Myth vs. Reality
What distinguishes myth from reality? How do we know, for example, that Alexander the Great really existed?
Historians believe Alexander existed because of three primary reasons:
written documentation from early historians
historical impact
other historical and archaeological evidence
The history of Alexander the Great and his military conquests is drawn from five ancient sources, none of whom were eyewitnesses. Although written 400 years after Alexanders death.
They based their information on prior accounts. Of these accounts not one survives and each presents a different "Alexander". Despite this historians are convinced that Alexander was a real man.
Now to Jesus.
We have the four gospels
As well as
- Apocalypse of Peter
- The Epistle of Barnabas
- Infancy Gospel of James
- Shepherd of Hermas
- 1 Clement
- Gospel of Thomas
- Lost Epistle to the Corinthians
- Third Letter to the Corinthians
- The Didache
But to truly discover the truth we will use His enemies.
His Jewish opponents had the most to gain by denying Jesus' existence. But the evidence points in the opposite direction. "Several Jewish writings also tell of His flesh-and-blood existence.
Both Gemaras of the Jewish Talmud refer to Jesus. Although these consist of only a few brief, bitter passages intended to discount Jesus' deity, these very early Jewish writings don't begin to hint that he was not a historical person.
Flavius Josephus was a noted Jewish historian who began writing under Roman authority in a.d. 67. Josephus, who was born just a few years after Jesus died, would have been keenly aware of Jesus' reputation among both Romans and Jews. In his famous Antiquities of the Jews (a.d. 93), Josephus wrote of Jesus as a real person.
What about secular historiansthose who lived in ancient times but weren't religiously motivated? There is current confirmation of at least 19 early secular writers who made references to Jesus as a real person.
One of antiquity's greatest historians, Cornelius Tacitus, affirmed that Jesus had suffered under Pilate. Tacitus was born around 25 years after Jesus died, and he had seen the spread of Christianity begin to impact Rome.
The Roman historian wrote negatively of Christ and Christians, identifying them in a.d. 115 as Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for the fire that had destroyed Rome in A.D. 64, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote:
Nero fastened the guilt . . . 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 . . . Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome. . .
What about the letters of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan. Pliny was the Roman governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. In one of his letters, dated around A.D. 112, he asks Trajan's advice about the appropriate way to conduct legal proceedings against those accused of being Christians. Pliny says that he needed to consult the emperor about this issue because a great multitude of every age, class, and sex stood accused of Christianity.
At one point in his letter, Pliny relates some of the information he has learned about these Christians:
They were in 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.
Josephus, a first century Jewish historian. On two occasions, in his Jewish Antiquities, he mentions Jesus.
And Edwin Yamauchi informs us that "few scholars have questioned" that Josephus actually penned this passage.
As interesting as this brief reference is, there is an earlier one, which is truly astonishing. Called the "Testimonium Flavianum," the relevant portion declares:
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he . . . wrought surprising feats. . . . He was the Christ. When Pilate . . .condemned him to be crucified, those who had . . . come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared . . . restored to life. . . . And the tribe of Christians . . . has . . . not disappeared.
Evidence from the Babylonian Talmud
There are only a few clear references to Jesus in the Babylonian Talmud, a collection of Jewish rabbinical writings compiled between approximately A.D. 70-500. Given this time frame, it is naturally supposed that earlier references to Jesus are more likely to be historically reliable than later ones. In the case of the Talmud, the earliest period of compilation occurred between A.D. 70-200. The most significant reference to Jesus from this period states:
On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald . . . cried, "He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy."
Evidence from Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a second century Greek satirist. In one of his works, he wrote of the early Christians as follows:
The Christians . . . worship a man to this day--the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. . . . [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.
The following facts about Jesus were written by early non-Christian sources:
Jesus was from Nazareth.
Jesus lived a wise and virtuous life.
Jesus was crucified in Palestine under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius Caesar at Passover time, being considered the Jewish king.
Jesus was believed by his disciples to have died and risen from the dead three days later.
Jesus' enemies acknowledged that he performed unusual feats they called "sorcery."
Jesus' small band of disciples multiplied rapidly, spreading as far as Rome.
Jesus' disciples denied polytheism, lived moral lives, and worshiped Christ as God.
Theologian Norman Geisler remarked:
All of these independent accounts, religious and secular, speak of a real man who matches up well with the Jesus in the Gospels.
Encyclopedia Britannica cites these various secular accounts of Jesus' life as convincing proof of his existence. It states:
"These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus.
Historical Impact
An important distinction between a myth and a real person is how the figure impacts history. For example, books have been written and movies produced about King Arthur of Camelot and his Knights of the Roundtable. These characters have become so notorious that many believe they were real people. But historians who have searched for clues to their existence have been unable to discover any impact they have had on laws, ethics, or religion. This lack of historical impact indicates King Arthur and his Knights of the Roundtable are simply mythical.
The historian Thomas Carlyle said, "No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men." As Carlyle notes, it is real people, not myths, who impact history.
What of Jesus Christ and his impact on our world?
Ancient Rome lies in ruins. Caesar's mighty legions and the Roman imperial power have faded into oblivion. Yet Jesus is remembered today? What is his enduring influence?
More books have been written about Jesus than about any other person in history.
Nations have used his words as the bedrock of their governments.
His Sermon on the Mount established a new paradigm in ethics and morals.
Schools, hospitals, and humanitarian works have been founded in his name.
The elevated role of women in Western culture traces its roots back to Jesus.
Slavery was abolished in Britain and America due to Jesus' teaching that each human life is valuable.
Former drug and alcohol dependents, prostitutes, and others seeking purpose in life claim him as the explanation for their changed lives.
Two billion people call themselves Christians.
Remarkably, Jesus made all of this impact as a result of just a three-year period of public ministry. When world historian H. G. Wells was asked who has left the greatest legacy on history, he replied, "By this test Jesus stands first.
One of the keys here for Durant and other scholars is the time factor. Myths and legends usually take hundreds of years to evolve. News of Christianity, on the other hand, spread too quickly to be attributed to a myth or legend. Had Jesus not existed, those who opposed Christianity would certainly have labeled him a myth from the outset. But they didn't.
Few if any serious historians would agree with you that Jesus didn't exist.