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The Life of Jesus
Epistles vs Acts
200 years of
Christian records

Other Texts of
the Time & Area

A Blank in the Historical Timeframe
The Epistles
An Authoritative
Guide
The Jewish
Logos
 The Gospels
The Common
Saying Tradition
Did John the
Baptist Exist
 The arg. from Silence
The Letters of
Pliny the Younger
A Conversation
with Paul
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The
Epistles
Details
The
Gospels
Details
Other Texts
Unknown to all Jewish, Roman and Greek Authors
Besides the Gospels, the two first clear references to Jesus as a human man in recent history are
  1. The supposed letters of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, around 107 CE during his journey to Rome to die a martyr's death in the brutal arena:
    "Close your ears, then, if anyone preaches to you without speaking of Jesus Christ.
    Christ was of David's line.
    He was the son of Mary,
    who was really born, ate and drink,
    was really persecuted under Pontius Pilate,
    was really crucified..."
    Epistle to the Trallians 9:1f
    In reality, there is very little chance that Ignatius could have composed these letters, since he was escorted by Romans as a person sentenced to death. They must not be authentic and written several years after.
  2. Followed by the Roman aristocrat Tacitus in Rome in 115 CE, who may simply be repeating newly-developed Christian belief in an historical Jesus in the Rome of his day:
    "The founder of that name was Christus, who, in the reign of Tiberius,
    was punished, as a criminal by the procurator, Pontius Pilate"    .
    The lack of any reliable source that he would have used is confirmed by many scholars:
    "It should be clear in any event that Tacitus is basing his comment about Jesus on hearsay rather than, say, detailed historical research"
    B. Ehrman Did Jesus Exist?
    Plus, the case for the interpolation is strong.
The figure of Jesus of Nazareth is notably missing from all Non-Christian records
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The lack of Jesus, a supposedly so charismatic Jewish preacher who died under such circumstances and gave birth to a new religion, in so many documents where he should or could have been mentioned already tells us that either
  • Jesus was a nobody
  • or he did not exist
Greek Authors Roman Authors Jewish Authors
The most famous preacher of its time
"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him."
Matthew 4:23-25
 
