Early Traditions about Jesus in Non-Christian Sources

The texts presented here are early non-Christian witnesses to Jesus. The reliability of many of these texts as comparative evidence for the historical Jesus and his early followers remains a contentious issue among scholars. If accepted uncritically, Josephus’ “Testimonium Flavianum” suggests that Josephus himself believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but there is no other evidence for this. A passage from the Babylonian Talmud, written many centuries after Jesus’ death, seems to respond to the Christian claim that Jesus’ trial was unjust, insisting instead that proper procedure was followed and that witnesses to support his acquittal were called. The passage from Tacitus’ Annals makes passing reference to Jesus’ death at the hands of Pilate.