The Following Facts About Jesus Were Written By Early Non-Christian Sources:
- Jesus was from Nazareth.
- Jesus lived a wise and virtuous life.
- Jesus was crucified in Judea under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius Caesar at Passover time, being considered the Jewish king.
- Jesus was believed by his disciples to have died and risen from the dead three days later.
- Jesus’ enemies acknowledged that he performed unusual feats they called “sorcery.”
- Jesus’ small band of disciples multiplied rapidly, spreading as far as Rome.
- Jesus’ disciples denied polytheism, lived moral lives, and worshiped Christ as God.
Theologian Norman Geisler remarked:
“This general outline is perfectly congruent with that of the New Testament.”9
All of these independent accounts, religious and secular, speak of a real man who matches up well with the Jesus in the Gospels. Encyclopedia Britannica cites these various secular accounts of Jesus’ life as convincing proof of his existence. It states:
“These independent accounts prove that in ancient times even the opponents of Christianity never doubted the historicity of Jesus.”10