New Testament Part 2
The External Evidence Test
“Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure.”
-Josephus (AD 37-100)
As we saw when we investigated the Old Testament, it is one thing for a book to claim something for itself, but another thing all together for others to confirm the validity of that book’s claims.
In the case of the New Testament, there are 3 main areas that we can investigate in an attempt to ascertain it’s validity. These are:
- Early Christian Writers Outside The Bible
- Early Non-Christian Writers
- Archeological Discoveries
Supporting Evidence of Early Christian Writers Outside The Bible
(AD 70-156)
Polycarp, a disciple of John, was martyred at 86 years old due to his faith in Christ and The Scriptures. He was burned at the stake, dying as a heroic martyr for his faith. As a disciple of John, Polycarp would have had easy access to many of the other apostles to verify the truth of John’s teachings. (WWWCH, 337)
(AD 95)
Clement of Rome uses Scripture as a reliable and authentic source.
(AD 130)
Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History III.39, preserves writings of Papius, Bishop of Heirapolis, in which Papius records sayings of “The Elder” (The Apostle John):
In one instance Papius writes, “The Elder (The Apostle John) used to say this also: ‘Mark, having been the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately all that he (Peter) mentioned, whether sayings or doings of Christ, not, however, in order. For he was neither a hearer nor a companion of The Lord; but afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who adapted his teachings as necessity required, not as though he were making a compilation of the sayings of The Lord. So then Mark made no mistake writing down in this way some things as he (Peter) mentioned them; for he paid attention to this one thing, not to omit anything that he had heard, not to include any false statement among them.”
Papius also comments on the Gospel of Matthew saying, “Matthew recorded the oracles in the Hebrew tongue.”
(c. AD 170)
Tatian organized the Scriptures in order to put them in the first “Harmony of The Gospels,” also known as the Diatessaron.
(c. AD 180)
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons and disciple of the Apostle John wrote, “So firm is the ground upon which these gospels rest, that the very heretics themselves bear witness to them, and, starting from these [documents], each one of them endeavors to establish his own particular doctrine.”
Irenaeus also refers to the four-fold gospels as an established and recognized fact as obvious as the four cardinal points of the compass, saying, “Matthew published his gospel among the Hebrews (i.e. Jews) in their own tongue, when Peter and Paul were preaching the in Rome and founding the church there. After there departure (i.e. Their death, which strong tradition places at the time of the Neronian persecution in AD64), Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself handed down to us, in writing, the substance of Peter’s preaching. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the gospel preached by his teacher. Then John, the disciple of The Lord, who also leaned on His breast (this is a reference to John 13:25 and 21:20), himself produced His Gospel, while he was living at Ephesus in Asia.
(c. AD 367-397)
“In AD 367 the Thirty-ninth Paschal Letter of Athanasius contained an exact list of the twenty-seven New Testament books we have today. This was the list of books accepted by the churches in the eastern part of the Mediterranean world. Thirty years later, in AD 397, the Council of Carthage, representing the churches in the western part of the Mediterranean world, agreed with the eastern churches on the same list. These are the earliest final lists of our present-day canon.”
Early Non-Christian Confirmation of New Testament History
While the list above refers to comments and writings made by Christian leaders of the early church, some object that this proves nothing more than the fact that within the sphere of Christianity there was something for leaders to teach from. In response to this objection we turn our attention to the writings of the non-Christians who were alive during the first centuries.
(c. AD 52)
Thallus, in a work preserved by Julius Africanus in AD221, speaks of the darkness that followed the crucifixion of Jesus.
(c. AD 112)
Pliny the Younger, a Roman author and administrator describes early Christian worship services in a manner consistent with that is expressed in Acts 2:42-46.
Emperor Trajan then responds to Pliny the Younger with guidelines for punishing Christians
(c. AD 70-200)
Talmudic Writings, compiled between AD 70-200 speak of the crucifixion of Jesus.
The first-century Roman, Tacitus, is considered one of the more accurate historians of the ancient world. In his account of the great fire of Rome, he mentions; The early church, the torture of Christians, the spread of Christianity from Judea to Rome, and “the mischievous superstition” which the Christians clung adamantly to, namely, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Suetonius, was chief secretary of to Emperor Hadrian (AD 117-138), and confirmed in his writings the report in Acts 18:2, that Claudius commanded all Jews (Priscilla and Aquilla among them) to leave Rome in AD49. He also refers to the disturbances over the identity of the one called “Chrestus,” and the torture of the early Christians after the fire in Rome.
