Historical Christ And His Time
Lesson 2
If the stories
of Jesus are simply myths without historical basis, if He was not born
of a virgin, if He performed no miracles, if He was not raised from the
dead, we would be, as Paul said, "of all men most miserable"
(I Corinthians 15:19). However, the historical evidence confirming the
Christian's faith is overwhelming. The facts of the life of Christ are
confirmed both by Pagans and unbelieving Jews.
JOSEPHUS
Josephus, was the son of Matthias, a Jew. He was a writer and a
historian of the first century. He took the name of Flavius in honor of the Flavian
emperors. He was born in 37 A.D. When 26 years old, he visited Rome and was so impressed
that he spent the rest of his life trying to improve the relationship between the Jews and
the Romans. His respect among the Romans was seen in his presence when Titus destroyed
Jerusalem in 70 AD Later, Josephus wrote the history of the event in seven books entitled History
of the Jewish War. He also wrote Jewish Antiquities and His Autobiography.
Concerning Jesus, Josephus says, "At this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if he may
be called a man; for he performed many wonderful works. He was a teacher of such men as
received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to Him many Jews and Gentiles. This was the
Christ. And when Pilate, at the instigation of chief men among us, had condemned him to
the cross, they who before had conceived an affection for him did not cease to adhere to
him..."
TACITUS
Caries Cornelius
Tacitus, who wrote around the year 100 A.D., had a strong dislike for
the Christians. This, however, makes his testimony even stronger. In discussing
the life of Nero and the accusation that he burned the city and blamed
it on the Christians, Tacitus says, "Hence to suppress the rumor,
he falsely charged with the guilt, and punished with the most exquisite
tortures, the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated because
of their leader Christus, the founder who was put to death by Pontius
Pilate."
There were
numerous first century writers who mentioned Christ in their writings.
Lucian, 70 A.D.; Seutonius, l20 A.D.; Pliny the younger, 112 A.D.; etc.
THE JEWISH TALMUD
"On the eve of Passover they hanged Yeshua (of Nazareth) and
the herald went before him for forty days saying (Yeshua of Nazareth) is going to be
stoned in that he both practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel." (Babylonian Talmud, Gemara, "and a herald precedes him etc". page
281)
So significant
is Jesus in man's history that the Encyclopedia Britannica has 20,000
words in describing this person, Jesus. His description took more space
than was given to Aristotle, Cicero, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha,
Confucius, Mohammed or Napolean Bonaparte. Jesus is recorded as a fact,
as is His death, burial and missing body in the Reader's Digest Book
of Facts, 1989. The existence of Christ cannot be denied. In 30 years
Jesus changed the world more than any other human that ever lived. How
can this be explained if He was not what He claimed to be? With this thought
in mind, let's turn to the world or time in which Jesus existed and the
time when the church began.
The death of the Son of God on a Roman cross marks the central point in
the history of mankind. When Christ died on the cross and cried "It is
finished," He marked the completion of a long chain of events that had taken place
according to divine guidance. The death of Christ was not accidental nor incidental, but
was according to God's determinate counsel and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23; Galatians 3:6-9).
Everything that had gone on before the death of Christ was in
preparation for this great event. Beginning with the Fall of Adam through the
Patriarchs’ journeys, and from the fulfillment of the Law of Moses and the Prophets,
God's divine plan to redeem man is revealed. We can now clearly see how the Law of Moses
was a "tutor to bring us to Christ" (Galatians 3:24; 4:4).
For us to understand the history of the church, we must know the world
in which the church had its beginning. The social philosophical and religious movements of
the day affected the church from its beginning.
THE ROMAN GOVERNMENT
The middle east has always been the center of world activities. In the
first century westward from the temple in Jerusalem, forty miles away up the coastline of
the Mediterranean Sea, and l500 miles beyond, was what man called the most wonderful city
in the world, Rome. Under the rule of Augustus Caesar, the presence of Rome was prevalent
in every region that the Roman soldiers occupied. There were some advantages and some
disadvantages.
Jesus was born into a world at peace. It was a Roman peace, watched
over by the vigilant Roman legions whose very presence discouraged any brewing revolt in
the remote corners of the Empire. The great works of Roman government, straight roads and
soaring aqueducts, marble buildings and spacious public plazas, were partly funded by
taxes. Rome was a strong-arm overlord.
The opening of the world to trade and travel was another benefit
conferred by the empire. Never before in the history of the world had the nations been
brought so near to each other. Not only was there universal law, but there was also a
unity of mankind that had not been known before. There was free trade, with a common
coinage, in which commerce flourished. The pirates were removed from the Mediterranean,
and order and prosperity were found during the first century throughout the whole Roman
world. There was one nation, one language, and one economic system, all as a result of the
Roman Empire.
A disadvantage was the extravagance of the emperors. Slavery was the
basis of this material and industrial empire. This system of degraded forced labor
rendered free labor disgraceful and unprofitable. The wastefulness of the rich resulted in
a system of heavy and burdensome taxation which finally became the instrument that ruined
the empire.
THE SOCIAL ORDER
At the head of the Roman society was the Emperor; then came the
senators, knights, citizens and provincials, free born, slaves and beggars. The people
were classified according to professions and trades. In the first century it is estimated
that there were many educated and cultured persons holding positions and responsibility.
The poorest class, which was very large in Rome, was provided a daily portion of bread by
the state. Knowledge of these extremes in social and economic conditions clarified the
fact that "not many noble, not many mighty were called" but that "the
poor heard Him gladly." (I Corinthians 1: 26; Mark 6:20,21).
