Despite being considered as the central figure for one of the world's major religions, the actual historical evidence that Jesus Christ existed is actually quite thin. While there is a historical Jesus revealed by scholarly study, the facts as they stand at the moment are beguiling enigmatic. Nevertheless, examining Jesus in this way is illuminating on several levels.
One major source for information on the life of the Christ who existed historically is the New Testament, though there are a number of provisos which must be established before studying it in this context. The same criteria which historians apply to other historical documents must also be applied to the New Testament, and it should be used with caution.
The New Testament was not, after all, adopted as the Bible of Christianity until approximately 150 years after the death of Christ. Prior to that, early Christians had used the Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament, as their primary text. The New Testament was also written, in large part, by men who had never met or seen Christ.
Any decent historian should approach the study of the New Testament with extreme caution, not least because of its clear partiality. Much of the writing in it was composed with the intention of making Christ seem great, and even divine. Much of it was also written down many years after Christ's death, largely by people who had no direct experience of the man.
All of these things together mean that the information in the New Testament needs to be viewed with caution, if you are looking for evidence of the man who is called Christ by so many millions of people. Christianity itself went through a period of intense debate and controversy in the two centuries or so after Christ's death. Much early Christian writing in the years after the death of Christ was also composed by people who lived outside of Palestine, and were Gentiles, not Jews.
While any debate about the theological roots of Christianity is beyond the bounds of this article, it is essential to treat the New Testament as any other historical document would be treated when studying the history of Christ. There are other sources which can complement its study, though. Many of these documents come from the Roman tradition.
Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus is one writer who makes direct reference to Christ in his writings, when he describes the persecution of early Christians in Rome, during the reign of the Emperor Nero. Another historian who refers to Christ directly is Thallus, who in 52AD mentioned Christ's crucifixion and a possible simultaneous eclipse. Christ was not actually proclaimed a deity until the fourth century AD.
The hunt for the historical Jesus revealed many interesting aspects of this important figure's life over the last century or so. Anyone studying the topic needs to be aware of the tendentious aspects of many sources, though. When those tendencies are carefully filtered, then a real picture of Christ, an important figure to so many people all across the world, can at last be revealed.
One major source for information on the life of the Christ who existed historically is the New Testament, though there are a number of provisos which must be established before studying it in this context. The same criteria which historians apply to other historical documents must also be applied to the New Testament, and it should be used with caution.
The New Testament was not, after all, adopted as the Bible of Christianity until approximately 150 years after the death of Christ. Prior to that, early Christians had used the Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament, as their primary text. The New Testament was also written, in large part, by men who had never met or seen Christ.
Any decent historian should approach the study of the New Testament with extreme caution, not least because of its clear partiality. Much of the writing in it was composed with the intention of making Christ seem great, and even divine. Much of it was also written down many years after Christ's death, largely by people who had no direct experience of the man.
All of these things together mean that the information in the New Testament needs to be viewed with caution, if you are looking for evidence of the man who is called Christ by so many millions of people. Christianity itself went through a period of intense debate and controversy in the two centuries or so after Christ's death. Much early Christian writing in the years after the death of Christ was also composed by people who lived outside of Palestine, and were Gentiles, not Jews.
While any debate about the theological roots of Christianity is beyond the bounds of this article, it is essential to treat the New Testament as any other historical document would be treated when studying the history of Christ. There are other sources which can complement its study, though. Many of these documents come from the Roman tradition.
Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus is one writer who makes direct reference to Christ in his writings, when he describes the persecution of early Christians in Rome, during the reign of the Emperor Nero. Another historian who refers to Christ directly is Thallus, who in 52AD mentioned Christ's crucifixion and a possible simultaneous eclipse. Christ was not actually proclaimed a deity until the fourth century AD.
The hunt for the historical Jesus revealed many interesting aspects of this important figure's life over the last century or so. Anyone studying the topic needs to be aware of the tendentious aspects of many sources, though. When those tendencies are carefully filtered, then a real picture of Christ, an important figure to so many people all across the world, can at last be revealed.
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