Changes

The Gospels are another set of independent sources that confirm the existence of Jesus and provide the most biographical information. The consensus in scholarship is that the Gospels are a type of ancient biography similar to Xenophon’s biographical works on Socrates, which early Christians like Justin Martyr acknowledged.<ref>Michael Bird. 2021. The Cambridge Companion to the New Testament. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108437707. pages 98–100. “At the moment, the consensus in scholarship is that the gospels are best described as a variation of Greco-Roman biography… In the mid-second century, Justin Martyr’s preferred way for referring to the gospels was as “the memoirs of the Apostles” (ta apomnēmoneumata tōn apostolōn). This evinces Justin’s understanding that they stand in some literary analogy to the Greco-Roman biographical tradition and books such as Xenophon’s “Memoirs of Socrates” and similar works. By using the term “memoirs,” Justin is the first, as far as we know, to liken the gospels to the biographical tradition.”</ref>

The Gospels are another set of independent sources that confirm the existence of Jesus and provide the most biographical information. The consensus in scholarship is that the Gospels are a type of ancient biography similar to Xenophon’s biographical works on Socrates, which early Christians like Justin Martyr acknowledged.<ref>Michael Bird. 2021. The Cambridge Companion to the New Testament. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108437707. pages 98–100. “At the moment, the consensus in scholarship is that the gospels are best described as a variation of Greco-Roman biography… In the mid-second century, Justin Martyr’s preferred way for referring to the gospels was as “the memoirs of the Apostles” (ta apomnēmoneumata tōn apostolōn). This evinces Justin’s understanding that they stand in some literary analogy to the Greco-Roman biographical tradition and books such as Xenophon’s “Memoirs of Socrates” and similar works. By using the term “memoirs,” Justin is the first, as far as we know, to liken the gospels to the biographical tradition.”</ref>

There are also non-biblical sources within reasonable time frames on Jesus as well. Josephus was a Jewish general of Galilee, the region where Jesus had his ministry, in the 60s AD and worked directly under Anannus II who had James, the brother of Jesus executed.<ref name="schm">Thomas Schmidt. 2025. [https://watermark02.silverchair.com/isbn-9780192866783.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAzMwggMvBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggMgMIIDHAIBADCCAxUGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMcFXNpp1zqB2-ZEExAgEQgIIC5iDxCDkedhmvrWMa9PKdwrZKXpB6prskV-GQkhjFFKpszJJ-hBmFvf1GlfWeGF__iCT25QK8PArBGeGJqthxVGT1VGQPA544dZOPD_4UP7I9-tkRBfXTYAV64-na0r8kQfODp-Y7LZYIpfmlP6bjyfLWQvT0InkswDAu_er8eT4fDIjr_frqAmHieGIJ1K49kPbHGNDitQRSNGZyScAzaA8B8cNZUDVzFlCpEM9OekUHY2mHbiRFWcTJySxCtjfE96jiGikzaULs-vxVHCZY3e15ocOftVXyQnNdfa-6JKR3NOxQCLc1Q3CLKmkHCdQrnI03xGmItBXBOQ9FhBr7hjyeqYsSSIGdaTywqh3f9TGjQe4n3OTvTScw2CWHE35lsWFdNPO8SCsX7cDO_9-glr9zYGKt-5pPN4JbVzxxBnBheANG_Mwo0Sf78jqYf-3l8pZ5ITIHrcxSlFKxZli4zePv107365IXnEWKyjVSSNL88c_3hRAnc_F--VGIMZ8eHa5lvB4gHKj5at1W-JBaVOljDoamX9Rze-600I-q1q00tBIEsWVl1wcjQGvQSBWmw7KLymrzdKCFRqurTmpGH_n0RItvpKUS5HdiKL9DqDzlxpzJtKxqDj9ldSbN9lmH1v6CWMfMRdPaUPH4Uywdq05i-c_b_qnHy_o1XKJk0lgaIiFy_CBsiDDGqu4VTkohceusjRQLHAwTPfVzM5L_cG963qKpDLdHyij2YdcMTWUidIyt2EOntnffn6uQwgWvtS2MlRCbhc4CfIW8W_xa_xLOGdZEXn1n7HS5tvdH0dohSLbFlyTeuTHIXtCdQ4UDoHW4ia7n1Ih9-bNtD3bBAF-6C8JVChiZJkBOTxHbcyiPJHWgqCkFVUgjlH81bb6PamgDqHpztJfYGWcpRIFFu6ZsqL1DFMMnOCxpgzdkjOQNIFNrL7hs3WCK47rtwmJOFx6OsLSlEeo_jZ_v3ID53V-i6ffQvCQ Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ] (free ebook). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191957697. pages 145–147.</ref> The father of Annaus II, namely Annanus I, was at the trial of Jesus, giving a strong set of sources for Josephus’ information on Jesus, his brother James, and other events in Galilee.<ref name="schm" /> Furthermore, Josephus even lived near Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, for a time and trained tens of thousands of soldiers in Galilee during the Jewish revolt against the Romans.<ref name="schm" />  

