Journal: Faith and Mission
Volume: FM 15:2 (Spring 1998)
Article: Rediscovering the Historical Jesus: The Evidence for Jesus
Author: William Lane Craig

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FM 15:2 (Spring 1998) p. 16

Rediscovering the Historical Jesus: The Evidence for Jesus

William Lane Craig

Philosopher and Theologian
1805 Danforth Drive
Marietta, GA 30062–5554

Lecture 2 of the Carver-Barnes Lectures
Delivered at Binkley Chapel
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Wake Forest, NC, September 24-25, 1996

Introduction

Last time we saw that the New Testament documents are the most important historical sources for Jesus of Nazareth. The so-called apocryphal gospels are forgeries which came much later and are for the most part elaborations of the four New Testament Gospels.

This does not mean that there are no sources outside the Bible which refer to Jesus; there are. He is referred to in pagan, Jewish, and Christian writings outside the New Testament. The Jewish historian Josephus is especially interesting. In the pages of his works you can read about New Testament people like the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, King Herod, John the Baptist, even Jesus Himself and His brother James. There have also been interesting archaeological discoveries as well, bearing on the Gospels. For example, in 1961 the first archaeological evidence concerning Pilate was unearthed in the town of Caesarea; it was an inscription of a dedication bearing Pilate’s name and title. Even more recently, in 1990 the actual tomb of Caiaphas, the high priest who presided over Jesus’ trial, was discovered south of Jerusalem. Indeed, the tomb beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is in all probability the tomb in which Jesus Himself was laid by Joseph of Arimathea following the crucifixion.

According to Luke Johnson, a New Testament scholar at Emory University,

Even the most critical historian can confidently assert that a Jew named Jesus worked as a teacher and wonder worker in Palestine during the reign

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of Tiberius, was executed by crucifixion under the prefect Pontius Pilate and continued to have followers after his death.1

Still, if we want any details about Jesus’ life and teachings, we must turn to the New Testament. Extrabiblical sources confirm what we read in the Gospels, but they do not really tell us anything new. The question must be: how historically reliable are the New Testament documents?

The Burden of Proof

Here we confront the very crucial question of the burden of proof. Should we assume that the Gospels are reliable unless they are proven to be unreliable? Or should we assume the Gospels are unreliable unless they are pro...

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