Roman Historian Tacitus Mentions Jesus: Our Best Secular Source
By J. P. Holding - March 10, 2017

Tacitus was a Roman historian writing early in the 2nd century A.D. His Annals provide us with a single reference to Jesus of considerable value. Rather frustratingly, much of his work has been lost, including a work which covers the years 29-32, where the trial of Jesus would have been had he recorded it [Meie.MarJ, 89].

Here is a full quote of the cite of our concern, from Annals 15.44. Jesus and the Christians are mentioned in an account of how the Emperor Nero went after Christians in order to draw attention away from himself after Rome's fire of 64 AD:

But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the Bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements Which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero From the infamy of being believed to have ordered the Conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumour, he Falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were Hated for their enormities.

CHRISTUS, THE FOUNDER OF THE NAME, WAS PUT TO DEATH BY PONTIUS PILATE, PROCURATOR OF JUDEA IN THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS:

but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time Broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief Originated, but through the city of Rome also, where all things Hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their Centre and become popular.

Accordingly, an arrest was first Made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an Immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of Firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.

A survey of the literature indicates that this citation by Tacitus has not been given enough regard, having often been overshadowed by the citations in Josephus. Respected Christian scholar R. T. France, for example, does not believe that the Tacitus passage provides sufficient independent testimony for the existence of Jesus [Franc.EvJ, 23] and agrees with G. A. Wells that the citation is of little value.

It is unfortunate that France so readily agreed with Wells' assessment. An investigation into the methods and background of Tacitus, as reported by Tacitean scholars (whose works, incidentally, France does not consult), tells us that this is an extremely reliable reference to Jesus and for early Christianity. For more click on the link below:

http://reasonsforjesus.com/roman-historian-tacitus-mentions-jesus-our-best-extra-biblical-source/

Richirich713:
atheists need to stop with this "Jesus never existed"

OLAADEGBU:
Roman Historian Tacitus Mentions Jesus: Our Best Secular Source

DOCTUFOS:
Batimeus
Chapter One
1. To all those who seek the true knowledge of
Yeshu, whom the Greek and the Romans call
Zeusus Krista or Zeusus Bar-Rabas do I write
this, after the time when I sought not to deceive
myself or the people anymore, seeking to be a
homo with integrity.
2. I Batimeus surnamed Thaddeus did write of
the things which I know and witness in the days
when Zeusus Krista, one who was a great
teacher, was alive on earth.
3. In those days, an homo-erectus was seen who
spoke earnestly of the coming of one who is
worthy of being called god. And I, being
fascinated by the speeches of this homo-erectus
approached him, with Iskariot also and many
others.
4. And he said, why do you seek me now, O
generation of scorpions and serpents? For Rhesa
your ancestor rejected the kingdom of god and
founded his own sect which he called Farhesis.
And you followed like sheep without a shepherd.
5. Now I said, we have come for us to be
baptised of you. And he said, what shall I baptise
you with? Though I baptise you with water, for
the outer cleansing of your iniquity, yet it shall
not prevent another homo-god to baptise your
hearts with fire not many days from now.
6. For he who shall come after me is greater
than I if at all there should be any comparison.
And he shall baptise you with fire and the spirit.
7. Now I and Judas were baptised of him whom
we called Jonas, whose voice was loud like that
of an anakim. Now we continued with Jonas,
being his disciples. And he taught us in the way
of the god of Juda. And we did our worship in
the synagogue.
8. Now a day came when we sought for our
master and we did not find him. And we sought
for him seven days. And we did not find him.
9. Then I told Iskariot, saying, I shall depart to
see my parents. For they did send for me. And
so did I leave.
10. Now when I have returned a month after, I
saw one who came to my master to be baptised
of him. And Jonas said to me, where have you
been O Batimeus. For he whom I spoke about
has come.
11. And I bowed my face before him, whom
Jonas called Yeshu. And Yeshu said, O Jonas, I
have need of your disciples, even two of them.
For I need them to lead me the way to the
coast. For I must make disciples also today and
tomorrow.
12. So I and Andru led Yeshu towards the coast
of Salam. And Andru said, my brother Simon is
near that coast, fishing. For we are fishermen.
13. Now it was dark and we have not seen the
face of Yeshu so well. For we took our lamps
with us, following. And when Yeshu was at the
coast, Andru went before him to fetch Simon.
14. And when Simon came, Yeshu knew him,
because Andru had described him before.
15. And Yeshu said, you are Simon. And Simon
was amazed, saying, how did you know my
name? And Yeshu said, do not marvel at that O
Simon. Your name shall be called Petra
henceforth.
16. And Simon and Andru and I followed Yeshu
to his house to lodge.
17. Now I said to them, I shall return to my
master this night. And Andru said, did the master
not speak of Yeshu as the Krish? Why do you
have need to return to the master when even the
master of masters is here with us?
18. And I said, he whom we know is better than
he whom we have not tested. And Yeshu heard
my speech and said, O Batimeus, if you know
whom I am, you shall not have uttered what you
said.
19. And I and Andru marvelled, because we were
not in the same room with Yeshu and we did
speak in whispers. And it was a thing of
amazement how he heard our speech, even when
Petra who was with him did not hear us.
20. So I departed that night and told Jonas the
things which I had observed.

otemdomino:
Jesus Sapien doesn't exist. The one who existed was Faulkin(Zeusus Krista) millions of years ago in the period of the hominids and neanderthals/homo erectus.

