New Testament Christology

The Humanity of Christ

The So-Called Historical Jesus

In the late 19th century (1892) a German theologian by the name of Martin Khler wrote a book
called The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ which sought to distinguish
between the man Jesus who actually existed in history and the Christ of the Gospels whom the
Church proclaimed as Lord and Savior. This marked a distinction that had not previously been
made, in that the Church had never seen a distinction between the two, the man Jesus was (is) the
eternal Son of God incarnate and the Christ of the New Testament was (is) the Jesus of history.

Historical Evidence for Jesus

Believe it or not there are actually some skeptics who deny the existence of Jesus. A common
skeptical argument says that the Gospels are unreliable because they were written by believers in
Jesus and record faith commitments, not history. Skeptics also like to throw away Pauls witness by
claiming that he knew nothing of the so-called Historical Jesus but rather he only knew of a cosmic
Christ who has no foundation in history. Regardless of what skeptics say the NT is our best source
of information and provides the most historical evidence for the life of Jesus.

The Gospels

The Gospels are ancient biographies (Gk. bioi = lives). They can be classified as such since they focus
on a single historical character and the events surrounding his/her life (as opposed to the genre of
history proper which focused on many characters and events) while drawing significantly from
historical traditions. Ancient biographies, as opposed to modern biographies, werent concerned
with giving a chronological record of the events recorded, nor did they always begin with (or give
significant information concerning) the childhood of the main character. While each Gospel paints
a distinctive portrait of Jesus and many differences can be noted between them, theyre all in
general agreement with each other over Jesus life, death, and resurrection. Each Gospel presents
Jesus as calling Israel to repentance, performing miracles, healing the sick, and casting out demons.
Each Gospel presents Jesus as being betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, and being
handed over to Jewish authorities who then took him to Pilate to be crucified. All four Gospels
agree that crucifixion was the means of Jesus death and that he was buried the same day that he
died. All four Gospels also agree that Jesus rose from the dead and then was seen by his disciples.

Pauls Epistles
The Apostle Paul also provides evidence for the existence of Jesus although he doesnt do so in the
manner that some skeptics would like him to. Skeptics often criticize Paul for not providing the
same kind of information that the Gospels do but this objection dismisses the genre, occasion, and
audience of each writing. Its important to remember that Paul wrote letters to churches that were
occasional in nature, i.e., he wrote to address specific situations or questions relevant to his
churches. But in every letter the existence of Jesus is taken for granted since these are people who
have already heard the Gospel (i.e., that Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected three days
later). There was no need to rehearse already accepted facts although at times Paul does give the
type of information that the skeptic is in search of. For example Paul notes:

That Jesus was the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16);

That Jesus was a descendant of David (Rom. 1:3; in 9:5 he makes explicit mention of the
human ancestry of the Messiah [TNIV] which tells us that Paul was interested in a
particular person in history and not some phantom savior; cf. Gal. 4:4-5 which may reflect
familiarity with Jesus virginal conception [see Matt. 1 & Luke 1]);
That Jesus had a brother named James (Gal. 1:19)
That Jesus primary ministry was to Israel (Rom. 15:8)
The words of Jesus from the Last Supper (1Cor. 11:23-25)
That Jesus was crucified (1Cor. 1:23; 2:2, 8; 13:4; Gal. 3:1)
That Jesus was resurrected (1Cor. 15:1-8)

Extra-Biblical Witnesses to the Existence of Jesus

Many people are under the impression that if Jesus was such an important figure then we should
read about him in detail from a variety of ancient sources outside of the New Testament. Skeptics
often suggest that there is no evidence (or if they admit any evidence at all they write it off as
ambiguous or later Christian forgeries) for the life of Jesus outside of the NT. In point of fact there
are some significant, albeit scant, references to Jesus in non-biblical material. Darrell L. Bock
explains why it is amazing and significant that Jesus shows up at all in the sources we have.1 To
summarize his three points:

1. We lack records from numerous major figures of the ancient world.

2. We possess few of the potential sources from first-century Judea and its environs (only
three major Jewish sources: Josephus; Philo; The Dead Sea Scrolls2).
3. From a Roman perspective Jesus was a seemingly minor figure.

Listed below are the two most significant extra-biblical references to Jesus.

1Darrell L. Bock, Studying the Historical Jesus: A Guide to Sources and Methods (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002),
46.

2Philo rarely mentions contemporary events and the Dead Sea Scrolls are not dedicated to historical description when
they do cover matters of history, i.e., they treat history with largely descriptive and symbolic imagery that is more
allusive in character. (Studying the Historical Jesus, 46)
The Roman historian Tacitus said:

Therefore, to squelch the rumor [that the burning of Rome had taken place by
order], Nero supplied (as culprits) and punished in the most extraordinary fashion
those hated for their vice, whom the crowd called "Christians." Christus, the author
of their name, had suffered the death penalty during the reign of Tiberius, by
sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate. The pernicious superstition was checked
for a time, only to break out once more, not merely in Judea, the origin of the evil,
but in the capital itself, where all things horrible and shameful collect and are
practiced. (Annals 15.44)

The Jewish historian Josephus said:

At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man.
For he was a doer of amazing deeds, a teacher of persons who receive truth with
pleasure. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. And
when Pilate condemned him to the cross, the leading men among us having accused
him, those who loved him from the first did not cease to do so. For he appeared to
them the third day alive again, the divine prophets having spoken these things and a
myriad of other marvels concerning him. And to the present the tribe of Christians,
named after this person, has not disappeared. (Antiquities 18.63-64)3

He (Ananus) convened the council of judges and brought before it the brother of
Jesusthe one called "Christ"whose name was James, and certain others.
Accusing them of transgressing the law he delivered them up for stoning. But those
of the city considered to be the most fair-minded and strict concerning the laws
were offended at this and sent to the king secretly urging him to order Ananus to
take such actions no longer. (Antiquities 20.200-201)

Other early sources of lesser significance are as follows:

Suetonius Life of Claudius 25.4; Life of Nero 16.2

Pliny the Younger Epistles 10.96-97
Julius Africanus on Thallus
Lucian of Samasota The Passing of Peregrinus
Mara bar Serapion
Celcus Contra Celsum 1.6, 38, 46, 68, 71; 2.9, 14, 16; 2.6; 3.1; 5.51; 6.42

If one accepts the distinction between the Jesus of History and the Christ of Faith then these
references are decidedly less important than those quoted above but even if one denies the
distinction these references are vaguer (e.g., Mara bar Serapion or Suetonius) and less useful.

3 Note that the italicized portion represents a later Christian interpolation of the passage and it most likely not original to
Josephus. This is not overly significant though since all of the material that can be confidently attributed to Josephus gives
more than enough information concerning the historicity of Jesus.