Is Jesus a Myth?

Did Jesus ever exist? Or is he a myth — a figment of our imagination? Sure, the Bible tells us about Jesus, but isn’t it simply a religious text? Skeptics often declare, “take the Bible away, and all its biased accounts, and there is no historical evidence for Jesus’ existence.” But is that true?

EARLIEST DOCUMENTS

Before I demonstrate why the skeptic’s claim is false, let me explain why I think it’s an unfair proposition. First, the four Gospels, Acts, and New Testament letters are the best and earliest documents that we have for Jesus. Some of them even date within 20-30 years of Jesus’ death. Just because they are part of the New Testament, doesn’t mean we should disregard them as non-historical. What most fail to realize is that these documents circulated the Roman Empire for three centuries before church councils officially compiled them into the New Testament.

Additionally, these aren’t merely religious texts; they make historical claims — ones open to inquiry. Of all the documentation we have of Jesus, the New Testament documents give us the most detailed account of his life, ministry, death, and resurrection. Saying that you can’t use the twenty-seven New Testament documents as evidence for Jesus is like telling someone you can’t use the Gallic Wars, Cicero, or Plutarch to prove Julius Caesars‘ existence. Why say you can’t use the best sources to give evidence of someone’s life? This doesn’t make any sense.

BIASED?

Second, just because Jesus’ closest followers wrote these documents doesn’t mean that they report inaccurate history. Skeptics like to say that these writers were biased, and therefore couldn’t report Jesus’ accounts objectively. This argument doesn’t follow. To be sure, every writer has their own bias – Christian and non-Christian alike. I have my own presuppositions and so do you. But does that mean we can’t look at the facts objectively and report them accurately? I don’t think so. Moreover, it’s not unusual for the best history to come from people who have a stake in the game.

Let me give you an example. The best accounts we have of the Holocaust come from Jewish sources. Do you think they were dispassionate about reporting what happened at Auschwitz? Not a chance. Nevertheless, their conviction led them to report the most detailed and credible account of what happened in those concentration camps. It was their personal investment that propelled them to do the tedious research to make sure they got the facts straight, so that the world would know the atrocities of the Nazi regime and never allow something like this to happen again.

The same goes for the Gospel writers. Of all the people in the world, they were in the best position to give us the most accurate representation of Jesus. They experienced, firsthand, Jesus’ resurrection and knew the rest of the world needed to know exactly what happened. Those who say that the Gospel writers couldn’t report objective history because of their bias say so without merit.

EXTRA-BIBLICAL SOURCES

Those points aside, I’ll play the skeptic’s game for the moment. Several sources exist that reference Jesus of Nazareth in ancient history. I’ll mention four of them briefly — two Roman and two Jewish.

TACITUS, ROMAN HISTORIAN (A.D. 115)

Most historians consider Tacitus as the greatest of all ancient Roman historians.  In his great work, Annals, Tacitus describes Nero’s brutality toward the Christians in Rome on the heels of the great Roman fire in A.D. 64. Most speculated that Nero caused the fire himself, and to avoid public shame, he shifted the blame to the Christians living in the city. Tacitus describes this account:

Therefore, to squelch the rumor, Nero created scapegoats and subjected to the most refined tortures those whom the common people called “Christians,” a group hated for their abominable crimes. The author of this name, Christ, during the reign of Tiberius, had been executed by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Suppressed for the moment, the deadly superstition broke out again, not only in Judea, the land which originated this evil, but also in the city of Rome, where all sorts of horrendous and shameful practices from every part of the world converge and are fervently cultivated.

PLINY THE YOUNGER, ROMAN GOVERNOR (A.D. 112)

Pliny served as the governor of Bithynia in modern-day Turkey from A.D. 98-117. In one of his many letters, Pliny writes to Emperor Trajan asking for counsel on how to proceed with the Christian influence in his region. Here is Pliny’s description of the early Christians:

That it was their habit on a fixed day to assemble before daylight and recite by turns a form of words to Christ as a god; and that they bound themselves with an oath, not for any crime, but not to commit theft or robbery or adultery, nor to break their word, and not to deny a deposit when demanded. After this, they went on, it was their custom to separate, and then meet again to partake of food, but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.

JOSEPHUS, JEWISH HISTORIAN (A.D. 93)

Josephus was the son of a Jewish priest and eventually became a Pharisee himself. In his adulthood, he led the Jewish Galilean forces against the Romans in which he became a prisoner of war A.D. 67. Eventually Emperor Vespasian freed him and gave him permission to write a Jewish history where he happens to mention Jesus a couple of times. His most famous reference, known as the Testimonium Flavianum, describes an important reference to Jesus:

At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross,those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians named after him has not died out.

THE TALMUD, SANHEDRIN 43A

The dating of this reference is difficult since the compilation of the Talmud took place over a few hundred years. The portion that references Jesus most likely dates between A.D. 70-200¹. While some of its contents are questionable, nevertheless, this quote is telling in how the early Jews negatively viewed Jesus:

On the eve of the Passover Yeshu (Jesus) was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, “He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.” But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.

JESUS IS NO MYTH

Here is what we learn about Jesus from these four references:

1. He lived during the reign of Emperor Tiberius.
2. People knew him as a wise man and teacher.
3. He had a reputation for being a miracle-worker, although accused of sorcery.
4. He had several disciples.
5. Both Jews and Gentiles followed him.
6. The Jewish leaders handed him over to Pilate.
7. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
8. He was crucified during Passover week.
9. The Christian movement was only suppressed for a moment at his death, but then broke out again.
10. His disciples continued to claim allegiance to him even after his death.
11. Despite his gruesome death, Christianity spread all across the Roman Empire to places like Rome and Turkey.
12. His early followers gathered every week on a fixed day (probably Sunday).
13. Early Christians worshipped him as God.
14. His followers were committed to his ethical teachings to not steal, commit adultery, lie, or be greedy.
15. Christians experienced extreme persecution for their faith.

Not bad considering we didn’t use the Bible!