That particular one didn't even do as much as Eusebius wrote the fictitious Jesus Sapien to do in the period of the homo sapiens.

Here are the accounts of Zeusus Erectus aka Faulkin in the periods of the Neanderthals. These are written by one of his followers whom he used for false miracles:

CatfishBilly:

Puff and pass bro, really

DOCTUFOS:
Batimeus
Chapter One
1. To all those who seek the true knowledge of
Yeshu, whom the Greek and the Romans call
Zeusus Krista or Zeusus Bar-Rabas do I write
this, after the time when I sought not to deceive
myself or the people anymore, seeking to be a
homo with integrity.
2. I Batimeus surnamed Thaddeus did write of
the things which I know and witness in the days
when Zeusus Krista, one who was a great
teacher, was alive on earth.
3. In those days, an homo-erectus was seen who
spoke earnestly of the coming of one who is
worthy of being called god. And I, being
fascinated by the speeches of this homo-erectus
approached him, with Iskariot also and many
others.
4. And he said, why do you seek me now, O
generation of scorpions and serpents? For Rhesa
your ancestor rejected the kingdom of god and
founded his own sect which he called Farhesis.
And you followed like sheep without a shepherd.
5. Now I said, we have come for us to be
baptised of you. And he said, what shall I baptise
you with? Though I baptise you with water, for
the outer cleansing of your iniquity, yet it shall
not prevent another homo-god to baptise your
hearts with fire not many days from now.
6. For he who shall come after me is greater
than I if at all there should be any comparison.
And he shall baptise you with fire and the spirit.
7. Now I and Judas were baptised of him whom
we called Jonas, whose voice was loud like that
of an anakim. Now we continued with Jonas,
being his disciples. And he taught us in the way
of the god of Juda. And we did our worship in
the synagogue.
8. Now a day came when we sought for our
master and we did not find him. And we sought
for him seven days. And we did not find him.
9. Then I told Iskariot, saying, I shall depart to
see my parents. For they did send for me. And
so did I leave.
10. Now when I have returned a month after, I
saw one who came to my master to be baptised
of him. And Jonas said to me, where have you
been O Batimeus. For he whom I spoke about
has come.
11. And I bowed my face before him, whom
Jonas called Yeshu. And Yeshu said, O Jonas, I
have need of your disciples, even two of them.
For I need them to lead me the way to the
coast. For I must make disciples also today and
tomorrow.
12. So I and Andru led Yeshu towards the coast
of Salam. And Andru said, my brother Simon is
near that coast, fishing. For we are fishermen.
13. Now it was dark and we have not seen the
face of Yeshu so well. For we took our lamps
with us, following. And when Yeshu was at the
coast, Andru went before him to fetch Simon.
14. And when Simon came, Yeshu knew him,
because Andru had described him before.
15. And Yeshu said, you are Simon. And Simon
was amazed, saying, how did you know my
name? And Yeshu said, do not marvel at that O
Simon. Your name shall be called Petra
henceforth.
16. And Simon and Andru and I followed Yeshu
to his house to lodge.
17. Now I said to them, I shall return to my
master this night. And Andru said, did the master
not speak of Yeshu as the Krish? Why do you
have need to return to the master when even the
master of masters is here with us?
18. And I said, he whom we know is better than
he whom we have not tested. And Yeshu heard
my speech and said, O Batimeus, if you know
whom I am, you shall not have uttered what you
said.
19. And I and Andru marvelled, because we were
not in the same room with Yeshu and we did
speak in whispers. And it was a thing of
amazement how he heard our speech, even when
Petra who was with him did not hear us.
20. So I departed that night and told Jonas the
things which I had observed.

CatfishBilly:

Prove it beyond every reasonable doubt, you'll win me over. I was of the opinion that Jesus existed as an atheist, til I started researching on the topic.

CatfishBilly:

If you read about the gospels that didn't make it into the Bible, you'll realize that it's a work of fiction.

CatfishBilly:
In one of the Gospels, Jesus was the commander of a school of dragons.
Can you beat that?

Richirich713:


Don't need to, his existence is historically certain, hell even his crucifixion is historically certain. So I'm not sure how much research u have done.

Those gospels didn't make it cuz they were written too late.



Why would I want to beat that when I don't see any reason to believe its true.

CatfishBilly:

His existence is not historically certain.
CNN did a program this month to prove his existence, it still didn't completely convince.
His crucifixion was accepted based on the fact that Christians won't invent an embarrassing death for their God. Read up on the criteria of embarrassment.




Read the gospel of Pseudo Matthew Chapter 18 for the dragon story.

bolkay47:
Im sorry but i failed to catch what you are really driving at.
What proof do you have to sustain your argument?

