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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria University College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 21, No. 11. September 17, 1958
Revelation — Part Five: The New Testament in the Light of External Evidence
Revelation
Part Five: The New Testament in the Light of External Evidence
In this installment of Revelation in the Light of Reason I propose to show the historical worth of the Testament in the light of references to be found in the writings of Christian, Jewish and Pagan historians.
| (1) | Numerous texts from the Evangelists are quoted in the letters of Pope Clement (95 A.D.), St. Ignatius of Antioch (107 A.D.), St. Polycarp of Smyrna (120 A.D.); also in the work entitled the Shepherd of Hermas (c. 150 A.D.), and in the Teaching of the Twelve written somewhere between 95 and 130 A.D. |
| (2) | St. Justic of Samaria and Rome, who became a Christian in 130 A.D., says that the Gospels were written by Apostles and disciples and were read at the meetings of Christians on Sundays. |
| (3) | Papias of Phrygia, a disciple of St. John, writing about 130 A.D., explains the circumstances in which the Gospel of St. Mark was composed, and refers to a work by St. Matthew, no doubt it being his gospel. |
| (4) | Tatian wrote his Diatesseron, or harmony of the four gospels, about 170 A.D. |
| (5) | St. Irenaeus, writing about 180 A.D., says: "Matthew wrote a Gospel for the Jews in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching and establishing the Church at Rome. After their departure, Mark, also, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, handed down to us in writing the information which Peter had given. And Luke, the follower of Paul, wrote out the Gospel which Paul used to preach. Later, John, the disciple of the Lord, who had reclined on His breast, published his Gospel during his sojourn at Ephesus in Asia Minor." |
| (6) | Tertullian of Africa, writing against the heretic Marcion, about 200 A.D., appeals to the authority of the churches, "all of which have had our Gospels since Apostolic times." He speaks of the Gospels as the work of the Apostles Matthew and John, and of the disciples Mark and Luke. |
| (7) | Heretics, such as Basilides (died 130 A.D.) and pagans, such as Celsus (died c. 200 A.D.) did not question the genuineness of the Gospels. |
| (8) | Flavius Josephus, a Jew, born in 37 A.D., mentions "Jesus, surnamed the Christ", and the apostle James, "the brother of Jesus", in his Jewish Antiquities written shortly after 70 A.D. |
| (9) | Tacitus, the Roman historian, writing about 115 A.D., speaks of the Christians whose "name came to them from Christ, Who was executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate." |
| (10) | Suetonius and Pliny (who wrote a letter to the Emperor Trajan about the Christians in 112 A.D.) are other Roman writers who make reference to Christianity. |
| (11) | The Jewish refers to Jesus, to His "acts of sorcery" and to his crucifixion. |
The significance of all this is well expressed by Klausner who writes: "Even if this were all we possessed we should know that there lived in Judea a Jew called Jesus, who was called the Messias; that he accomplished miracles and taught the people; that he was put to death by the orders of Pontius Pilate, after being accused by the Jews; that he had a "brother" (i.e., cousin) named James, who was put to death by the high priest Annas; that the sect of the Christians was based on his teaching; that a community of this sect already existed in Rome some 50 years after the birth of Jesus, and that it was the cause of banishment of the Jews from Rome; finally, that from Nero's time onwards this sect grew considerably, worshipped Jesus as God and was fiercely persecuted."