Dr. Robert C.Newman

BiblicalTheological Seminary

Hatfield, PA

 

                                        SEARCHFOR THE HISTORICAL JESUS

 

Some RecentExamples

 

1. The Last Temptation of Christ novel (1955) by Nikos Kazantzak­is, film (1988) by MartinScorsese:  Jesus a collaborator whomakes crosses for the Romans; gathers followers, but unsure whether to love orhate Romans; persuades Judas to betray him; has fantasy on cross of marryingMary Magdalene, then Mary of Betha­ny, committing adultery with Martha.

 

2. Jesus Christ Superstar rock opera (1971) and film (1973) by Andrew Lloyd-Weber and Tim Rice:Jesus a superstar guru whose fame has gone to his head, starting to believewhat others say of him; Jesus dies, blaming God; Judas speaks from grave, alsoblaming God; no resurrection (closing instrumen­tal entitled John 19:41).

 

3. The Passover Plot (1966) by Hugh J. Schonfield: Unlike JC Superstarwhere Jesus lets everything get out of control, here Jesus has everythingplanned to nth degree; Jesus learns to interpret proph­ecy like Essenes,comes to believe he is Messiah, sets out to fulfil own death &resurrection, staging triumphal entry, blowing Judas' mind with wasted perfume,timing own movements so as to be arrested too late to be on cross for more thana few hours; has accomplice give him drug at code-words from cross; but spearedby soldier; when removed from tomb by Jos Arimathea, gives message to secretfollower who is mistaken for Jesus by women, apostles.

 

4. The Sacred Mushroom & the Cross (1970) by John Marco Allegro: Super plot theory!  Jesus(& Xy & Judaism) never existed! All were code-words for super-secret cult stressing sexual orgies andhallucinatory drugs.

 

5. Jesus the Magician (1978) by Morton Smith:  Jesus was a gnostic magician, who feltpossessed by a supernatural spirit at his baptism and thereafter claimed to bedeity; he developed techniques of self-hypnosis & claimed he could fly& teach his disciples to also; visited heaven, saw God and was freed fromMosaic law.

 

Why all thisVariety?

 

Are the Gospelaccounts really this unclear? No!  But people who havenever read them are in no position to respond.

 

1. Many don'tlike the biblical Jesus

nothingnew; the Pharisees, priests, Romans, etc. didn't like Him either

 

2. Won't admitthe occurrence of miracles

argument of Hume: contradict our stds bywhich we judge reality; more likely that witnesses lying, senses deceived

argumentof Harnack: ancient people didn't know difference between natural and miracle

argumentof Bultmann: universe a closed system of cause & effect

 

3. Try toreconstruct from hypothetical sources

Gospelspitted against one another

evidencere/ authorship rejected

varioushypothetical documents "discovered"

votestaken on which words & deeds authentic

 

 

HistoricalEvidence about Jesus

 

1. Pagan Sources:

 

Tacitus,Annals 15:44

But neitherhuman help, nor imperial munificence, nor all the modes of placating Heaven,could stifle scandal or dispel the belief that the fire had taken place byorder.  Therefore to scotch therumor, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinementsof cruelty, a class of men loathed for their vices, whom the crowd styledChristians.  Christus, the founderof the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, bysentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus, and the pernicious superstition waschecked for a moment, only to break our once moreÉ

 

Pliny,Letters 10:96

Pliny to theEmperor Trajan: 

It is my customto refer all my difficulties to you, Sir, for no one is better able to resolve mydoubts and inform my ignorance.  Ihave never been present at an examination of ChristiansÉ  For the moment this is the line I havetaken with all persons brought before me on the charge of beingChristians.  I have asked them inperson if they are Christians, and if they admit it, I repeat the question asecond and third time, with a warning of the punishment awaiting them.  If they persist, I order them to be ledaway for executionÉ

An anonymouspamphlet has been circulated which contains the names of a number of accusedpersons.  Among these I consideredthat I should dismiss any who denied that they were or ever had beenChristians, when they had repeated after me a formula of invocation to the godsand had made offerings of wine and incense to your statue, none of whichthings, I understand, any genuine Christian can be induced to do.  Others, whose names were given me by aninformer, first admitted the charge and then denied it; they said they hadceased to be Christians two or more years previouslyÉ

They alsodeclared that the sum total of their guilt or error amounted to no more thanthis:  they had met regularlybefore dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately among themselves inhonor of Christ as if to a godÉ This made me decide it was all the more necessary to extract the truthby torture from two slave-women, whom they call deaconesses.  I found nothing but a degenerate sortof cult carried to extravagant lengths. I have therefore postponed any further examination and hastened toconsult you.