There are also numerous non-biblical sources within reasonable time frames on Jesus as well. Josephus was a Jewish general of Galilee, the region where Jesus had his ministry, in the 60s AD and worked directly under Anannus II who had James, the brother of Jesus executed.<ref name="schm">Thomas Schmidt. 2025. [https://watermark02.silverchair.com/isbn-9780192866783.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAzMwggMvBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggMgMIIDHAIBADCCAxUGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMcFXNpp1zqB2-ZEExAgEQgIIC5iDxCDkedhmvrWMa9PKdwrZKXpB6prskV-GQkhjFFKpszJJ-hBmFvf1GlfWeGF__iCT25QK8PArBGeGJqthxVGT1VGQPA544dZOPD_4UP7I9-tkRBfXTYAV64-na0r8kQfODp-Y7LZYIpfmlP6bjyfLWQvT0InkswDAu_er8eT4fDIjr_frqAmHieGIJ1K49kPbHGNDitQRSNGZyScAzaA8B8cNZUDVzFlCpEM9OekUHY2mHbiRFWcTJySxCtjfE96jiGikzaULs-vxVHCZY3e15ocOftVXyQnNdfa-6JKR3NOxQCLc1Q3CLKmkHCdQrnI03xGmItBXBOQ9FhBr7hjyeqYsSSIGdaTywqh3f9TGjQe4n3OTvTScw2CWHE35lsWFdNPO8SCsX7cDO_9-glr9zYGKt-5pPN4JbVzxxBnBheANG_Mwo0Sf78jqYf-3l8pZ5ITIHrcxSlFKxZli4zePv107365IXnEWKyjVSSNL88c_3hRAnc_F--VGIMZ8eHa5lvB4gHKj5at1W-JBaVOljDoamX9Rze-600I-q1q00tBIEsWVl1wcjQGvQSBWmw7KLymrzdKCFRqurTmpGH_n0RItvpKUS5HdiKL9DqDzlxpzJtKxqDj9ldSbN9lmH1v6CWMfMRdPaUPH4Uywdq05i-c_b_qnHy_o1XKJk0lgaIiFy_CBsiDDGqu4VTkohceusjRQLHAwTPfVzM5L_cG963qKpDLdHyij2YdcMTWUidIyt2EOntnffn6uQwgWvtS2MlRCbhc4CfIW8W_xa_xLOGdZEXn1n7HS5tvdH0dohSLbFlyTeuTHIXtCdQ4UDoHW4ia7n1Ih9-bNtD3bBAF-6C8JVChiZJkBOTxHbcyiPJHWgqCkFVUgjlH81bb6PamgDqHpztJfYGWcpRIFFu6ZsqL1DFMMnOCxpgzdkjOQNIFNrL7hs3WCK47rtwmJOFx6OsLSlEeo_jZ_v3ID53V-i6ffQvCQ Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ] (free ebook). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780191957697. pages 145–147.</ref> The father of Annaus II, namely Annanus I, was at the trial of Jesus, giving a strong set of sources for Josephus’ information on Jesus, his brother James, and other events in Galilee.<ref name="schm" /> Furthermore, Josephus even lived near Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, for a time and trained tens of thousands of soldiers in Galilee during the Jewish revolt against the Romans.<ref name="schm" />  

