DAY 8
CHALLENGE
“What evidence do we have that Jesus even existed?”
DEFENSE
Apart from the references to Jesus in early Christian and non-Christian literature, the appearance and rapid spread of Christianity provide powerful evidence for the existence of Jesus.
Josephus indicates Jesus was a Jew in first-century Palestine (thus Jesus’ “brother” was executed in A.D. 62; Antiquities of the Jews 20:9:1).
Tacitus says Jesus was “executed during the rule of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate” (Annals 15:44). Pilate’s tenure was A.D. 26 to 36.
Writing around A.D. 110, Pliny the Younger notes he interviewed people in his province of Bithynia (in modern Turkey) who had been Christians twenty years earlier (c. 90). The movement had made such an impact on his territory that the sellers of animals for pagan sacrifices had suffered an economic downturn and pagan temples were almost deserted (Letters 96).
Tacitus and Suetonius speak of Christians in Rome during the reign of Nero (A.D. 54–68; Annals 15:44; Lives of the Caesars, “Nero” 16), and Suetonius appears to refer to them being there under Claudius (A.D. 41–54; Lives of the Caesars, “Claudius” 25).
Other first- and second-century sources show that the movement was in Syrian Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Philippi, and many other locations.
All sources agree that Christianity was a new movement, beginning in the first half of the first century. Christian sources even admit it did not begin until the fifteenth year of Tiberius (cf. Luke 3:1), or A.D. 29.
This means that Christianity spread extremely quickly, and it did so in an age without telecommunications, without the printing press, and when travel was difficult and dangerous. The only way for a move- ment to spread that quickly, under those conditions, is if it was both organized and driven by a powerful missionary impulse.
Early Christian writings reveal quite a bit about how the movement was organized. Its initial leaders were known as “apostles,” which in Greek means “sent ones.” So who did the sending? The sources we have are unanimous: Jesus of Nazareth. The apostles were sent by him.
In view of the rapid spread of Christianity, there is no reason to doubt this. Movements have founders, and they preserve the memo- ry of their founder. The appearance and growth of Christianity thus point to the existence of Jesus.