CatfishBilly:

His existence is not historically certain.
CNN did a program this month to prove his existence, it still didn't completely convince.

CatfishBilly:
His crucifixion was accepted based on the fact that Christians won't invent an embarrassing death for their God. Read up on the criteria of embarrassment.

CatfishBilly:

Read the gospel of Pseudo Matthew Chapter 18 for the dragon story.

adepeter26:

Visit the link below.
https://www.nairaland.com/3710302/some-biblical-myths...


When done, ensure to read the books attached

bolkay47:
Following are according to Tim O'Neill.
"There are no contemporary accounts or mentions of Jesus. There should be, so clearly no Jesus existed."
This seems a good argument to many, since modern people tend to leave behind them a lot of evidence they existed (birth certificates, financial documents, school records, etc.) and prominent modern people have their lives documented by the media almost daily. So it sounds suspicious to people that there are no contemporary records at all detailing or even mentioning Jesus.
But our sources for anyone in the ancient world are scarce and rarely are they contemporaneous—they are usually written decades or even centuries after the fact. Worse still, the more obscure and humble in origin the person is, the less likely that there will be any documentation about them or even a fleeting reference to them at all.
For example, few people in the ancient world were as prominent, influential, significant and famous as the Carthaginian general Hannibal. He came close to crushing the Roman Republic, was one of the greatest generals of all time and was famed throughout the ancient world for centuries after his death down to today. Yet how many contemporary mentions of Hannibal do we have? Zero. We have none. So if someone as famous and significant as Hannibal has no surviving contemporary references to him in our sources, does it really make sense to base an argument about the existence or non-existence of a Galilean peasant preacher on the lack of contemporary references to him? Clearly it does not.
So while this seems like a good argument, a better knowledge of the ancient world and the nature of our evidence and sources shows that it's actually extremely weak.
NB: I posted the above stance because of your words in the link you provided. "Jesus didn't exist at all because there is no record and it is very unusual for Romans not to keep a record of something that almost destroyed their empire; they recorded national embarrassments like Nordic invasion, Hannibal and even Spartacus. Just like Moses, the tales of Jesus were made out of nowhere."

Richirich713:


There will always be people who won't be convinced. Mostly becuz they don't want to be convinced.



And becuz other ancient sources mention his death by crucifixion.

Guy, I don't believe in that gospel.

CatfishBilly:

Which other sources apart from Tacitus, Pliny and Josephus?

CatfishBilly:
The Romans kept very good records, he lived in the AD dispensation, they should have captured him if he was as influential as he was painted in the bible.

CatfishBilly:
There was no record of the earthquake that supposedly happened after Jesus died.

CatfishBilly:
Shey you know say na humans like me and you sat down over drinks and decided which books should be in the Bible and shouldn't?
It was purely their personal opinion and their discretion.

otemdomino:
Jesus Sapien doesn't exist. The one who existed was Faulkin(Zeusus Krista) millions of years ago in the period of the hominids and neanderthals/homo erectus.

That particular one didn't even do as much as Eusebius wrote the fictitious Jesus Sapien to do in the period of the homo sapiens.

Here are the accounts of Zeusus Erectus aka Faulkin in the periods of the Neanderthals. These are written by one of his followers whom he used for false miracles:

Richirich713:


Any source which mentions his death, Talmud and the other gospels etc. All only speak of a crucifixion.



What Roman records? Atheist historian Bart Ehrman says those records don't exist. So what are u talking about?

Don't see how the earthquake is relevant to his existence. Why should we have records that a earthquake occurred before we can conclude he existed, hell I can disprove the existence of any ancient figure like that.

Evens if that was the case (nd it isn't) it wouldn't really bother me as long as those people can give me good reasons to why certain books should be in while others shouldn't.

otemdomino:
Jesus Sapien doesn't exist. The one who existed was Faulkin(Zeusus Krista) millions of years ago in the period of the hominids and neanderthals/homo erectus.

That particular one didn't even do as much as Eusebius wrote the fictitious Jesus Sapien to do in the period of the homo sapiens.

Here are the accounts of Zeusus Erectus aka Faulkin in the periods of the Neanderthals. These are written by one of his followers whom he used for false miracles:

CatfishBilly:
Richirich713
Let's continue naa.
I've read up on the Talmund. It's an ever evolving book with things being added and removed.
The Talmund first mentioned Jesus long after he died putting it's veracity in question. Even at that, it didn't paint Jesus in a positive light.
One of the write up says that he would be sent to hell where he will burn with faeces for 12 months with no rest on the sabbath day.

Arsewipemod:

Otelemuye can you please stop this crap already? Thanks.

NPComplete:
Like play like play, this Otemdomino guy would have invented a religion o with complete scriptures to back it up even. And in a thousand years time, some gullible people will start claiming all that is written there in is truth and infallible.

lordnicklaus:


Bros abeg e don do

otemdomino:
Me? Crap? impossible. I don't bring up crap.

Arsewipemod:

Oh yeah you do. OK tell me where you dig up those texts you try so hard to convince people that they are revelations given to you from?