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When Christians talk about the historical confirmation of Jesus, they are referring to a few sentences found in non-biblical, first to third century writings which they believe authenticate Jesus Christ's existence. As far as I know, the following citations represent the sum total of claimed "historical confirmations" of Jesus from that period.
Josephus Flavious
(37-104?, Jewish Roman historian)
Jospehus wrote a history of the Jews called "The Antiquities of the Jews" (93) in which is found a passage now known as the Testimonium Flavianum:
"Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works,-a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was (the) Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had him condemned to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared alive to them again on the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
Most scholars believe this citation is a either a Christian embellishment of what had originally been a brief, passing reference to Jesus, or that the whole passage is a forgery. Why? The Testimonium Flavianum is missing from early copies of the works of Josephus and was not quoted by Christians until the 4th century, which seems strange since it was supposedly written around 93. The Christian writer and theologian Origen (185-254) quotes freely from Josephus yet never makes note of it. Bishop Eusibus, who said it was permissible for Christians to lie to further Christianity, is the first person to mention the passage in the 4th century. Curious.
Since Josephus was a Jew, it is difficult to understand why he would write such a glowing description of Jesus, the founder of Christianity. Also, if Josephus thought so highly of Jesus, why doesn't he write more extensively about him? (In Josephus' writings there is another brief citation said to confirm Jesus-see below) The passage itself does not mesh with what comes before or after it in the chapter in which it is found. The chapter describes misfortunes of the Jews, and this passage about Jesus, who was condemned to death at the behest of Jewish leaders, could hardly be considered a tragedy for the Jews, unless, of course, the writer was a Christian.
The Testimonium Flavianum is not a confirmation of the biblical Jesus.
Josephus apparently refers to Jesus in passing later in "Antiquities," where we find this passage:
"so he [Ananus, son of Ananus the high priest] assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and brought before him the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others (or some of his companions) and when he had formed an accusation against them, he delivered them to be stoned." ("Antiquities" 20.9.1)
This may or may not be a forgery. If it was written by Josephus, it still does not confirm the Jesus portrayed in the Gospels.
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
(69-140, famous Roman biographer and historian of culture)
Suetonius, writing about AD 120, mentions that emperor Claudius "banished the Jews from Rome, since they had made a commotion because of Chrestus," and that during the reign of Nero (54-68), "punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief."
The second reference is to the existence of Christians. No one disputes the existence of Christians. The first reference may be to Jesus. However, there were many messiahs making their appearance during this period and "Chrestus" was a common name, not necessarily a variant of "Christ." It should be noted that nowhere in his writings does Suetonius specifically mention a Jesus of Nazareth.
Cornelius Tacitus
(55?-after 117, Roman historian)
The following passage is found in his "Annals," Book 15, Chapter 44, dated about 117:
"Nero looked around for a scapegoat, and inflicted the most fiendish tortures on a group of persons already hated for their crimes. This was the sect known as the Christians. Their founder, one Christus, had been put to death by the procurator, Pontious Pilate, in the reign of Tiberius. This checked the abominable superstition for a while, but it broke out again and spread, not merely through Judea, where it originated, but to Rome itself, the great reservoir and collecting ground for every kind of depravity and filth. Those who confessed to being Christians were at once arrested, but on their testimony a great crowd of people were convicted, not so much on the charge of arson, but of hatred of the entire human race."
From an article by Gordon Stein.
"While we know from the way in which the above is written that Tacitus did not claim to have firsthand knowledge of the origins of Christianity, we can see that he is repeating a story which was then commonly believed, namely that the founder of Christianity, one Christus, had been put to death under Tiberius. There are a number of serious difficulties which must be answered before this passage can be accepted as genuine. There is no other historical proof that Nero persecuted the Christians at all. There certainly were not multitudes of Christians in Rome at that date (circa 60 A.D.). In fact, the term "Christian" was not in common use in the first century. We know Nero was indifferent to various religions in his city, and, since he almost definitely did not start the fire in Rome, he did not need any group to be his scapegoat. Tacitus does not use the name Jesus, and writes as if the reader would know the name Pontius Pilate, two things which show that Tacitus was not working from official records or writing for non-Christian audiences, both of which we would expect him to have done if the passage were genuine."
"Perhaps most damning to the authenticity of this passage is the fact that it is present almost word-for-word in the Chronicle of Sulpicius Severus (died in 403 A.D.), where it is mixed in with obviously false tales. At the same time, it is highly unlikely that Sulpicius could have copied this passage from Tacitus, as none of his contemporaries mention the passage. This means that it was probably not in the Tacitus manuscripts at that date. It is much more likely, then, that copyists working in the Dark Ages from the only existing manuscript of the Chronicle, simply copied the passage from Sulpicius into the manuscript of Tacitus which they were reproducing."
According to this detailed review of the Tacitus quotation, it was not cited by Christians until the 15th century.
Pliny the Younger
(62-113, Roman official)
Pliny the Younger corresponded regularly with the emperor Trajan (98-117). In his letters, Pliny specifically mentions and describes the beliefs and practices of Christians in Asia Minor, and asks Trajan's advice about what action to take against them, if any. Pliny's writings provide no independent confirmation of the events of the New Testament, but just show that there were indeed Christians living in Asia Minor around 100.
Christian Arguements
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