Christ myth theories have been around for more than a century and are widely considered as a fringe theories by experts since they failed to convince experts over a century ago and even today with some recent attempts.<ref>Christopher Hansen. 2022. "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2222582X.2021.2001667 Re-examining the Pre-Christian Jesus]". Journal of Early Christian History. 12 (2): 17–40 "The theory of a pre-Christian Jesus, while exceptionally intriguing, still has not found any decent footing in recent years. Though there have been some attempts at innovating the concept, invariably the arguments for this have relied heavily on conjectural interpretations of biblical and extrabiblical literature in an attempt to validate the hypothesis. The arguments tend to rely on specious interpretations of the ancient texts, various conjectures, and, in Price's case, a reliance on outdated and long-since disproven concepts. All of these issues, and more, demonstrate that the pre-Christian Jesus hypothesis is still an unreliable thesis, and likely should be discounted as it was a century ago. The renovated theories fail to convincingly explain the evidence at hand."</ref> Secular and non-Christian scholars generally agree that mythicist theories are fringe and widely rejected by actual experts in history, the ancient world, and other relevant fields.<ref name="be" />  

Christ myth theories have been around for more than a century and are widely considered as fringe or conspiracy theories by experts since they failed to convince experts over a century ago and even today with some recent attempts.<ref>Christopher Hansen. 2022. "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/2222582X.2021.2001667 Re-examining the Pre-Christian Jesus]". Journal of Early Christian History. 12 (2): 17–40 "The theory of a pre-Christian Jesus, while exceptionally intriguing, still has not found any decent footing in recent years. Though there have been some attempts at innovating the concept, invariably the arguments for this have relied heavily on conjectural interpretations of biblical and extrabiblical literature in an attempt to validate the hypothesis. The arguments tend to rely on specious interpretations of the ancient texts, various conjectures, and, in Price's case, a reliance on outdated and long-since disproven concepts. All of these issues, and more, demonstrate that the pre-Christian Jesus hypothesis is still an unreliable thesis, and likely should be discounted as it was a century ago. The renovated theories fail to convincingly explain the evidence at hand."</ref> Secular and non-Christian scholars generally agree that mythicist theories are fringe and widely rejected by actual experts in history, the ancient world, and other relevant fields.<ref name="be" /> Even prominent mythicists like secularist G.A. Wells, who promoted mythicism in the late 20th century and into the 21st century , eventually rejected mythicism and came to believe that Jesus did exist.<ref>George A. Wells. "Ehrman on the Historicity of Jesus and Early Christian Thinking". Free Inquiry. Volume 32. Number 4. Issue June–July 2012. pages: 58-62</ref>  

The [[Soviet Union]] practiced [[state atheism]] and was well-known for its propaganda. The only encyclopedia in world history to deny the historicity of Jesus Christ was ''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (Moscow, 1952). The ''Christian Courier'' indicates: "In our own time, The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Moscow, 1952), in a two-line entry under “Jesus,” states; “the name of the mythological founder of Christianity.” One scholar notes that this reveals more about the authors’ bias than their historical judgment (Metzger, 1965, 78)."<ref>[https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1527-false-ideas-about-jesus-christ False Ideas About Jesus Christ] by Wayne Jackson, Christian Courier</ref>

The [[Soviet Union]] practiced [[state atheism]] and was well-known for its propaganda. The only encyclopedia in world history to deny the historicity of Jesus Christ was ''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (Moscow, 1952). The ''Christian Courier'' indicates: "In our own time, The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Moscow, 1952), in a two-line entry under “Jesus,” states; “the name of the mythological founder of Christianity.” One scholar notes that this reveals more about the authors’ bias than their historical judgment (Metzger, 1965, 78)."<ref>[https://www.christiancourier.com/articles/1527-false-ideas-about-jesus-christ False Ideas About Jesus Christ] by Wayne Jackson, Christian Courier</ref>