Despite Jesus Christ being one of the world's most iconic religious figures, there is a genuine paucity of evidence to support the claim that he existed as a historical person. Several studies of the historical Jesus revealed enigmatic and enticing shreds of evidence, though. Examining the life of the historical Christ can be the source of new insights on the life of this important figure.
One of the best places to start looking for the historical Christ is actually in the Bible, in the New Testament. It should be noted, though, that methods of historical analysis must be applied to these sources in the same way that they would with other documents. For that reason, the New Testament must be approached with caution.
It is also worth remembering that the New Testament was not established as the Bible of Christianity until 150 years after Christ had been executed. The Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament, was used up until that point. As for the authors of the New Testament, many had never seen Jesus, and certainly never met him either.
There are also some issues of credibility with many aspects of the New Testament, especially as it is full of bias. The writers intended to show how great Christ was, and therefore the neutrality of their versions of events has to be disputed. These issues of credibility are compounded by the fact that much of the New Testament was written long after Christ had died.
Anyone who wants to study the New Testament as a historian also needs to be aware of several other issues which pertain the credibility of the texts. The early years of Christianity were marked by much dissension, and it took quite a while until the New Testament took the form we know today. Much of it was also written by non-Jews, who lived outside the region where the events had taken place.
The debate about the theological roots of Christianity is for another place, but the New Testament should be treated the same as any other source when using it for the study of history. There are other sources which provide useful evidence about Christ, though. Some of the more significant of these are Roman writings.
Direct reference to Christ can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus, who wrote about Christ directly when giving his account of Nero's persecution of Roman Christians. Another historian who mentioned Christ was Thallus. He referred to an eclipse occurring at the time of the Crucifixion, even though Christ was not declared a deity until the fourth century.
When studying to find the real-life Christ who existed in history, there are a number of sources which offer good leads. Whether they are Biblical writings or documents from other traditions, though, they need to be treated with the same level of caution. The historical Jesus revealed by such a study therefore becomes an even more arresting and intriguing figure, even though the details available from sources is tantalisingly slight.
One of the best places to start looking for the historical Christ is actually in the Bible, in the New Testament. It should be noted, though, that methods of historical analysis must be applied to these sources in the same way that they would with other documents. For that reason, the New Testament must be approached with caution.
It is also worth remembering that the New Testament was not established as the Bible of Christianity until 150 years after Christ had been executed. The Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament, was used up until that point. As for the authors of the New Testament, many had never seen Jesus, and certainly never met him either.
There are also some issues of credibility with many aspects of the New Testament, especially as it is full of bias. The writers intended to show how great Christ was, and therefore the neutrality of their versions of events has to be disputed. These issues of credibility are compounded by the fact that much of the New Testament was written long after Christ had died.
Anyone who wants to study the New Testament as a historian also needs to be aware of several other issues which pertain the credibility of the texts. The early years of Christianity were marked by much dissension, and it took quite a while until the New Testament took the form we know today. Much of it was also written by non-Jews, who lived outside the region where the events had taken place.
The debate about the theological roots of Christianity is for another place, but the New Testament should be treated the same as any other source when using it for the study of history. There are other sources which provide useful evidence about Christ, though. Some of the more significant of these are Roman writings.
Direct reference to Christ can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus, who wrote about Christ directly when giving his account of Nero's persecution of Roman Christians. Another historian who mentioned Christ was Thallus. He referred to an eclipse occurring at the time of the Crucifixion, even though Christ was not declared a deity until the fourth century.
When studying to find the real-life Christ who existed in history, there are a number of sources which offer good leads. Whether they are Biblical writings or documents from other traditions, though, they need to be treated with the same level of caution. The historical Jesus revealed by such a study therefore becomes an even more arresting and intriguing figure, even though the details available from sources is tantalisingly slight.
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