glean historical information regarding the (supposed) life of Jesus. I recommend buying a copy of his book for yourself.
This part of our search falls under the "History" branch of my philosophy tree. Click on the tree over on the top left of the page to see where this evidence fits in to the big picture.
Keep in mind that I am limiting my scope, for now, to only address Roman sources. (I will look at Jewish and Christian sources soon)
Were there any historical sources for the existence of Jesus outside of the books included in the New Testament?
Yes, but at least these three of the earliest Roman sources don't tell us much.
1. Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger was the governor of Bithynia-Pontus, a Roman province. In a letter to the emperor, Trajan, written in 112 CE, Pliny mentions that Christians would "sing hymns to Christ as to a god." This isn't much to go on--it simply indicates that Christians existed about 80 years after the death of Jesus, and utilizes the epithet of "Christ".
2. Suetonius
Suetonius was a Roman biographer. He provides even less information than Pliny the Younger. He makes a single reference that may refer to Jesus in a biography written in 115 CE (a biography about Claudius, who was the emperor of Rome from 41 to 54 CE): he says that a series of riots had taken place "at the instigation of Chrestus." This may be a misspelling of "Christ". Even if it is, it doesn't tell us anything more than Pliny the Younger. All it would indicate is that Christians existed during the reign of Claudius. Even so, it should probably be discounted--Chrestus may be an actual name.
3. Tacitus
Ehrman notes that Tacitus made an error regarding the rank of Pilate--Tacitus says that he was a procurator, when in fact he was a governor. This is useful information, because it indicates that Tacitus probably didn't look up an official record to supply his information about the execution. This means that Tacitus probably got his information from stories that were circulating about 80 years after the (supposed) death of Jesus (if he existed).
In conclusion, these three Roman accounts aren't very useful. They simply indicate that Christians existed shortly after the time that Jesus would have died, and provide a few details that would have been included in stories that were circulating about Jesus.
Fortunately, this isn't the end of our historical quest. There are much better sources that provide much better information. Look for these in posts over the next week.
This part of our search falls under the "History" branch of my philosophy tree. Click on the tree over on the top left of the page to see where this evidence fits in to the big picture.
Keep in mind that I am limiting my scope, for now, to only address Roman sources. (I will look at Jewish and Christian sources soon)
Were there any historical sources for the existence of Jesus outside of the books included in the New Testament?
Yes, but at least these three of the earliest Roman sources don't tell us much.
1. Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger was the governor of Bithynia-Pontus, a Roman province. In a letter to the emperor, Trajan, written in 112 CE, Pliny mentions that Christians would "sing hymns to Christ as to a god." This isn't much to go on--it simply indicates that Christians existed about 80 years after the death of Jesus, and utilizes the epithet of "Christ".
2. Suetonius
Suetonius was a Roman biographer. He provides even less information than Pliny the Younger. He makes a single reference that may refer to Jesus in a biography written in 115 CE (a biography about Claudius, who was the emperor of Rome from 41 to 54 CE): he says that a series of riots had taken place "at the instigation of Chrestus." This may be a misspelling of "Christ". Even if it is, it doesn't tell us anything more than Pliny the Younger. All it would indicate is that Christians existed during the reign of Claudius. Even so, it should probably be discounted--Chrestus may be an actual name.
3. Tacitus
Tacitus was a Roman Historian. He wrote the Annals of Imperial Rome in 115 CE, which is a history of Rome documenting the time period from 14 to 68 CE. Tacitus writes:
This is much better than the information we have from Pliny the Younger and Suetonius. It indicates that Tacitus knew that "Christ" was put to death by Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Ehrman points out that can infer that this execution took place in Judea, because that is where Pilate was governor.“Nero falsely accused those whom… the populace called Christians. The author of this name, Christ, was put to death by the procurator, Pontius Pilate, while Tiberius was emperor; but the dangerous superstition, though suppressed for the moment, broke out again not only in Judea, the origin of this evil, but even in the city [of Rome].”
Ehrman notes that Tacitus made an error regarding the rank of Pilate--Tacitus says that he was a procurator, when in fact he was a governor. This is useful information, because it indicates that Tacitus probably didn't look up an official record to supply his information about the execution. This means that Tacitus probably got his information from stories that were circulating about 80 years after the (supposed) death of Jesus (if he existed).
In conclusion, these three Roman accounts aren't very useful. They simply indicate that Christians existed shortly after the time that Jesus would have died, and provide a few details that would have been included in stories that were circulating about Jesus.
Fortunately, this isn't the end of our historical quest. There are much better sources that provide much better information. Look for these in posts over the next week.
