Did Jesus resurrect a stillborn baby?

[Written for the Southern Cross]

Last week I read excitingly about an unbelievable find in the Vatican Archives.  It was so unbelievable, it ended up being false.  A scientist had found a first century document where a Roman historian recorded an eye witness account of Jesus resurrecting a stillborn baby.  After a few minutes of research I learned that the article was a hoax.  I said out loud in consolation, “well, we always have Josephus and Tacitus.”

I have encountered people who question the historicity of Jesus Christ, doubting that he ever existed.  They claim there are no records of the existence of Jesus outside the New Testament.  Even though the document from AD 31 that the article above claimed existed was false, several historically confirmed extra-biblical accounts of Jesus exist.

The first comes from the Jewish historian Josephus who wrote Antiquities of the Jews in AD 94 for a Roman audience.  He records, “there arose at this time a source of further trouble in one Jesus, a wise man who performed surprising works, a teacher of men who gladly welcome strange things.  When Pilate… condemned him to the cross, those who had attached themselves to him at first did not cease to cause trouble, and the tribe of Christians, which has taken this name from him, is not extinct even today.”

A second account comes from the Roman historian Tacitus who in his Annals written in AD 116, records the burning of Rome by Nero.  Tacitus writes, “Nero set up as the culprits and punished with the utmost refinement of cruelty a class hated for their abominations, who are commonly called Christians. Christus, from whom their name is derived, was executed at the hands of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius.”  Also in the Annals, Tactius records how this “pernicious superstition” broke out in Rome, but its followers “were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clothed in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed.”

A final account is found in the writings of the Roman Suetonius who in AD 121 wrote about the lives of the Roman emperors.  In his book, he mentions the expulsion of Jews from Rome in AD 49.  He writes, “since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, Claudius expelled them from Rome.”  Historians agree that Chrestus represents a misunderstanding among Romans of what was happening in the Jewish community of Rome as many Jews recognized Jesus as the Christ.  This account parallels the Acts of the Apostles where Paul meets with Aquila and Priscilla who had been expelled from Rome by Claudius.

Though none of these accounts can give us faith to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they verify the historicity of Jesus.  The article I read may have been false, but these historical accounts confirm the life to Jesus, his work and the impact of the early Church.

Pictures are mine, all rights reserved.