The evidence for Jesus in the first century

[Arizona_Mike]

Ask Dr. Ehrman if he has ever heard of the Roman Emperor Nero. He probably has (everybody has). Nero was the Emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man in the world, for 13 years (the second-longest reigning Caesar). He died (of natural causes) in 68 AD (so he was also a First Century guy).

How many Romans (of the Senatorial Caste or otherwise, whose writings survive) wrote about Nero within the first century of his death? Exactly two (both of whom wrote about 50 years after Nero’s death- the next most recent account was 150 years after). How many of those Romans actually knew Nero? None. Zip. Zero. How many pieces of private correspondence mention Nero? Zero! Zip references!

Did Nero really exist? If we apply Ehrman’s reasoning, there is far more evidence for Jesus than Nero.

David, Ehrman does not claim that Jesus did not exist, he believes that Jesus did, and in fact makes a similar point as yours in his book, where he discusses why the claim that “Romans were good record keepers, we don’t have any Roman records from within the lifespan of Jesus, so He must not existed” is fallacious… His book was written to *counter *claims that Jesus did not exist by members of the “Mythicist” movement such as Richard Carrier. Give Ehrman credit for taking a principled, if unpopular stance against his fellow agnostics and atheists.

 

[arnoldoe]

Ask Dr. Ehrman if he has ever heard of the Roman Emperor Nero. He probably has (everybody has). Nero was the Emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man in the world, for 13 years (the second-longest reigning Caesar). He died (of natural causes) in 68 AD (so he was also a First Century guy).

How many Romans (of the Senatorial Caste or otherwise, whose writings survive) wrote about Nero within the first century of his death? Exactly two (both of whom wrote about 50 years after Nero’s death- the next most recent account was 150 years after). How many of those Romans actually knew Nero? None. Zip. Zero. How many pieces of private correspondence mention Nero? Zero! Zip references!

Did Nero really exist? If we apply Ehrman’s reasoning, there is far more evidence for Jesus than Nero.

I didn’t look at this site for a while so i didn’t respond to your last post about this…

Actually he had the 25th longest reign and there are many roman emperors who have far less evidence for their existence than Nero, even if there was no evidence, no writings, no architecture,no art, no coins, it could probably be assumed that after Claudius died and before Galba there must have been some other ruler.

and again lots of people who met Nero wrote about him who have surving writings… just not the complete life stories that were written. and some of them met Nero, even Josephus… ill complete this later maybe…

 

[Ignatius]

In addition to the book “Did Jesus Exist?” by Erdman,t here is another Jesus Denier, Michael Paulkovich. See here: ncregister.com/blog/matthew-archbold/historian-declares-jesus-a-myth-despite-many-historical-references.
There is a great gulf between the actual historical facts and what these so-called Scholars are attempting to foist on the public.

 

[Randy_Carson]

Ever wonder if the OP comes back to get the answers or whether this was just a “drive-by” shot at Catholics?

Anyway, Jimmy Akin answers this here: jimmyakin.com/2014/10/the-procurator-and-the-peasant.html

 

[Nelka]

Dr. Bart Ehrman, author of several books such as “Did Jesus Exist?” and “How Jesus Became God”, says the following about the evidence for Jesus in the first century:

“In the entire first Christian century Jesus is not mentioned by a single Greek or Roman historian, religion scholar, politician, philosopher or poet. His name never occurs in a single inscription, and it is never found in a single piece of private correspondence. Zero! Zip references!”

What do you think? Is his statement mistaken? Is there, in fact, such evidence?

AD 64 Tacitus speaks of Christ.

 

[bettyg51]

Aside from the bible there is no outside evidence of Jesus. Josephus is not considered to be a reliable historian. The Romans kept good records but there is no mention of Jesus or his followers. This is why everyone was so excited about an ossuary with an inscription which people thought was about Jesus. The thing turned out to be fraudulent. Even if the shroud of Turin is authentic, there is no DNA test for Jesus.
This doesn’t affect how the faithful should feel about Him. Religion is all about mystery and unprovable “facts”.

I would like you to read the articles at Test the Shroud’s web site: testtheshroud.org/articles.html There has been a lot of scientific research on the Shroud that you may not be aware of. The research shows that the Shroud is authentic. I believe it is the burial shroud of Jesus because the man in the Shroud went through the crucifixion as described in the Gospels.
Test the Shroud is proposing more research. You can help by signing the petition on the web site to ask Pope Francis to allow this.