Josephus (c. AD 37-100) was a Jewish Pharisee who worked under Roman authority and wrote two major works of history, Jewish Wars (c. AD 77-78), and Antiquities of the Jews (c. AD 94). In his works, he makes many statements that verify, either generally, or in specific detail, the historical nature of both the Old and New Testaments of The Bible.
Josephus correlates the relation between Jesus and His brother James, who was martyred a short time after Jesus death. Referring to the High Priest, he writes: “… He assembled the Sanhedrin of the judges, and brought before them, the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others [or some of his companions], and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned.”
This passage was written c. AD93 and identifies Jesus as a real person of the first century who was identified as The Christ, who had a brother named James who died a martyr’s death.
Josephus also confirmed the existence and martyrdom of John the Baptist, the herald of Jesus.
Lucian of Samosata, a second-century Greek writer whose works contain sarcastic critiques of Christianity, despite being one of the church’s most vocal critics, gives one of the more informative accounts of Jesus and early Christianity outside of the New Testament. His accounts include descriptions of Jesus, His crucifixion, the devotion of the early church to both Jesus and their Scriptures, and even the common sharing of their property.
Finally, Josephus gives a description of Jesus in a passage cited by Eusebius (c. AD325) saying, “Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man, for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principle men amongst us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake Him. For He appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from Him, are not extinct to this day.”
In summary, while “The primary sources for the life of Christ are the four-fold Gospels, there are considerable reports from non-Christian sources that supplement and confirm the Gospel accounts. These come largely from Greek, Roman, Jewish, and Samaritan sources of the first century. In brief, they inform us that:
- Jesus was from Nazareth
- He lived a wise and virtuous life
- He was crucified in Palestine under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius Caesar at passover time, being considered the Jewish King.
- He was believed by His disciples to have been raised from the dead three days later.
- His enemies acknowledged that He performed unusual feats, which they called ‘sorcery.’
- His small band of disciples multiplied rapidly; spreading as far as Rome.
- His disciples denied polytheism, lived moral lives, and worshiped Christ as Divine.”
Archaeological Evidence
Moving from the first centuries AD into the present day, we turn from writings to artifacts, namely those that have been discovered in the Middle East in the past few decades. While the discoveries are unearthed at a growing rate, it is interesting to note that no archaeological discovery has ever disproved any New Testament account.
In his work, The Archeology of Palestine, W.F. Albright writes;
“The successive skepticism shown toward the Bible by important historical schools of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, certain phases of which still appear periodically, has been progressively discredited. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition to the value of the Bible as a source of history.”
While the NT as a whole is accurate and historically useful, Luke’s reliability as a historian has been shown to far surpass any other historian of antiquity.
Concerning Luke’s ability as a historian, Sir William Ramsay concluded after thirty years of study that, “Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy… This author should be placed as among the greatest of historians… Luke’s history (The Gospel of Luke and The Book of Acts) is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness.”
The New Testament accurately portrays the following events as has been verified through archaeological findings:
- The census surrounding the time of Jesus’ birth.
- The rulers at the time of Jesus birth (including their correct titles).
- Non-ruling city officials during the life of Jesus and the early church (including correct titles).
- The locations of 32 countries, 54 cities, and 9 islands without error.
- The theater and site of the riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:23-29).
- The Jewish customs associated with a foreigner entering certain parts of the temple (Acts 21:28).
- The usage of certain words in the culture of early church times.
- The location of the court where Jesus was tried (John 19:13).
- The location of the Pool of Bethesda
- The use of certain phraseology, symbolism, and conceptual imagery in the Gospel of John have all be proven to be true to the Essene Literature of the 1st century.
- The controversy surrounding the “missing body” of the risen Christ from its tomb and follow on laws made by Roman governors (Matthew 28:11-15).
- The method of crucifixion (John 19:31-32).
- The title of Pontius Pilate
- The existence of Erastus as a city official of Corinth (Romans 16:23)
- The types of coins commonly used in the Roman Empire during the 1st century (Matthew 22:17-21, 26:14-15, Mark 12:13-17, 41-44, Luke 20:20-26, 21:1-4)
In summary, not only has the New Testament never been contradicted by any archaeological find, but it has become a useful tool for archaeologists as they sift through the ancient remains of antiquity.
This archeological evidence, when combined with the writings of early church leaders as well as early non-Christians makes a strong case for the existence of the New Testament as a historically reliable collection.
The question that remains, however, is how reliable are the documents we have today? Do we have the original copies? If not, how can we be sure that what we are reading today accurately reflects what was written in the first century?
