ACFaith.Com
April 22nd 2003, 02:10 PM
Some Jesus-mythicists have argued that the whole process of dating Jesus' life is circular. In order to find out when Jesus lived we must assume the Gospels are historically reliable and we end up begging the question. Is this true? Need we revert to a naïve brand of fundamentalism in order to establish a general timeframe for the life of Jesus of Nazareth? Not by any means.
It is my contention that we can provide a general chronology of Jesus' life using historical-critical means. It is not my goal to argue for exact dates here. John Meier does a good job of this in the final chapter of his first volume on the historical Jesus. I refer readers who are seeking a more approximate chronology of Jesus' life to read that work [Meier. Marginal PP 372-433].
Five Datums which support a general timeframe:
[1] Jesus is said to have been Crucified by Pontius Pilate whose office can be dated from 26-36 A.D. Extant texts of both Josephus and Tacitus mention this. Both references are disputed, but for those who accept the authenticity of one or both of these outside vectors, we need go no further.
[2] James, Jesus' brother was alive in the 50's as is evident in the Pauline corpus (James is also attested by Josephus and Mark). The logic of this one is simple. Jesus could not have died in 50 BC and have a brother alive in 50 A.D. This helps establish a timeframe.Also keep in mind that the average life expectancy was probably lower in antiquity than it is today.
[3] Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist whose historicity is secured by Josephus and Mark,Q, etc.
[4] John the Baptist is said to have been killed by Herod and the Synoptics have Jesus/Herod related material.
[5] Both Matthew and Luke say Jesus was born near the time of Herod the Great's death (4 B.C.).
As we can see, there is no reverting to a naïve form of "Gospel reliability" or committing the begging the question fallacy here. The general timeframe of Jesus' life can be well established through critical-historical investigation.
For those interested in more arguments I listed 11 more datums in an article I wrote here on this issue which should put htis question to rest:
http://www.acfaith.com/jchronology.html
Vinnie
It is my contention that we can provide a general chronology of Jesus' life using historical-critical means. It is not my goal to argue for exact dates here. John Meier does a good job of this in the final chapter of his first volume on the historical Jesus. I refer readers who are seeking a more approximate chronology of Jesus' life to read that work [Meier. Marginal PP 372-433].
Five Datums which support a general timeframe:
[1] Jesus is said to have been Crucified by Pontius Pilate whose office can be dated from 26-36 A.D. Extant texts of both Josephus and Tacitus mention this. Both references are disputed, but for those who accept the authenticity of one or both of these outside vectors, we need go no further.
[2] James, Jesus' brother was alive in the 50's as is evident in the Pauline corpus (James is also attested by Josephus and Mark). The logic of this one is simple. Jesus could not have died in 50 BC and have a brother alive in 50 A.D. This helps establish a timeframe.Also keep in mind that the average life expectancy was probably lower in antiquity than it is today.
[3] Jesus is said to have been baptized by John the Baptist whose historicity is secured by Josephus and Mark,Q, etc.
[4] John the Baptist is said to have been killed by Herod and the Synoptics have Jesus/Herod related material.
[5] Both Matthew and Luke say Jesus was born near the time of Herod the Great's death (4 B.C.).
As we can see, there is no reverting to a naïve form of "Gospel reliability" or committing the begging the question fallacy here. The general timeframe of Jesus' life can be well established through critical-historical investigation.
For those interested in more arguments I listed 11 more datums in an article I wrote here on this issue which should put htis question to rest:
http://www.acfaith.com/jchronology.html
Vinnie