As the minister thumbed through another book, he added, “Another historian, contemporary with Pliny, was Tacitus. In his Annals (Book 15, chapter 44) he tells of Nero’s hatred for, and persecution of, the Christians at the time of the burning of Rome. Tacitus explains that the term ‘Christian’ comes from the name ‘Christ.’ He mentions that Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religion, had been put to death by Pontius Pilate, Procurator of Judea, during the reign of Emperor Tiberius. All these details Tacitus gives us match exactly the events, names, and places given in the Bible.”

“Pastor, I never knew things like that were in secular history!” the visitor exclaimed.

“And while we’re talking,” the minister added, “I want you to notice that about A.D. 180 Celsus wrote a book attacking Christians, indicating that Christianity by that time had become a force to reckon with.

“If you are still in doubt, remember that the four Gospels are just as much history as these secular books.”

This young man went away convinced that Jesus Christ was a real, historical figure.

Both sacred and secular history agree that Jesus did live as a man on earth. But there’s much more we can know about Him.

Sources for the above historical material and a more detailed history appear in the following books: Documents of the Christian Church, selected and edited by Henry Bettenson (London, Oxford University Press); Joseph Cullen Ayer, A Source Book for Ancient Church History (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1931, 1941); Origen: Contra Celsum, translated by Henry Chadwick (Cambridge: University Press, 1965); F. F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? 5th edition, revised (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960; and R. T. France, The Evidence for Jesus (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1986). The last two books come in inexpensive paperback editions and should be available through most religious bookstores. If the first three books are not available in your local library, you can ask the librarian to order them for you through inter-library loan.