夕阳国际圣经学院Sunset International Bible Institute

基督信仰的历史证据之探究THE CASE

FOR HISTORIC CHRISTIANITY

作者：爱德华·C. 沃顿 Edward C. Wharton翻译：王璟

校对：夏薇 刘青 孙宝坤编辑：夏薇©2012

DEDICATION!is volume is gratefully dedicated to the elders of the Pasir Panjang Church of Christ in Singapore:

For their evangelistic spirit and farsighted vision and courage to launch and to oversee the International Bible Institute in Singapore for the academic and spiritual training of Asians to carry the Gospel of

Christ to!e Peoples of Asia.!e author dedicates this book especially to:

Winston ChongSimon Goh

Tan Beng ChuanAdrian Teo

William Wong

献词

目录

Preface

..............................1 Chapter 1 Jesus and History

.............11 Chapter 2 !e Historical Reliability of the New Testament(1)

.............27 Chapter 3 !e Historical Reliability of the New Testament(2)

.....................38 Chapter 4 !e Resurrection of Jesus Christ(1)

.....................51 Chapter 5 !e Resurrection of Jesus Christ(2)

.....................60 Chapter 6 !e Resurrection of Jesus Christ(3)

.....................70 Chapter 7 !e Resurrection of Jesus Christ(4)

.....................81 Chapter 8 !e Resurrection of Jesus Christ(5)

.....................85 Chapter 9 Jesus the Man of Destiny

...................91 Chapter 10 Jesus in the Context of Miracles

...................98 Chapter 11 !e Canonicity Factor

..............109 Chapter 12 !e Value of the Critical View of the Bible

.........................................131 Endnotes

v

PREFACE

Historical Christian Evidences is an exciting approach toproving the claims of Christianity. This has been fairly wellestablished in the enthusiasm which the subject hasgenerated among an inquisitive and increasingly large publicwho wants to know if Christianity is hoax or history.

Be careful not to predict that the electricity of this “newapproach” will power out soon after the newness is gone.Historical evidences for Christianity is not new; not at all.This particular method of producing faith in Christ is sometwo thousand years old. It is precisely the approach whichwas used by the Gospel writers and Paul and Peter to provethe claims of Christ to be the Son of God. The NewTestament writers made no arguments from eitherphilosophy or science for the sonship and deity of Jesus.Neither was their approach one of emotional subjectivism,that is, of following after their feelings as an evidence oftheir claims. But in the calm and objective style of men whoknew from either eyewitness experience (as the apostles) orfrom painstaking research (as with Luke) that what theywere recording were the facts in the case, they wrote theiraccounts in the verifiable context of history.

In point of fact, historical evidences is the case forChristianity which originated with the apostles. In an agewhich demands historical certitude we are but rediscoveringthe apostolic method of bringing the gospel to anunbelieving world. It is actually something of a wonder thatthe very method used by the New testament writers to provethe genuineness of the Christian religion has been so oftenrelegated to a small and insignificant chapter.

前言

vi

Christianity is belief in Christ as the Son of God withpower to raise the dead and judge the world. This belief restssquarely on Christ’s own historic life and resurrection aspresented in the New Testament. It is therefore necessary toview the New Testament as a reliable record of factsproviding a credible ground of evidence for belief. I havethus attempted in this course to provide sufficient reason foraccepting the New Testament as historically reliable(hopefully without becoming theologically heavy), and thenby an appeal to the facts as they are recorded I haveattempted by systematic reasoning to reproduce the apostles’case for belief.

With confidence I pursue this course in the hope thatthrough my students, and those who urge this Biblicalconcept, the full significance of historical Christianevidences will eventually become the common possession ofall who seek to know the certainty of Christianity.

Edward C. WhartonSunset International Bible Institute

Lubbock, Texas

C Edward C. Wharton

1

JESUS AND HISTORYChristianity, far from being a philosophy or merely

some ethical system, is pre-eminently a redemptive system.It is belief in Christ as the son of God who will redeem usfrom sin and raise us from the dead to an eternal judgment.Thus an investigation into the genuineness of the claims ofthe Christian religion must begin with the historical reality ofJesus, for apart from him, redemption from sin and aresurrection from the grave become mere “pie in the sky byand by.”

