The Historical Jesus

From the material supplied by Lucian we may derive the following data concerning Jesus and early Christians. ⁽¹⁾ We are told that Jesus was worshiped by Christians. ⁽²⁾ It is also related that Jesus introduced new teachings in Palestine (the location is given in another unquoted portion of Section II) and ⁽³⁾ that he was crucified because of these teachings. Jesus taught his followers certain doctrines, such as ⁽⁴⁾ all believers are brothers, ⁽⁵⁾ from the moment that conversion takes place and ⁽⁶⁾ after the false gods are denied (such as those of Greece). Additionally, these teachings included ⁽⁷⁾ worshiping Jesus and ⁽⁸⁾ living according to his laws. ⁽⁹⁾ Lucian refers to Jesus as a “sage,” which, especially in a Greek context, would be to compare him to the Greek philosophers and wise men.

Concerning Christians, we are told ⁽¹⁰⁾ that they are followers of Jesus who ⁽¹¹⁾ believe themselves to be immortal. Lucian explains that this latter belief accounts for their contempt of death. ⁽¹²⁾ Christians accepted Jesus’ teachings by faith and ⁽¹³⁾ practiced their faith by their disregard for material possessions, as revealed by the holding of common property among believers.

The portion of Lucian not quoted presents some additional facts. ⁽¹⁴⁾ The Christians had “sacred writings” which were frequently read. ⁽¹⁵⁾ When something affected their community, “they spare no trouble, no expense.” ⁽¹⁶⁾ However, Lucian notes that Christians were easily taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals.⁵¹ From Lucian, then, we learn a number of important facts about Jesus and early Christian beliefs. Many of these are not reported by other extra-New Testament beliefs.

Mara Bar-Serapion

The British Museum owns the manuscript of a letter written sometime between the late first and third centuries AD. Its author was a Syrian named Mara Bar-Serapion, who was writing from prison to motivate his son Serapion to emulate wise teachers of the past:⁵²

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. But Socrates did not die for good; he lived on in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise King die for good; he lived on in the teaching which he had given.⁵³

From this passage we learn ⁽¹⁾ that Jesus was considered to be a wise and virtuous man. ⁽²⁾ He is addressed twice as the Jews’ King, possibly a reference to Jesus’ own teachings about himself, to that of his followers or even to the wording on the titulus placed over Jesus’ head on the cross. ⁽³⁾ Jesus was executed unjustly by the Jews, who paid for their misdeeds by suffering judgment soon afterward, probably at least as reference to the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman armies. ⁽⁴⁾ Jesus lived on in the teachings of the early Christians, which is an indication that Mara Bar-Serapion was almost certainly not a Christian. Rather, he follows Lucian and others in the popular comparison of Jesus to philosophers and other wise men in the ancient world.

As Bruce notes, some of Mara Bar-Serapion’s material concerning Athens and Samos is quite inaccurate.⁵⁴ Yet the statements about Jesus do not appear to be flawed and thus add to our extra-New Testament data about him.

Gnostic Sources

This category of extra-New Testament sources is different from all the others in that these works often at least make the claim to be Christian. Although scholars still debate the question of the origin of Gnosticism, it is generally said to have flourished mainly from the second to the fourth centuries AD. It is from four, second century documents that we get the material for this section. While it is possible that there are other Gnostic sources as old or older than the four used here, these have the advantage both of being better established and of claiming to relate facts concerning the historical Jesus, many of which are not reported in the Gospels.

However, it must be admitted that this group of writers was still more influenced by the New Testament writings than the others in this chapter. Yet, although many of the ideas in these four books are Christian, Gnosticism in many of its forms and teachings was pronounced heretical and viewed as such by the church. Hence we are discussing such material in this chapter.

The Gospel of Truth

This book was possibly written by the Gnostic teacher Valentinus, which would date its writing around AD 135–160. If not, it was probably at least from this school of thought and still dated in the second century AD.⁵⁵ Unlike some Gnostic works, The Gospel of Truth addresses the subject of the historicity of Jesus in several short passages. It does not hesitate to affirm that the Son of God came in the flesh. The author asserts that “the Word came into the midst . . . it became a body.”⁵⁶ Later he states:

For when they had seen him and had heard him, he granted them to taste him and to smell him and to touch the beloved Son. When he had appeared instructing them about the Father . . . . For he came by means of fleshly appearance.⁵⁷

From these two quotations this book indicates ⁽¹⁾ that Jesus was the Son of God, the Word and ⁽²⁾ that he became a man and took on an actual human body which could be perceived by all five senses. ⁽³⁾ We are also told that he instructed his listeners about his Father.

According to The Gospel of Truth, Jesus also died and was raised from the dead:

Jesus was patient in accepting sufferings . . . since he knows that his death is life for many . . . he was nailed to a tree; he published the edict of the Father on the cross. . . . He draws himself down to death through life . . . eternal clothes him. Having stripped himself of the perishable rags, he put on imperishability, which no one can possibly take away from him.⁵⁸

Here and later (18:23) the author states ⁽⁴⁾ that Jesus was persecuted and suffered and ⁽⁵⁾ that he was “nailed to a tree,” obviously referring to his crucifixion. ⁽⁶⁾ We are also told of the belief that it was Jesus’ death that brought salvation “for many,” which is referred to as the imparting of Light to those who would receive it (30:37; 31:12-20). It is also asserted ⁽⁷⁾ that Jesus was raised in an eternal body which no one can harm or take from him.