Evidence Outside the Bible Itself That Jesus Existed

There are some people who question whether or not Jesus of Nazareth ever existed. Many people on the Internet are debating this question even now. "After all", the argument goes, "if the only sources we have for the life of Jesus are in the Bible, and that was written by Christians trying to elevate Jesus to be the Son of God and start a new religion, then how do we know that Jesus really existed at all?" Below are four non-Christian sources from antiquity that reference the life of Jesus:

Flavius Josephus Jewish Antiquities (c.93 C.E.) (Josephus was a Jewish Historian)
(later interpolations in brackets)

"Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man [if it be lawful to call him a man], for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. [He was the Messiah.] And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him [for he appeared to them alive again at the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him]. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this date.¹

Pliny the Younger Letter to Trajan (c.111-117 C.E.) (Pliny was a Roman Governor)

"...they maintained that their fault or error amounted to nothing more than this: they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before sunrise and reciting an antiphonal hymn to Christ as God, and binding themselves with an oath not to commit any crime, but to abstain from all acts of theft, robbery and adultery, from breaches of faith, from repudiating a trust when called upon to honor it."²

Tacitus Roman Annals (c.115-117 C.E.) (Tacitus was a Roman Historian)

"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 Judea, where the plague first arose, but in Rome itself, where all the horrible and shameful things in the world collect and find a home."³

Sanhedrin 43a (200-500 C.E.)

"On the eve of the Passover Yeshu⁴ 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 Passover!"⁵

Jesus' life and ministry can be found by reading the accounts of those who knew him best: in the New Testament, they are the Gospel according to John, and Matthew. Luke is another excellent source, from the perspective of a first century Gentile Christian historian. Mark was written by Mark, a close associate of the Apostle Peter. John declares openly the purpose for which he wrote: "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ [Messiah, Savior], the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John, chapter 20, verses 30 and 31

Endnotes

¹Antiquities 18. 33 (early second century) from F.F. Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974), 37.
²Pliny, Epistles x.96, from Bruce, p.26.
³Tacitus, Annals xv, 44, from Bruce, p. 22.
⁴Talmudic designation of Jesus.
⁵"Sanhedrin," vol 3 of Nezikin, Babylonian Talmud, edited by Isidore Epstein, reprint (London: Soncino, 1938), 281.