I. EVIDENCE FOR THE HISTORICAL JESUS

A. FROM PAGAN SOURCES1. Thallus. A Samaritan born historian named

Thallus lived and worked in Rome about themiddle of the first century (c. 52 AD). Thoughhis works are lost to us, Julius Africanus, awriter of the early third century, was familiarwith Thallus’ history of Greece. Africanus incommenting on the darkness which fell overthe land during the crucifixion of Jesus (Mark15:33) said that, “Thallus, in the third book ofhis histories, explains away this darkness as aneclipse of the sun.” Will Durant observed that1Thallus’ “argument took the existence of Christfor granted.” The chief point of this reference2

1第一章 耶稣与历史

I. 证明耶稣历史存在性的证据

A.

1. !allus

Julius Africanus

1 Will Durant

2

Jesus and History2to Thallus lies in the fact that a knowledge ofthe circumstances surrounding Jesus’ deathwere well known in the imperial city of Romeas early as the middle of the first century. Thefact of Christ’s crucifixion was alreadycommon knowledge by that time, even to theextent that unbelievers like Thallus thought itnecessary to explain the matter of the darknessas a natural phenomenon. But they neverdenied the darkness as a fact. Will Durantsummed up the matter of Christ’s historicalexistence by stating that it simply neveroccurred to the early opponents of Christianityto deny the existence of Jesus.3

2. Mara-Bar-Serapion. A manuscript in theBritish Museum preserves the text of a letterwritten some time after 73 AD. It was sent by aSyrian named Mara-Bar-Serapion to his son,Serapion. In prison at the time of the writingthe father pleads for his son to be wise byillustrating the folly of persecuting such wisemen as Socrates, Pythagoras, and Christ:

“What advantage did the Atheniansgain from putting Socrates to death?Famine and plague came upon them asa judgment for their crime. Whatadvantage did the men of Samos gainfrom burning Pythagoras? In amoment their land was covered withsand. What advantage did the Jewsgain from executing their wise King?It was just after that their kingdomwas abolished. God justly avengedthese three wise men: the Athenians

第一章 耶稣与历史

3

Mara-Bar-Serapion

Mara-Bar-Serapion (Serapion)

Socrates (Pythagoras)

Jesus and History 3died of hunger; the Samians wereoverwhelmed by the sea; the Jews,ruined and driven from their land, livein complete dispersion. But Socratesdid not die for good; he lived on in theteaching of Plato. Pythagoras did notdie for good; he lived on in the statueof Hera. Nor did the wise King die forgood; he lived on in the teachingwhich he had given.”4

It is obvious that by the time of this writing,Jesus was already placed on an equal footingwith the accepted wise men of the ancientworld.

3. Cornelius Tacitus. Usually rated as the greatesthistorian of Rome, Tacitus (born c. 52-54 AD)at about the age of sixty, while writing of thereign of Nero (54-68 AD), told how theChristians were made scapegoats for the GreatFire of 64 AD. It had been rumored that Nerohimself started the fire in order to gain glory byrebuilding the city. Tacitus says,

“Consequently, to get rid of the report,Nero fastened the guilt and inflictedthe most exquisite tortures on a classhated for their abominations, calledChristians by the populace. Christus,from whom the name had its origin,suffered the extreme penalty duringthe reign of Tiberius at the hands ofone of our procurators, PontiusPilatus...”5

To the pagan Tacitus, “Christus” was morethan likely a proper name. Tacitus was in a

第一章 耶稣与历史

(Hera)

4

(Cornelius Tacitus)

5

Jesus and History4good position to learn of Christianity, beinggovernor of Asia in 112 AD.

