The strongest evidence for a historical claim is often its enemies. Friends can exaggerate. Enemies have every reason to understate, to explain away, and to attack. And yet six ancient authors who had no sympathy for Christianity — two Roman historians, one Roman governor, one Jewish historian, one Syrian philosopher, and one Greek satirist — left us records that confirm the central facts of the Christian story.
None of them believed. None of them had a motive to help. What they wrote is what we would expect if the Christians were telling the truth.
Tacitus on Nero’s Persecution (c. 116 AD)
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman senator and one of the greatest historians of antiquity. His Annals covers the period from Augustus to Nero. He was not a Christian. He had no reason to be gentle.
Tacitus, Annals 15.44
“But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods, did not banish the sinister belief that the conflagration was the result of an order. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, 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 arson as of hatred of the human race. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.” Tacitus, Annals 15.44, trans. Church & Brodribb
Tacitus gives us four facts, without meaning to:
First, Christ was executed under Pontius Pilate, during the reign of Tiberius. This is independent confirmation of the central claim of the Gospels.
Second, the movement did not end with his death. It “again broke out” — first in Judea, then in Rome. Tacitus is annoyed by this. He expected it to be suppressed.
Third, the Christians were willing to die rather than recant. An “immense multitude” was convicted, and they went to their deaths without denying the name.
Fourth, the Christian movement was substantial enough by 64 AD to be blamed for a major civic disaster. This is thirty years after the crucifixion.
Pliny the Younger and Trajan (c. 110–112 AD)
Pliny was governor of Bithynia-Pontus, in what is now northern Turkey. He was a careful administrator and a friend of the historian Tacitus. Around 110 AD, he wrote to the emperor Trajan asking for advice on how to handle the Christians in his province.
Pliny, Letters 10.96
“They affirmed, however, that the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that they were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food — but food of an ordinary and innocent kind.” Pliny, Letters 10.96
Pliny was not a Christian and had no interest in flattering them. What he records is remarkably specific: they met before dawn on a fixed day of the week, they sang hymns to Christ as to a god, they swore to refrain from fraud, theft, and adultery, and they shared a common meal. This is exactly what we would expect a first-century Christian community to look like, and it matches everything in the New Testament.
He also records that when he asked them to curse Christ, some refused and were executed, and some recanted. He notes that the recanted Christians told him the movement had spread not just in the cities but in the countryside, and that it had been growing for decades.
Trajan’s reply, Letters 10.97
“You have taken the right line, my dear Pliny, in examining the cases of those who were accused to you as Christians, for no general rule can be laid down. They are not to be sought out; but if they are accused and convicted, they must be punished — yet on this condition, that whoso denies himself to be a Christian, and makes the fact plain by his action, that is, by worshipping our gods, shall obtain pardon on his repentance, however suspicious his past conduct may have been.” Trajan, in Pliny, Letters 10.97
Trajan’s response became imperial policy for the next century. Christians were not to be hunted, but if accused and convicted they were to be executed. This is the legal background of the martyrdoms of Ignatius and Polycarp.
Suetonius (c. 120 AD)
Suetonius was the imperial biographer and had access to the imperial archives. He mentions Christians twice, and both mentions are incidental.
Suetonius, Claudius 25.4
“He expelled the Jews from Rome, since they were always making disturbances because of the instigator Chrestus.” Suetonius, Claudius 25.4
The name “Chrestus” is likely a garbled reference to Christ. What this tells us is that by around 49 AD there was enough Christian activity in Rome to be causing public disturbances, and that the emperor intervened. This is confirmed by Acts 18:2, which records that Paul met a Jewish couple, Aquila and Priscilla, in Corinth because Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome.
Josephus (c. 93–94 AD)
Flavius Josephus was a Jewish aristocrat and priest who fought against Rome in the Jewish War of 66–73 AD, was captured, and spent the rest of his life writing history in Rome under imperial patronage. He had no sympathy for Christianity. He mentions it three times.
The first passage, the Testimonium Flavianum, is the most debated. It appears in Antiquities 18.63–64 and refers to Jesus as a wise man and a teacher. Most scholars — including the sceptical Bart Ehrman and the Jewish historian Geza Vermes — believe the core is authentic and that a few phrases were added by a later Christian scribe.
