Can You Prove It?

2.2 Evidence Outside the New Testament

The impression is sometimes given that the only evidence we have for the origins of Christianity comes from the New Testament itself, and secondary Christian sources (and, by implication, this evidence is not to be trusted because it is biased in favour of the Christian message). It is true that there aren't many references to Christian origins outside of the New Testament and the Church. This should not surprise us - the documents available to us today must only be a tiny fraction of all those written at the time, and a fairly random selection at that. R T France cites the case of Tacitus, the Roman historian, for which we only have two manuscripts, covering only half of what he is believed to have written. Not only that, but the earliest stages of the Christian movement were obscure and 'low profile'. They took place in an unimportant province on the Eastern edge of the Roman Empire.

However, there are at least half a dozen non-Christian (i.e. Roman or Jewish) sources that refer to Christian origins. These are sufficient to provide some confirmation of the historical picture that is painted by the New Testament.