4. C. Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Younger). Pliny,governor of Bithynia, often wrote to theEmperor Trajan asking his Imperial advice onhow best to deal with the sect of the Christianswhich according to him were troubling hisprovince. One letter (c. 112 AD) revealsinformation he extracted from some Christiansby torture:

“They were in the habit of meeting ona certain fixed day before it was light,when they sang an anthem to Christ asGod, and bound themselves by asolemn oath not to commit any wickeddeed...after which it was their customto separate, and then to meet again topartake of food, but food of anordinary and innocent kind.”6

The innocence of the matter seemed toperplex the governor sufficiently to writeto the Emperor about it.

5. Suetonius. During the reign of Hadrian,Suetonius was annalist and court official of theImperial House. About 120 AD he wrote hisLife of Claudius, from which is taken his mostoft quoted reference:

“As the Jews were making constantdisturbances at the instigation ofChrestus, he expelled them fromRome.”7

Since so many Jews had become Christians atRome, Claudius probably equated the Jews

第一章 耶稣与历史

C (C. Plinius Secundus)(Pliny the Younger)

(Bithynia)Trajan

6

Suetonius(Hadrian)

(Life of Claudius)

7

Jesus and History 5with Christians and thus expelled them fromRome by an Imperial decree. Luke, by the way,records this same event much earlier in Acts18:1-2.

After referring to these same pagan writers asevidence of the historical Jesus, Will Durantsays,

“These references prove the existenceof Christians rather than of Christ; butunless we assume the latter we aredriven to the improbable hypothesisthat Jesus was invented in onegeneration; moreover, we mustsuppose that the Christian communityin Rome had been established someyears before 52, to merit the attentionof an imperial decree.”8

This evidence, especially in company with such anhistorian as Tacitus and Roman officials of thestature of Pliny and Suetonius, make the historicityof Jesus of Nazareth as certain as that of anyoutstanding figure of antiquity. This evidence isworth considering.

B. FROM JEWISH SOURCES1. The Talmud. There are two separate books of

writings dealing with Jewish law. The first ofthese is the Mishnah which is the Jewish codeof religious jurisprudence which began to becompiled sometime after 70 AD and completedabout 200 AD. This great body of newlycodified case-law became the object of Jewishstudy from which grew a body ofcommentaries called Gemaras. Together, the

第一章 耶稣与历史

8

B.

1. (!e Talmud

Mishnah

Jesus and History6Mishnah (law book) and the Gemara(commentaries) are called the Talmud. Beingpro-Jewish, all the references to “Yeshu’a ofNazareth” in the Talmudic writings areunfriendly, but in sufficient number,nevertheless, to establish the historical realityof Jesus Christ.

2. Josephus. The most important references toJesus from a Jewish source are from a formerJewish general turned historian by the name ofFlavius Josephus. In his writings he tells uswho he was, what he did, and of his ownevaluation of an historian. He writes of manyof the outstanding persons we read of in theNew Testament: of Pilate, of Quirinius ofSyria, of the Caesars, the Herods, the Phariseesand Sadducees, of Annas, Caiaphas, Felix, andFestus. He also writes of Jesus’ brother James,and of the death of John the Baptist. Mostsignificant is his reference to Jesus: “And therearose about this time Jesus, a wise man, ifindeed we should call him a man; for he was adoer of marvelous deeds, a teacher of men whoreceive the truth with pleasure. He won overmany Jews and also many Greeks. This manwas the Messiah. And when Pilate hadcondemned him to the cross at the instigationof our own leaders, those who had loved himfrom the first did not cease. For he appeared tothem on the third day alive again, as the holyprophets had predicted and said many otherwonderful things about him. And even now therace of Christians, so named after him, has notyet died out.”9

第一章 耶稣与历史

Gemara

(Josephus)

Flavius Josephus

9

Jesus and History 7All attempts to impugn the authenticity ofJosephus’ references to Jesus Christ have failed. Itis included in all of the manuscripts of Josephus.

