Crucifixion Earthquake and the Darkness Referenced Outside the Bible
One of the best attested events in the entire Bible is the death of Jesus. Not only do we have four different Gospel writers testifying to it, we also have writings from Paul, Peter, and the author of Hebrews. Additionally, we have several crucifixion references outside the New Testament from people like Josephus, Tacitus, Lucian of Samosata, and Mara Bar Serapion.
These sources are well documented. The evidence for Jesus’ crucifixion is so strong that skeptics like Bart Ehrman admit it’s a matter of fact. John Dominic Cross — another skeptic — affirms, “Jesus’ death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is as sure as anything historical can ever be.”1
Be that as it may, what does this prove? Does this prove that Jesus’ death was for the sins of the whole world? Not necessarily. The evidence simply proves that the Gospels, at minimum, report Jesus’ crucifixion accurately.
But what if we had evidence for other supernatural events that coincided with the crucifixion? Wouldn’t this be a strong indicator that something more than a physical death occurred on the cross? In other words, wouldn’t the surrounding supernatural events indicate that what happened on the cross was also supernatural? I believe it would.
EARTHQUAKE AND DARKNESS
When you read the Passion narratives in the synoptic Gospels, you’ll notice that each of them reports unusual events surrounding the crucifixion — midday darkness (Matt. 27:45; Mk. 15:33; Lk. 23:44) and an earthquake (Matt. 27:51).
Earthquakes and darkness aren’t necessarily supernatural events. The timing and location of them, though, with respect to Jesus’ death is highly coincidental if these are just random events.
We should also remember that these events didn’t occur in a vacuum. Keep in mind, Jesus publicly taught that he had come to “die as a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28). Furthermore, he had the reputation as an authoritative teacher, a miracle worker, and someone who claimed to be the Son of God. When you consider the context, the earthquake and darkness are difficult to brush aside as mere coincidences..
But are we even sure the earthquake and darkness happened? The skeptic argues that the Gospels are unreliable and can’t be trusted. But we’ve already established that the Gospels are accurate with respect to Jesus’ crucifixion. Why wouldn’t they report the surrounding events accurately as well? Furthermore, what if we had a non-Biblical source corroborating these details? Wouldn’t that be a strong indicator that the earthquake and darkness occurred? Well it just so happens that we have one such source.
EARTHQUAKE AND DARKNESS CORROBORATED
Understandably, most of the works of ancient antiquity are lost to us. Frequently, however, we find bits and pieces of these lost works quoted in other ancient writers. One such example comes from the pen of Julius Africanus writing around AD 221.
Though writing in the third century, Africanus quotes from an ancient history book on the Eastern Mediterranean world written by a historian named Thallus around the year AD 52.2 That is to say, Thallus wrote his history even before the Gospels were written, and thus, he’s reporting independent of them.
Other ancients reference this same work by Thallus also, so we know Africanus isn’t making up this source. Interestingly, Thallus happens to reference the earthquake and darkness at Jesus’ death. The quote reads:
On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.3
Not surprisingly, Thallus — who’s not a Christian himself — rationalizes the darkness by stating it was an eclipse. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have more context for this quote. We don’t know if Thallus mentions Jesus or not, but the events he describes in “Judea” certainly corroborate the Gospel accounts.
SUPERNATURAL EVENT
When you consider the earthquake and darkness surrounding Jesus’ death, it’s hard to deny that something of cosmic proportions took place on the cross that day. After all, we don’t have any record of earthquakes or midday darkness for any other crucifixions. It seems reasonable to suggest, then, that Jesus’ death was truly significant. Namely, his death was for the sins of the whole world.
