These early non-Christian sources provide the following facts about Jesus Christ:

• Jesus was from Nazareth.
• Jesus lived a wise and virtuous life.
• Jesus was crucified in Judea under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius Caesar at Passover time, being considered the Jewish king.
• Jesus was believed by his disciples to have died and risen from the dead three days later.
• Jesus’ enemies acknowledged that he performed unusual feats.
• Jesus’ disciples multiplied rapidly, spreading as far as Rome.
• Jesus’ disciples lived moral lives and worshiped Christ as God.

This general outline of Jesus’ life agrees perfectly with the New Testament.[23]

Gary Habarmas notes, “In total, about one-third of these non-Christian sources date from the first century; a majority originate no later than the mid-second century.”[24] According to the Encyclopedia Britannica “These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus.”[25]

Early Christian Accounts

Early Christians wrote thousands of letters, sermons and commentaries about Jesus. Also, creeds which speak of Jesus, appeared as early as five years after his crucifixion.[26]

These non-biblical writings confirm most New Testament details about Jesus, including his crucifixion and resurrection.[27]

Incredibly, over 36,000 complete or partial such writings have been discovered, some from the first century.[28] These non-biblical writings could reconstruct the entire New Testament except for a few verses.[29]

Each of these authors writes of Jesus as a real person. Christ-mythers disregard these accounts as biased. But the question they must answer is: How could a mythical Jesus have so much written about him within a few decades of his life?

Continue reading page 6 of 9 about “Was Jesus a Real Person?”