What do ancient extra-biblical sources say about Jesus, if anything? And why does it matter? Do we really need to venture outside of the Bible in order to establish the historicity of Jesus Christ and the claims of Christianity? These are good questions that deserve to be taken seriously. It will be the point of this series to address primarily the first question. The last question will receive a short reply in our last installment. As for the second question, however, it really does matter that there are ancient extra-biblical sources that refer to biblical events and persons in general and to Jesus in particular.

We live in a skeptical intellectual time, particularly when it comes to viewing the Bible as a source of accurate historical information. In our previous series, we sought to establish the truthfulness of the biblical writers. But how do we address the questions of those whose honest skepticism  provokes them to an a priori dismissal of the Bible altogether? Where might we begin? Perhaps reliable ancient historical sources outside of the Bible, if they exist, may provide us with information about the historical Jesus that corroborates the gospel accounts and shores up the Bible’s trustworthiness in the eyes of such critics.

In fact, it may surprise some people to learn that seventeen non-Christian sources that mention Jesus or refer to Christianity were penned within 100 to 150 years of Jesus’ life, which is an excellent historical distance. Among these sources there are twelve that address Jesus’ death and half that refer to Jesus as deity (Habermas). Why is this significant? If hostile or indifferent Roman pagans and unbelieving Jews provide facts about Jesus and the movement he spawned, then we would have strong warrant to believe that he existed, that the events surrounding his life really happened, and the claims that he and his followers made are historical.

Our objective in this series is to take a close look at one of these sources, namely the great Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, and the centuries old debate which has swirled around his testimony to the historical Jesus. Did he or did he not write what has come down to us as his received text? In our next post, we will begin to address this question by getting to know the man so that we might better understand his work.

Blessings,

Arnie Gentile

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