MORAL CONDITIONS
The corrupt condition of mankind pictured by the apostle Paul in the
first chapter of Romans is verified by all secular history. As a result of Roman
conquests, wealth and luxury were made possible for the upper class, while wide use of
slavery brought corruption and dissolution of morals. Women became even more corrupted
than the men. From the court to the beggar, the whole society was perverted.
Marriage was a civil contract and could easily be dissolved at the
pleasure of either party. Divorce became so commonplace that Seneca (a Roman philosopher
and author born in 8 BC who was forced to commit suicide in 65 AD) referred to women who
counted their age by the change of husbands, and mentions one woman who married 8 husbands
in 5 years. The idea of life being sacred was quite foreign to Roman mind. Abortion was
not discouraged by law and was very extensively practiced, even among their doctors and
midwives. The destruction of a new born infant was common. A sickly or deformed child was
drowned at birth and tossed away like a broken shoe. The exploitation of female babies was
common enough that there were professionalists who gathered them up and reared them until
they could be sold into slavery.
Suicide was considered an open door through which a man might escape
the woes of life at any time. At Rome, one of the main amusements was the spectacle of
human bloodshed. Such morbid craving for bloodshed was unopposed by even the pagan
religions.
RELIGION
The religions of the Roman empire varied. As the masses of the
population were illiterate, the imaginations of pagan superstition and idolatry were
generally accepted. When Alexander the Great had united the east and west, he brought into
the western world the ancient religions of Persia and Egypt. These religions added to
Greek mythology and presented a wide choice of religions.
In general, it may be said that outside of Judaism, there was no
conscious relationship of religion and morality. A person could be very religious and very
immoral at the same time; for the pagan religions did nothing to promote personal purity
or social improvement.
Outside of Judaism, there was no voice raised against the mass
slaughter of gladiators in the name of sport or against the exploitation of infants, or
slavery, or abortion, or public immorality.
For those who teach that Christianity was an evolutionary development
from these pagan religions, the following should be considered:
1)
Christianity is a religion based upon historical fact. The pagans
had their myths, but the Christians had their facts. The miracles and
resurrection of Christ were first preached, and had their greatest influence,
in the very location where they took place. The truth of Christianity
does not rest upon it philosophical aspects, but upon the death and resurrection
of Christ. These facts are open to the public investigation.
2) The pagans had no concept of guilt in the Christian sense or of
God's forgiving and cleansing sin through a divine sacrifice. These ideas
constitute the very heart of Christianity.
3) Christ crucified was to the Pagans, foolishness, but to the
Christian, the hope of glory. Between the atoning death of Christ, and His bodily
resurrection and ascension, on one hand and the pagan superstitions of idolatry on the
other, a great division exists that no man can unite.
THE JEWISH CONTRIBUTION
Through Abraham, God began to reveal Himself and His purpose (Christ
coming into the world to save all mankind, Galatians 3:16). This purpose became clearer
through the law revealed at Mt. Sinai, but it required a backward look, with fulfillment
of the prophecies in mind, to understand and see how the hand of God was behind it all.
The law revealed sin to be sin and showed that every individual fell
short of this required standard of conduct. Through the law, God made the Jews conscious
of their shortcomings and through the required sacrifices, God emphasized the seriousness
of their sins. The entire dispensation, with the prophets, priests, ceremonies and
sacrifices, forced upon the Jewish mind the reality of God's presence and the inability of
man to save himself through his own effort.
Through the years, the Jews modified and annulled the commandments of
God by their traditions. When Jesus came into the world, this Jewish tradition was of
greater importance than the original commandment of God. Many of the Jews got caught up in
their traditional interpretations and separate denominational groups with quite different
emphasis. There were the Sadducees, Pharisees, the Essenes and the Zealots, all with their
own interpretation of God's Word and with their traditional views.
SUMMARY
It is no accident that we find the world so completely prepared for the
coming of Christ. A period of peace, good roads, extensive travel and commerce, one
language known and used throughout the empire, were certainly a great help in the spread
of the gospel.
The social and moral conditions created a desire for improvement and
prepared minds for the ready acceptance of the purity of Christianity. The pagan religion
was unable to relate morality to religion. With its superstitions and idolatry, pagan
religion did nothing to satisfy the eternal longing of the human race or save man from
sin. Man was looking for a solution. God showed the world that man left to himself could
not provide his salvation. By giving the Jews a revealed code of morals and sacrifices for
sin, God showed that man could not earn salvation by his own merit, but that he needs a
Savior.
So through
the Gentiles, God showed the world that man's effort to provide his own
salvation ends in failure. Through the Jews, God showed that man could
not keep a revealed religion based upon human effort, and accordingly,
both Jews and Gentiles need a Savior. It was time for the "word"
to become flesh (John 1:14).
Christianity is more than a religion. It is a way of life.
QUESTIONS
- Why is it so important to study the time in which Jesus was born?
- How did this influence the people's acceptance of Jesus Christ?
- Who were Josephus and Tacitus and how do they relate to our study?
- In the Jews writings, the Talmud, what did they accuse Christ of
doing?
- Everything that had gone on before the death of Christ was in
preparation of what event?
- Name some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Roman Empire.
- Name the Emperor of Rome at the time of Jesus' birth.
- In order, give the social order of Rome.
- In your own words, what were the moral conditions like at the time
of Christ?
- Who was Seneca?
PEOPLE YOU SHOULD KNOW
(Give a brief description of each of the following)
JEWS
SADDUCEES
ZEALOTS
PHARISEES
ESSENES
TACITUS
JESUS
JOSEPHUS
SENECA
AUGUSTUS CAESAR
PAGANS
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