At the close of his excellent little book offeringhistorical evidences for Christianity, F.F. Bruceremarks that, “Whatever else may be thought of theevidence from early Jewish and Gentile writers. . .itdoes at least establish, for those who refuse thewitness of Christian writings, the historicalcharacter of Jesus himself. Some writers may toywith the fancy of a Christ-myth,’ but they do not doso on the ground of historical evidence. Thehistoricity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiasedhistorian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. It is nothistorians who propagate the ‘Christ-myth’theories.”10

Cambridge historian Michael Grant has written:“That there was a growth of legend roundJesus cannot be denied, and it arose veryquickly. But there had also been a rapidgrowth of legend round pagan figures likeAlexander the Great; and yet nobodyregards him as wholly mythical andfictitious. To sum up, modern criticalmethods fail to support the Christ-myththeory. It has again and again beenanswered and annihilated by first-rankscholars. In recent years no serious scholarhas ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus or at any rate, very few,and they have not succeeded in disposing

第一章 耶稣与历史

F. F. (F. F. Bruce

10

Michael Grant

Alexander the Great

Jesus and History8of the much stronger, indeed veryabundant, evidence to the contrary.”11

C. FROM NEW TESTAMENT WRITERSWhatever reasons may be given for receiving thetestimony of Josephus or of Tacitus or of any otherwriter from antiquity as reliable history must beequally applied to the New Testament writers.Fairness and consistency demands that we give atleast the same consideration to the New Testamentas we would to any other document from the sameperiod. All of the New Testament writers werecontemporaries of Jesus. Four were eyewitnesses,three accompanied Jesus throughout his ministry,and all of their writings are in remarkableagreement, and continue to stand the tests ofgenuineness and historicity. These documents areby no means the least of the evidence to the actualexistence of Jesus as a real person of history. If theNew Testament documents were the only singlesource from antiquity which presented to us the lifeof Christ that would be more than sufficient proofof his historical reality.

H. G. Wells in commenting on the Gospels, whiledisavowing the supernatural element, nevertheless,admits that they carry the conviction of reality, andfeels compelled to say of Jesus: “Here was a man.This part of the tale could not have been invented”12Will Durant examines the evidence for Jesus andwrites: “That a few simple men should in onegeneration have invented so powerful and appealinga personality, so lofty an ethic and so inspiring avision of human brotherhood, would be a miracle

第一章 耶稣与历史

11

C.

H.G. H.G.Wells

12

Jesus and History 9far more incredible than any recorded in theGospels.”13

The fact of the historical Jesus, as supplied to us bysources both friendly and hostile, is thus seen to bequite an indisputable matter. In point of fact therewas a Jesus of Nazareth, a man of outstandingcharacter and unique personality, whose life andteaching indeed “constitute the most fascinatingfeature in the history of Western man.”14

II. THE PRACTICAL VALUE OF KNOWING OFCHRIST’S HISTORICITY

Merely the fact that Jesus existed is not enough toconvince us that he is the son of God. Practicality leadsus to ask for the real value of this knowledge.

He lived, so what?

A final thought considers the viewpoint of those whoaccept Jesus as historical but ask pointedly, So what?Why should the mere fact of Jesus’ existence mean anymore to us than that of any other person from antiquity?With all the evidence bearing upon Christ’s existencewe should expect an atheist to admit that Jesus livedrather than deny it. But the bare fact that he lived is notproof of his deity.

The major consideration, then, goes beyond the merefact of Jesus to those implications essentially inherent inthat existence. An admission of his greatness is anendorsement to an appreciable degree of the historicityof the New Testament documents.

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13

14

II. 基督之历史存在性的实际意义

Jesus and History10Consider that men do not receive such recognitionamong the great men of history merely because theyexist. They must either do or say something that is trulygreat. A crucial fact to keep in mind at this point is thatthe only source of information in our possession whichtells us of Jesus’ greatness is the New Testament. It isthe single source material upon which we must all relyfor information about the great life of Christ. Beyondthe New Testament we know only the fact of the life ofChrist and that he was crucified by Pilate at Jerusalem.Thus to know the nature of Jesus’ greatness we aretotally dependent upon the New Testament. Therefore,an acknowledgment of Jesus’ greatness is an admissionof the historical reliability of the details that the NewTestament relates about Jesus.

This conclusion is of extreme practical value to thosewho would know whether the New Testament expressesmerely an outdated sentiment or an historical revelationfor the redemption of ruined humanity.

第一章 耶稣与历史