Roman historian Suetonius writes:

• “He (Emperor Claudius) expelled the Jews from Rome (in 49 AD; also mentioned in Acts 18:2), on account of the riots in which they were constantly indulging, at the instigation of Chrestus.” (As we see in the book of Acts, some Jews believed Jesus was the Christ, while others rejected this and persecuted His followers. The resulting turmoil among the Jews of Rome led to their being expelled for a period of time, as the Roman officials tried to understand this new teaching.)

• He also speaks of “the Christians, a body of people addicted to a novel and mischievous superstition”.

• Seutonius also says, “There had spread all over the East an odd and established belief that it was fated for men coming from Judaea at that time to rule the world.”(1)

 

Roman historian Tacitus writes:

• “They got their name from Christ, who was executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius. That checked the pernicious superstition for a short time, but it broke out afresh- not only in Judaea, where the plague first arose, but in Rome itself…”(2)

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Roman government official Pliny, in correspondence with the Emperor Trajan about 111 AD, reported that he had investigated the Christians and:

• “they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before sunrise and reciting an antiphonal hymn to Christ as God”

• “and then meet again to partake of food, but food of an ordinary and innocent kind” (in response to the rumor that Christians were cannibals who would eat someone’s flesh and drink his blood) (3)

 

Greek historian Thallus, and another Greek writer, Phlegon:

• both refer to an earthquake and an un-natural darkness that occurred at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion in 33 AD (also mentioned in Matthew 27:45-52) (4)

 

Jewish historian Josephus:

• mentions John the Baptist, his life and death

• mentions James, the brother of Jesus “the so-called Christ”

• describes Jesus as being known as a miracle-worker and teacher, who claimed to be the Messiah/ Christ, and who was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate (5)

 

From the writings of Jewish rabbis (teachers) during this period:

• Jesus was descended from King David

• Mary was Jesus’ mother, “descended from princes and rulers”

• Jesus was a teacher who had disciples

• Jesus was put to death at the time of the Jewish Feast of Passover

• Jesus was “hanged” (either before or after dying)

• there is a possible allusion to the claim of his virgin birth

• one rabbi makes derogatory puns on “gospel,” changing the word slightly to say “falsehood of the scroll”

• Jesus claimed that he is God and that he would depart and come again; that he led many astray

• there is a synagogue prayer against “Nazarenes” (a name for followers of Jesus of Nazareth)

• there is a parody of part of Matthew’s Gospel dating from 73 AD or earlier

• About “Jesus the Nazarene”: “He shall be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and lured Israel into apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor let him come forward and plead on his behalf. Anyone who knows where he is, let him declare it to the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.” (apparently written during his lifetime!) (6)

 

A Roman decree concerning tombs, dated from the reign of Claudius in the 40s AD, on a marble inscription from near Jesus’ home-town of Nazareth, suggests a Roman attempt to stop the spread of the teaching of Jesus’ resurrection with this decree posted in his hometown:

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“Ordinances of Caesar. It is my pleasure that grave and tombs remain undisturbed in perpetuity for those who have made them for the cult of their ancestors, or children, or members of their house. If, however, any man lay information that another has demolished them, or has in any other way extracted the buried, or has maliciously transferred them to other places in order to wrong them, or has displaced the sealing or other stones, against such a one I order that a trial be instituted, as in respect of the gods, so in regard to the cult of mortals. For it shall be much more obligatory to honor the buried. Let it be absolutely forbidden for anyone to disturb them. In case of contravention I desire that the offender be sentenced to capital punishment on charge of violation of sepulcher.” (7)

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One historian’s summary of what we would know about Jesus from non-Christian sources of that generation:
“We would know that first, Jesus was a Jewish teacher; second, many people believed that he performed healings and exorcisms; third, some people believed he was the Messiah; fourth, he was rejected by the Jewish leaders; fifth, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius; sixth, despite his shameful death, his followers, who believed he was still alive, spread beyond Palestine so that there were multitudes of them in Rome by AD 64; and seventh, all kinds of people from the cities and countryside—men and women, slave and free—worshipped him as God.” (Dr. Edwin Yamauchi, as quoted in The Case for Christ, p. 87)

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End-notes:

1. Suetonius quotes (from Bruce, p. 20-22)

2. Tacitus quote (from Bruce, p. 22)

3. Pliny quote (from Bruce, pp.23-29)

4. Thallus and Phlegon reference (from Strobel, Case for Christ, pp. 84-85)

5. Josephus references (from Bruce, pp.32-53)

6. Rabbinical writings and quote (from Bruce, pp.54-65)

7. Inscription from Nazareth concerning tombs (from Blaiklock, p. 81)

 

New Testament References/Resources:

Barfield, Kenny. The Prophet Motive: Examining the Reliability of the Biblical Prophets. Publ. by Gospel Advocate, 1995. 340 pp.
Barnett, Paul. Is the New Testament History? Publ. by Vine Books, 1986. 173 pp.
Blaiklock, E.M. The Archaeology of the New Testament. Publ. by Zondervan, 1974, 198 pp.
Brantley, Garry. Digging for Answers: Has Archaeology Disproved the Bible? Publ. by Apologetics Press, 1995. 178 pp.
Bruce, F.F. Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament. Publ. by Eerdmans, 1974. 215 pp.
France, R.T. The Evidence for Jesus. Publ. by InterVarsity Press, 1986. 192 pp.
Janeway, Brian. “The Acts of the Apostles and the Archaeologists”, Bible and Spade, 12.2, pp.52-56.
Maier, Paul. “History, Archaeology, and Jesus”, Bible and Spade, 16.1, pp.21-27.
Price, Randall. The Stones Cry Out. Publ. by Harvest House, 1997. 433 pp.
Strobel, Lee. The Case for Christ. Publ. by Zondervan, 1998. 297 pp.
Strobel, Lee. The Case for Faith. Publ. by Zondervan, 2000. 298 pp.
Thiede, Carsten Peter. “A Testament is Born”, Christian History, Issue 43, pp. 24-29.

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