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NT313 Jesus and the Witness of the Outsiders is unavailable, but you can change that!

Evans’ study of the historical Jesus has led him to seek all kinds of ancient sources related to Christ. This course is a result of that study, focusing on the evidence from extrabiblical sources and seeing what they reveal about the life of Christ. Examine works by Roman and Jewish writers, and even invocations of Jesus’ name in pagan incantations, and discover what these works can tell us about...

“Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome”—we think that’s in the late 40s—“who, instigated by Chrestus”—Chrestus, this time, spelled with an “e,” not an “i”—“never cease to cause unrest.” Scholars debate this passage, as they should. Is it a reference to Christ—it seems to me it probably is—or is it in reference to someone who actually has the proper name Chrestus? Some slaves in the first century had that as a name. It basically means useful. So, is it Christus, one who’s anointed—Jesus Christ