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You are here: Experts > Religion/Spirituality > Theology > Christianity--Church History > Roman and Greek proof of Jesus' miracles
Expert: Dean Gade - 10/24/2009
Question
QUESTION: I just had a conference with my son’s agnostic/atheist world history teacher. I expressed my concern of him pushing his views on such young minds. My conversation, with a councilor present, went very well from my point of view.
An issue came up, however, that I think would make a huge impact on this young teacher. He made the statement that he had studied the early manuscripts and can find no writings of Roman or Greek origin that support Jesus' miracles. He said all of the writings were by Jesus' followers. I have heard that there is some third party evidence in the past, but I have no idea where I heard this. I am appealing to you or someone you might know to help me produce some of this information so I can share this with this teacher. I feel like this one bit of information would have a dramatic effect on this teacher.
My experience has been, it's not the people that question and research that end up in hell. It is usually the people who don't care to find out. Please let me know if you know of anything or anyone that would help in this situation.
Thanks,
ANSWER: There has not been any person who lived around the time of Jesus that had as many eyewitness writers concerning them as Jesus did. All other historical people had only one or two who were eyewitnesses. To argue that it was Jesus "followers" who wrote about Him doesn't change the fact that the "followers" of other historical figures on or before Jesus' time DIDN'T write about them nor did non-followers who may have been eyewitnesses.
Josephus, a Jewish historian, who was not a follower of Jesus, did write about Jesus. But since Josephus didn't believe in miracles, he didn't give Jesus credit concerning these things because he didn't believe in them.
We, who know that Jesus has risen and is still alive and active in our lives know of His miracles. But we cannot expect those who deny His divinity to have any faith in what was written by earlier followers. Those earlier followers say the same thing:
1 Co 1:20-22
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age ? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
NIV
2 Co 4:3-4
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
NIV
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you so much for taking time to answer my question!
Can you point me to Josephus' writings? This is a good answer for me because I believe, but this teacher will not respect this answer because of the reasons mentioned in the scriptures themselves. I will, however, use these scriptures in my follow up e-mail later.
In order to reach this guy, I think I need to analyze Josephus, or if there are any others, even if they don't believe. Jesus, as a person, spoke to nonbelievers and they fell on the ground at the mere hearing of his voice. This would have to show up somewhere.
Answer
I will try to copy from one of the works of Flavius Josephus wherein he writes about Jesus the Christ. He seems to have had more "belief" in Jesus than I had recalled from reading him in the past.
"Chapter 3 - Sedition Of The Jews Against Pontius Pilate. Concerning Christ, And What Befell Paulina And The Jews At Rome
3. 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] Christ. 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 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 day."
(from Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
"Chapter 9 - Concerning Albinus Under Whose Procuratorship James Was Slain; As Also What Edifices Were Built By Agrippa
Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus , who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrim without his consent."
(from Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
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