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wrongdoing resulted in the future punishment of those responsible by god and that when the wise are oppressed not only does their wisdom triumph in the end but god punishes their oppressors 83 the letter includes no christian themes and the author is presumed to be a pagan 81 82 some scholars see the reference to the execution of the wise king of the jews as an early non christian reference to jesus 80 81 82 criteria that support the non christian origin of the letter include the observation that king of the jews was not a christian title and that the letter s premise that jesus lives on through the wisdom of his teachings is in contrast to the christian concept that jesus continues to live through his resurrection 82 83 the scholar robert van voorst sees little doubt that the reference to the execution of the king of the jews is about the death of jesus 83 others such as craig a evans see less value in the letter given its uncertain date and the possible ambiguity in the reference 84 suetonius edit main article suetonius on christians a 1540 copy of lives of the twelve caesars by suetonius the roman historian suetonius c 69 after 122 ad made references to early christians and their leader in his work lives of the twelve caesars written 121 ad 80 85 86 87 the references appear in claudius 25 and nero 16 which describe the lives of roman emperors claudius and nero 85 the nero 16 passage refers to the abuses by nero and mentions how he inflicted punishment on christians which is generally dated to around 64 ad 88 this passage shows the clear contempt of suetonius for christians the same contempt expressed by tacitus and pliny the younger in their writings but does not refer to jesus himself 86 the earlier passage in claudius may include a reference to jesus but is subject to debate among scholars 87 in claudius 25 suetonius refers to the expulsion of jews by claudius and states 85 since the jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of chrestus he expelled them from rome the reference in claudius 25 involves the agitations in the jewish community which led to the expulsion of some jews from rome by claudius and is likely the same event mentioned in the acts of the apostles 18 2 80 most historians date this expulsion to around 49 50 ad 80 89 suetonius refers to the leader of the christians as chrestus a term also used by tacitus referred in latin dictionaries as a amongst other things version of christus 90 however the wording used by suetonius implies that chrestus was alive at the time of the disturbance and was agitating the jews in rome 34 80 this weakens the historical value of his reference as a whole and there is no overall scholarly agreement about its value as a reference to jesus 34 87 however the confusion of suetonius also points to the lack of christian interpolation for a christian scribe would not have confused the jews with christians 34 87 most scholars assume that in the reference jesus is meant and that the disturbances mentioned were due to the spread of christianity in rome 87 91 92 however scholars are divided on the value of the suetonius reference some scholars such as craig a evans john meier and craig s keener see it as a likely reference to jesus 93 94 others such as stephen benko and h dixon slingerland see it as having little or no historical value 87 menahem stern states suetonius definitely was referring to jesus because he would have added a certain to chrestus if he had meant some unknown agitator 95 the talmud edit see also jesus in the talmud and yeshu a page from sanhedrin in the 12th century reuchlin codex talmud the babylonian talmud in a few cases includes possible references to jesus using the terms yeshu yeshu ha notzri ben stada and ben pandera some of these references probably date back to the tannaitic period 70 200 ad 96 97 in some cases it is not clear if the references are to jesus or other people and scholars continue to debate their historical value and exactly which references if any may be to jesus 98 99 100 robert van voorst states that the scarcity of jewish references to jesus is not surprising given that jesus was not a prominent issue for the jews during the first century and after the devastation caused by the siege of jerusalem in the year 70 jewish scholars were focusing on preserving judaism itself rather than paying much attention to christianity 101 robert eisenman argues that the derivation of jesus of nazareth from ha notzri is impossible on etymological grounds as it would suggest rather the nazirite rather than the nazarene 102 van voorst states that although the question of who was referred to in various points in the talmud remains subject to debate among scholars in the case of sanhedrin 43a generally considered the most important reference to jesus in rabbinic literature jesus can be confirmed as the subject of the passage not only from the reference itself but from the context that surrounds it and there is little doubt that it refers to the death of jesus of nazareth 103 104 christopher m tuckett states that if it is accepted that death narrative of sanhedrin 43a refers to jesus of nazareth then it provides evidence of jesus existence and execution 105 andreas kostenberger states that the passage is a tannaitic reference to the trial and death of jesus at passover and is most likely earlier than other references to jesus in the talmud 97 the passage reflects hostility toward jesus among the rabbis and includes this text 96 97 it is taught on the eve of passover they hung yeshu and the crier went forth for forty days beforehand declaring that yeshu is going to be stoned for practicing witchcraft for enticing and leading israel astray anyone who knows something to clear him should come forth and exonerate him but no one had anything exonerating for him and they hung him on the eve of passover 106 peter schäfer states that there can be no doubt that the narrative of the execution of jesus in the talmud refers to jesus of nazareth but states that the rabbinic literature in question are not tannaitic but from a later amoraic period and may have drawn on the christian gospels and may have been written as responses to them 107 bart ehrman and separately mark allan powell state that given that the talmud references are quite late they can give no historically reliable information about the teachings or actions of jesus during his life 108 109 another reference in early second century rabbinic literature tosefta hullin ii 22 refers to rabbi eleazar ben dama who was bitten by a snake but was denied healing in the name of jesus by another rabbi for it was against the law and thus died 110 this passage reflects the attitude of jesus early jewish opponents i e that his miracles were based on evil powers 110 111 eddy and boyd who question the value of several of the talmudic references state that the significance of the talmud to historical jesus research is that it never denies the existence of jesus but accuses him of sorcery thus indirectly confirming his existence 98 r t france and separately edgar v mcknight state that the divergence of the talmud statements from the christian accounts and their negative nature indicate that they are about a person who existed 112 113 craig blomberg states that the denial of the existence of jesus was never part of the jewish tradition which instead accused him of being a sorcerer and magician as also reflected