Missing from many Authors
Jewish/Christian Christian
Without reference to a man on earth A man of the Indefinite past
The Ascension
of Isaiah		 Odes of
Solomon
(pub. 1912)		 The Didache
(pub. 1883)		 The Shepherd
of Hermas		 Theophilus, Tatian & Athenagoras Minucius Felix 1 Clement
Sayings 		Barnabas
Sayings
Wonders
A Revealer
Jesus is only mentionned 5 times. All of them come from the eucharistic prayer of chapter 9 and 10. He is a spiritual conduit to God and a revealer of sacred knowledge. In other words, a version of the intermediary Son.
See 'Eucharist' below for the quote.
Eucharist (although not Sacramental)
"First, concerning the cup:
We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which You madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever.
And concerning the broken bread:
We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.. But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, unless they have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs."
Didache 9
The last saying is attributed to Jesus in the Gospel (Mt 7:6) while it must be regarded as attributed to God here.
The "name" is tied unambigously to the Father right after:
"Thou, Almighty Master, didst create all things for Thy name's sake, and didst give food and drink unto men for enjoyment, that they might render thanks to Thee;"
Didache 10:4
Another saying is attributed to the Lord:
"But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving
...For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: "In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice;
for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations."
Didache 14:1-3
But this time it allludes to the Old Testament Malachi 1:6-14.
Death & Resurrection
"The prayer of thanksgiving (eucharist) for the community meal are significant because they do not contain any reference to the death of Jesus. Accustomed as we are to the memorial supper of the Christ cult and the stories of the last supper in the synoptic gospels, it has been very difficult to imagine early Christians taking meals together for any reason other than to celebrate the death of Jesus according to the Christ myth. But here in the Didache a very formalistic set of prayers is assigned to the cup and the breaking of bread without the slightest association with the death and resurrection of Jesus."
B. Mack
Baptism
He is part of the baptismal formula quoted:
"...baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. "
Didache 7:1
The Lord’s Prayer
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, as in Heaven so also upon earth; give us today our daily bread, and forgive us our debt as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into trial, but deliver us from the Evil One, for thine is the power and the glory for ever."
Didache 8.2
Interestingly, we have evidence here that it is coming from the Lord, meaning God, while it will be later on attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels of Matthew & Luke.
Son of Man
"be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come.
...For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning.
Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but those who endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself.
And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead -- yet not of all, but as it is said: "The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him." Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven."
Didache 16
Like in the Epistles, you have no idea that this would be a 'second' coming.
Apostolic Tradition going back to Jesus
No appeal to any authority or correctness of doctrine going back to Jesus or any originating phase of the movement. The document as a whole is thoroughly theocentric - centering on God not Jesus. Everything is done in the name of "the lord" meaning God.
Didache at Early Christian Writings
Didache at Wikipedia
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A Series of Revelations to Hermas by Angelic and other Celestial Figures
One of them is the angel of repentance, the "shepherd", which gives the writings its name. The book is divided in three divisions: 5 Visions, 12 commandments and 10 Parables. The genre is apocalyptic. The author's central concern is the question of sin after baptism: is forgiveness available to Christians for sins commited following their conversion?
This Son of God is a highly mystical figure devoid of human features and is sometimes equated with the Holy Spirit or the Jewish Law. A key passage in the Fifth Parable indicates that this writer has no concept of a life on earth. This is an allegorical parable which has the Son "cleansing the sins of the people" before his "show[ing] them the ways of life and [giving] them the law which he received from his Father." Since "giving them the law" is elsewhere assigned to the angel Michael, who is also equated with the "Son," no human biography of Jesus can possibly be present in this writer's mind. Moreover, there is a complete silence on a death and resurrection anywhere in this lengthy work.
Hermas treats the "church", the body of believers, as a mystical entity. It is God himself who has created the church (Vision 1, 1:6), including its pre-existent prototype in heaven. The writer can speak of "apostles" but never associate them with an historical figure who appointed them. Instead, "apostles and teachers preach the name of the Son of God" (Parable 9, 16:5), in the same way that Paul and other Christian prophets preach the divine Christ.
The central section of the Shepherd discusses a great list of moral rules, some ressembling the teachings of the Gospels, but no attribution is made to Jesus.
The writer is rooted in Hellenistic-Jewish mythology with its picture of a heaven in which different forces form part of the workings of divinity. The Son is one of many figures in a class photo which includes the Holy Spirit and angels of several ranks, and these are occasionally allowed to merge into one another.
"the Savior is described basically in terms of an angelogy which has coalesced with the categories of Son and Spirit"
Charles Talbert
E. Doherty
The Shepherd of Hermas at Early Christian Writings
Theophilus, Tatian & Athenagoras
He makes no reference to a founder-teacher; instead, Christians have their doctrines and knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit.
Minucius Felix
In Octavius, he goes on to ridicule the whole idea of gods procreating themselves,
or those who are credulous enough to believe in miracles perform by gods and
"Why, I pray, are gods not born today, if such have ever been born?" Octavius (23)
1 Clement
Barnabas
It does clearly give two informations about Jesus, that he taught the people of Israel and had worked wonders, although no examples are given.
As we have seen in
The Epistles
and
The Life of Jesus
Epistles vs Acts
, Jesus of Nazareth cannot be found in all the Epistles either (considering 1 Thes. 2:15-16 and 1 Tim. 6:13 as two interpolations).
Even among the first historicists like Justin Martyr, you can see weird stuff like at his conversion, his instructor taught him:
"But Christ-if has indeed been born, and exists anywhere- is unknown"
Dialogue with Trypho 8:6
 


"0 truly sacred mysteries! 0 pure light!
In the blaze of the torches I have a vision of heaven and of God.
I become holy by initiation. The Lord reveals the mysteries..."
Church Father Clement of Alexandria Exhortation to the Greeks


"We thank Thee, holy Father, for Thy holy name which You didst cause to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which You modest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever.
Thou, Master almighty, didst create all things for Thy name's sake; You gavest food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to Thee; but to us You didst freely give spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Thy Servant.
Before all things we thank Thee that You are mighty; to Thee be the glory for ever. Remember, Lord, Thy Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Thy love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Thy kingdom which Thou have prepared for it; for Thine is the power and the glory for ever. Let grace come, and let this world pass away.
Hosanna to the God (Son) of David!"
Didache ch. 10