Seeking The Historical Jesus Revealed Some Tantalising Evidence
Although Jesus Christ is one of the most famous religious figures to have ever lived, there is a paucity of actual historical evidence proving that he really existed. While many studies of the historical Jesus revealed tantalising morsels of evidence, there is still very little available. Nonetheless, many interesting insights can be gained from studying Jesus in this way.
One major source for information on the life of the Christ who existed historically is the New Testament, though there are a number of provisos which must be established before studying it in this context. The same criteria which historians apply to other historical documents must also be applied to the New Testament, and it should be used with caution.
The New Testament was not, after all, adopted as the Bible of Christianity until approximately 150 years after the death of Christ. Prior to that, early Christians had used the Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament, as their primary text. The New Testament was also written, in large part, by men who had never met or seen Christ.
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.
Cornelius Tacitus is one Roman historian whose works have direct references to Christ contained within them. Tacitus refers to Christ specifically, in relation to Nero's persecution of the Christians. Thallus was another historian who mentioned an eclipse at the time of the Crucifixion. Christ was not declared divine in any way until the time of the fourth century AD.
The hunt for the historical Jesus revealed many interesting aspects of this important figure's life over the last century or so. Anyone studying the topic needs to be aware of the tendentious aspects of many sources, though. When those tendencies are carefully filtered, then a real picture of Christ, an important figure to so many people all across the world, can at last be revealed.
One major source for information on the life of the Christ who existed historically is the New Testament, though there are a number of provisos which must be established before studying it in this context. The same criteria which historians apply to other historical documents must also be applied to the New Testament, and it should be used with caution.
The New Testament was not, after all, adopted as the Bible of Christianity until approximately 150 years after the death of Christ. Prior to that, early Christians had used the Septuagint, or Greek Old Testament, as their primary text. The New Testament was also written, in large part, by men who had never met or seen Christ.
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.
Cornelius Tacitus is one Roman historian whose works have direct references to Christ contained within them. Tacitus refers to Christ specifically, in relation to Nero's persecution of the Christians. Thallus was another historian who mentioned an eclipse at the time of the Crucifixion. Christ was not declared divine in any way until the time of the fourth century AD.
The hunt for the historical Jesus revealed many interesting aspects of this important figure's life over the last century or so. Anyone studying the topic needs to be aware of the tendentious aspects of many sources, though. When those tendencies are carefully filtered, then a real picture of Christ, an important figure to so many people all across the world, can at last be revealed.
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Title: Seeking The Historical Jesus Revealed Some Tantalising Evidence
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Keywords: society, social issues, social sciences, publications, relationships, religion
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