in other sources such as celsus 96 andreas kostenberger states that the overall conclusion that can be drawn from the references in the talmud is that jesus was a historical person whose existence was never denied by the jewish tradition which instead focused on discrediting him 97 minor sources edit main articles pliny the younger on christians and dead sea scrolls pliny the younger c 61 c 113 the provincial governor of pontus and bithynia wrote to emperor trajan c 112 concerning how to deal with christians who refused to worship the emperor and instead worshiped christus charles guignebert who does not doubt that jesus of the gospels lived in galilee in the 1st century nevertheless dismisses this letter as acceptable evidence for a historical jesus 114 thallus of whom very little is known and none of whose writings survive wrote a history allegedly around the middle to late first century ad to which eusebius referred julius africanus writing c 221 ad links a reference in the third book of the history to the period of darkness described in the crucifixion accounts in three of the gospels 115 116 it is not known whether thallus made any mention to the crucifixion accounts if he did and the dating is accurate it would be the earliest non canonical reference to a gospel episode but its usefulness in determining the historicity of jesus is uncertain 115 117 118 phlegon of tralles 80 140 ad similar to thallus julius africanus mentions a historian named phlegon who wrote a chronicle of history around 140 ad where he records phlegon records that in the time of tiberius caesar at full moon there was a full eclipse of the sun from the sixth to the ninth hour africanus chronography 18 1 phlegon is also mentioned by origen an early church theologian and scholar born in alexandria now phlegon in the thirteenth or fourteenth book i think of his chronicles not only ascribed to jesus a knowledge of future events but also testified that the result corresponded to his predictions origen against celsus book 2 chapter 14 and with regard to the eclipse in the time of tiberius caesar in whose reign jesus appears to have been crucified and the great earthquakes which then took place origen against celsus book 2 chapter 33 jesus while alive was of no assistance to himself but that he arose after death and exhibited the marks of his punishment and showed how his hands had been pierced by nails origen against celsus book 2 chapter 59 119 philo who dies after 40 ad is mainly important for the light he throws on certain modes of thought and phraseology found again in some of the apostles eusebius 120 indeed preserves a legend that philo had met peter in rome during his mission to the emperor caius moreover that in his work on the contemplative life he describes the life of the church of alexandria rather than that of the essenes and therapeutae but it is hardly probable that philo had heard enough of jesus and his followers to give an historical foundation to the foregoing legends 121 celsus writing late in the second century produced the first full scale attack on christianity 115 122 celsus document has not survived but in the third century origen replied to it and what is known of celsus writing is through the responses of origen 115 according to origen celsus accused jesus of being a magician and a sorcerer while the statements of celsus may be seen as valuable they have little historical value given that the wording of the original writings can not be examined 122 the dead sea scrolls are first century or older writings that show the language and customs of some jews of jesus time 123 scholars such as henry chadwick see the similar uses of languages and viewpoints recorded in the new testament and the dead sea scrolls as valuable in showing that the new testament portrays the first century period that it reports and is not a product of a later period 124 125 however the relationship between the dead sea scrolls and the historicity of jesus has been the subject of highly controversial theories and although new theories continue to appear there is no overall scholarly agreement about their impact on the historicity of jesus despite the usefulness of the scrolls in shedding light on first century jewish traditions 126 127 disputed sources edit the following sources are disputed and of limited historical value lucian of samosata born 115 ad a well known greek satirist and traveling lecturer wrote mockingly of the followers of jesus for their ignorance and credulity 115 128 given that lucian s understanding of christian traditions has significant gaps and errors his writing is unlikely to have been influenced by christians themselves and he may provide an independent statement about the crucifixion of jesus 115 however given the nature of the text as satire lucian may have embellished the stories he heard and his account cannot have a high degree of historical reliability 128 emperor trajan c 53 117 in reply to a letter sent by pliny the younger wrote you observed proper procedure my dear pliny in sifting the cases of those who had been denounced to you as christians for it is not possible to lay down any general rule to serve as a kind of fixed standard they are not to be sought out if they are denounced and proved guilty they are to be punished with this reservation that whoever denies that he is a christian and really proves it that is by worshiping our gods even though he was under suspicion in the past shall obtain pardon through repentance but anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution for this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age epictetus 55 135 ad provides another possible yet disputed reference to christians as galileans in his discourses 4 7 6 and 2 9 19 21 therefore if madness can produce this attitude of detachment toward these things death loss of family property and also habit as with the galileans can no one learn from reason and demonstration that god has made all things in the universe and the whole universe itself to be unhindered and complete in itself and the parts of it to serve the needs of the whole numenius of apamea in the second century wrote a possible allusion to christians and christ that is contained in fragments of his treatises on the points of divergence between the academicians and plato on the good in which according to origen contra celsum iv 51 he makes an allusion to jesus christ 129 claudius galenus galen 129 200 ad may reference christ and his followers from galen de differentiis pulsuum on the pulse iii 3 the work is listed in de libris propriis 5 and seems to belong between 176 and 192 ad or possibly even 176 180 one might more easily teach novelties to the followers of moses and christ than to the physicians and philosophers who cling fast to their schools 130 tertullian 155 220 suggests in book 4 of his work against marcion the existence of census records for a census taken during the time of gaius sentius saturninus which corroborates jesus s birth during this time 131 however these records have not resurfaced additionally in apologeticus he refers to records from the roman archives which back up the account of the crucifixion darkness from the bible these records however have not resurfaced 132 abgar tiberius correspondence ilaria ramelli argues that the earliest documents to discuss jesus are an exchange of letters between the roman emperor tiberius and the king of osroene abgar v discussing political de...