 

Mara,Letter to His Son

For what elsehave we to say, when wise men are forcibly dragged by the hands of tyrants, andtheir wisdom is taken captive by calumny, and they are oppressed in theirintelligence without defense?  Forwhat advantage did the Athenians gain by their murder of SocratesÉ.  Or the people of Samos by the burningof PythagorasÉ  Or the Jews by thedeath of their wise king, because from that time their kingdom was taken away?

For with justicedid God make recompense to the wisdom of these three:  for the Athenians died of famine; and the Samians wereoverwhelmed by the sea without remedy; and the Jews, desolate and driven fromtheir own kingdom, are scattered through every country.  Socrates is not dead, because of Plato;neither Pythagoras, because of the statue of Juno; nor the wise King, becauseof the laws which he promulgated.

 

Summary on Pagansources:

†    Jesus lived in Judea in the reign ofTiberius.

†    A Messianic claim was ascribed to him.

†    He apparently was a teacher.

†    He was put to death by Pontius Pilateand/or the Jews.

†    His followers continued after his death.

†    They worshiped Jesus as God, though theywould not worship the gods.

†    They were willing to endure torture anddeath rather than curse Jesus.

 

2. JewishSources:

 

Josephus,Antiquities 18.3.3

About this timethere lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man.  For he was one who wrought surprisingfeats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly.  He won over many Jews and many of theGreeks.  He was the Messiah.  When Pilate, on hearing him accused bymen of highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those whohad in the first place come to love him did not give up their affection forhim.  On the third day he appearedto them restored to life, for the prophets had prophesied these and countlessother marvelous things about him.

 

Agapius,Universal History

SimilarlyJosephus the HebrewÉ.  At this timethere was a wise man who was called Jesus.  His conduct was good and he was known to be virtuous.  And many people from among the Jews andthe other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die.  But those who had become his disciplesdid not abandon his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after hiscrucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah,concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.

 

Talmud:BT, Sanhedrin 43a

On the eve ofPassover Yeshua was hanged.  Forforty days before the execution a herald went forth and cried, ÒHe is going tobe stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy.  Anyone who can say anything in hisfavor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.Ó  But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he washanged on the eve of Passover.

 

Summary onJewish sources:

†    Jesus lived in Judea during the rule ofPontius Pilate.

†    His birth was alleged to be unusual,illegitimate.

†    His character was controversial.

†    He worked miracles, also controversial.

†    He gathered followers, who considered himthe Messiah.

†    He was condemned by Pilate, accused byJews.

†    He was hanged/crucified on Passover eve.

†    His resurrection was reported on thethird day.

 

3. ChristianSources: sketch, cp attestation w/ ancient historians

 

TheGospels

detailedagreement

Paul

supportssame picture

notepost-resurrection appearances

 

Conclusions

 

Craig Blomberg, TheHistorical Reliability of the Gospels

Ifmiracles not rejected in advance, Gospels look good by both secular historical methods andby methods used by liberal NT scholars.

 

C.S. Lewis, ScrewtapeLetters, 117 (Macmillanhb):

Letter of senior devil Screwtape to hisnephew Wormwood; we keep people off balance by bringing out new Jesus every fewyears; keep their attention away from the records, which say what they say and can only give another picture bydistortion, etc.       

 


Bibliography

 

AlbertSchweitzer, The Quest of the Historical Jesus (1906).

Harvey K.McArthur, ed., In Search of the Historical Jesus (1969).

Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptationof Christ (1955); film(1988) by Martin Scorse­se; see review in TIME (Aug 15, 1988), 34-36.

Andrew Lloyd-Weber and Time Rice, JesusChrist Superstar (1971);film (1973); review on radio station KYW by John Wydra.

Hugh J. Schonfield,The Passover Plot(1966).

John MarcoAllegro, The Sacred Mushroom & the Cross (1970).

Morton Smith, Jesusthe Magician (1978).

Daniel J.Theron, Evidence of Tradition(1957).

F. F. Bruce, Jesus& Christian Origins Outside the NT(1974).

R. T. France, TheEvidence for Jesus(1986).

Craig Blomberg, TheHistorical Reliability of the Gospels(1987).

Gary R.Habermas, The Verdict of History(1988).

Lee Strobel, TheCase for Christ (1998)