The second passage, in Antiquities 18.116–119, records the execution of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas. This is universally accepted as authentic and gives us independent confirmation of a figure who appears prominently in all four Gospels.
The third passage, in Antiquities 20.200, records the execution of James, the brother of Jesus, by stoning under the high priest Ananus II. This is the strongest single piece of external evidence for the historical Jesus, because it is entirely incidental and refers to him only as “the brother of Jesus who was called Christ.”
Josephus, Antiquities 20.200
“Ananus thought that he had a favourable opportunity because Festus was dead and Albinus was still on the way. And so he convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned.” Josephus, Antiquities 20.200
Mara bar Serapion (1st century AD)
A Syrian Stoic philosopher, imprisoned by the Romans, wrote a letter in Aramaic to his son. In the letter he refers in passing to the “wise King” of the Jews who was executed, and to the disasters that fell on the Jewish people afterward.
Mara bar Serapion
“What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burning Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King? It was just after that that their kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men: the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were overwhelmed by the sea; the Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion.” Mara bar Serapion, British Museum MS. Add. 14,658
Mara was not a Christian. His letter is a moral exhortation to his son, urging him to pursue wisdom. But he confirms in passing what the Gospels claim: that Jesus was called a king by the Jews, that he was executed by them, and that the movement continued after his death.
Celsus (c. 175 AD)
Celsus was a Greek philosopher who wrote the first sustained attack on Christianity, a work titled The True Word. It survives only through Origen’s rebuttal, Contra Celsum, written around 248 AD. Celsus had read the Gospels and knew the Christian claims in detail.
He does not deny that Jesus existed. He does not deny that Jesus performed miracles. He attributes the miracles to sorcery, and he attacks the resurrection as a story told by hysterical women. His arguments are exactly what a hostile witness would say if the Christians were telling the truth about the events.
Celsus, via Origen
“But who is it whom you worship? A man who was convicted of the very crimes which we are now discussing … he was betrayed by his own disciples, and was put to death by his own followers.” Celsus, in Origen, Contra Celsum 2.9
Celsus is not a reliable source for the details of the crucifixion — he is a hostile critic, writing a century and a half later. But his polemic confirms the basic outline of the Christian claim, which is what matters here.
Lucian of Samosata (c. 165 AD)
Lucian was a Greek satirist who mocked everyone, including Christians. In his essay The Passing of Peregrinus, he describes Christians as gullible and easily exploited, and he mocks their willingness to die.
Lucian, The Passing of Peregrinus 13
“The poor wretches have convinced themselves, first and foremost, that they are going to be immortal and live for all time, in consequence of which they despise death and even willingly give themselves into custody; most of them. Furthermore, their first lawgiver persuaded them that they are all brothers of one another after they have transgressed once for all by denying the Greek gods, and by worshipping that crucified sophist himself, and living under his laws.” Lucian, The Passing of Peregrinus 13
Lucian’s contempt is useful. He confirms that the Christians worshipped a “crucified sophist,” that they believed in immortality, and that they were willing to die rather than deny their faith. He means all of this as an insult. It is exactly what the Christians themselves claimed.
The Talmud (compiled c. 200–500 AD)
The Babylonian Talmud includes a passage in Sanhedrin 43a that refers to the execution of a figure called Yeshu on the eve of Passover.
b. Sanhedrin 43a
“On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, ‘He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.’ But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.” b. Sanhedrin 43a
This is a late source, written centuries after the events, and it reflects the hostility of the rabbinic tradition toward Christianity. But it confirms two facts: that a figure called Yeshu was executed, and that the execution took place on the eve of Passover. Both are consistent with the Gospel accounts.
What the Hostile Sources Establish
Taken together, the ancient non-Christian sources confirm the following facts:
The Consensus of the Hostile Witnesses
None of these authors believed in the resurrection. None of them intended to help the Christian cause. What they wrote is what we would expect if the Christians were telling the truth, and it is not what we would expect if the whole movement were a legend that grew up after the fact.
For a fuller treatment of the Christian side of the evidence, see the Resurrection page. For the method used here, see the Historical Reliability page.
