Rex Banks
Part 1: Introduction
"What are we to make of Christ? The things He says are very different from what any other teacher has said. Others say,'This is the truth about the Universe. This is the way you ought to go' but He says 'I am the Truth, and the Way, and the Life.' He says 'no man can reach absolute reality, except through Me'. He says 'If you are ashamed of me, if when you hear this call, you turn the other way I also will look the other way when I come again as God without disguise...I am Re-birth, I am Life.' " (C. S. Lewis: What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?)
Now of course Lewis is quite correct here, and it is precisely because it is impossible to separate the message of Jesus from the person of Jesus that the question of the historical accuracy of the New Testament (and of the four Gospels in particular) is central to any investigation of Christianity. Confucius' rule of reciprocity ("What you do not wish yourself, do not unto others") may or may not commend itself to us, but our belief about the historicity of Confucius need not affect our evaluation of this suggested rule of conduct. Similarly the Buddhist does not predicate his belief in the doctrine of reincarnation upon the historical reality of certain events in the life of Buddha. But with Christ it's quite different. As Michael Green puts it in his Runaway World, Christianity "depends upon this fundamental conviction, that God was made manifest in human flesh." Disprove the historicity of Jesus Christ, and, in Green's words "Christianity will collapse like a pack of cards." The source of salvation is not to be found in Christ's moral teaching, important though this is, but in the reality of his perfect life, His substitutionary death and his victorious resurrection from the dead.
In light of all this it is hardly surprising that the Gospel writers are careful to weave their accounts into the fabric of history, and Luke in particular has demonstrated himself to be an historian of the first rank. The preface to his Gospel (1:1-4) " is a long, carefully constructed sentence in the tradition of the finest historical works in Greek literature". (Walter L. Liefeld: The Expositor's Bible Commentary) and in these introductory remarks, Luke is careful to assure his readers that in the production of his Gospel he has "investigated everything carefully from the beginning." He adds that he has written it down "in consecutive order" (1:3), which likely means that his account is orderly rather than that it is strictly chronological. Luke's concern to locate the events of Christ's life in an historical context is well illustrated in connection with his statement that "the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness" (3:2) Some six chronological items are listed and provide an historical backdrop for this event. We read:
"Now (1) in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, (2) when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and (3) Herod was the tetrach of Galilee, (4) and his brother Philip was tetrach of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and (5) Lysanias was tetrach of Abilene, in the (6) high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John..." (1:1, 2)
How different from the "Once upon a time in the far away land of Ruritania..." which is the stuff of legend and fairytale. What's more, the trustworthiness of Luke's historical references, both here and in the book of Acts has been demonstrated repeatedly, and all of the above named individuals are now known to history.
Now, frequently appeals to the New Testament documents for evidence of Christ's historicity are simply ruled out of court by those who dismiss these writings as "propaganda items" of no evidential value. But surely this is unreasonable. As F.F. Bruce points out:
"It would be odd if anyone dismissed John Morley's Life of Gladstone as worthless for factual information because the author was Gladstone's friend, political ally and the Cabinet colleague....Nor would any historian ignore Sir Winston Churchill's The Second World War or Mr Harold Wilson's "personal record" of The Labour Government 1964-1970 on the ground that the authors occupied the position of Prime Minister during the period covered respectively by these works and would therefore present biased accounts...."
No one supposes that the evangelists and other New Testament writers were dispassionate recorders, transmitting material the truth or falsehood of which made no personal difference to themselves. They were deeply committed men, writing not merely to provide information but to commend their Saviour to others. They make no attempt to conceal their interest and aim, and the historian will take all this into his reckoning, while acknowledging that they provide him with historical data the like of which he could not find elsewhere. (Jesus And Christian Origins Outside The New Testament)
Unfortunately despite the reasonableness of this approach, and despite good evidence that the
New Testament documents are reliable primary sources of historical information, this argument
many times falls upon deaf ears. To make matters worse many are simply unaware of the fact that
good extra-Biblical evidence for the existence of Jesus Christ is readily available. Of course by
the very nature of the case, such evidence does not prove that the church's beliefs concerning
Christ are true, but this evidence does constitute part of a body of apologetic material which
needs to be considered by those who are investigating the Christian faith. In the following
paragraphs I have brought together a number of extra-Biblical historical references to Christ.
Many of these references can be found in various books dealing with Christian apologetics, and
where possible I have tried to locate a source on the World Wide Web. If you are living in
Hamilton New Zealand you will be able to locate the works of the early pagan and Jewish writers
cited in the University of Waikato Library.
The Pagan Sources
It is important to keep in mind that comparatively few writings of Roman historians survive for the period which is of interest to us. Moreover, as R.C. Foster points out:
"But even if our possession (of such writings) were abundant instead of scanty, it is doubtful if it would yield extensive references to Jesus of Nazareth, a citizen of a remote province of the empire, a popular leader among a turbulence people, whose brief and tragic life was spent among the poor and unfortunate, and who was repudiated by his own people." (Studies In The Life Of Christ)
Of course if the book of Acts and the New Testament epistles are accurate in their depiction of
the rapid and extensive spread of Christianity, and if the impact of the new movement was soon
felt in the great cities of the ancient world, including Rome itself (Acts 2:10; 18:1, 2) we would
expect to find some evidence of this in the extant writings of the Roman historians of the period.
As the following citations show, this is what we do find.
1) Publius Cornelius Tacitus (56 A D - 120 A.D.)
Encyclopaedia Britannica has:
"Roman orator and public official, probably the greatest historian and one of the greatest prose stylists who wrote in the Latin language. Among his works are the Germania, describing the Germanic tribes, the Historiae (Histories), concerning the Roman Empire from A.D. 69 to 96, and the later Annals, dealing with the empire in the period from A.D. 14 to 68."
The Historiae began at January 1, 69, with Galba in power and proceeded to the death of Domitian, in 96. The work contained 12 or 14 books (it is known only that the Histories and, both now incomplete, totalled 30 books). To judge from the younger Pliny's references, several books were ready by 105, the writing well advanced by 107, and the work finished by 109. Only books i-iv and part of book v, for the years 69-70, are extant.
In Book 15 of the Annals, Tacitus tells of a fire which swept over the city of Rome and which he describes as "a disaster...whether accidental or treacherously contrived by the emperor." Tacitus informs his readers that a rumour began to circulate that Nero was responsible for the conflagration, and he adds:
"Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.
Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car. Hence, even for criminals who deserved extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man's cruelty, that they were being destroyed."
(http://classics.mit.edu/Tacitus/annals.11.xv.html)
Now, uncomplimentary they may be, but these words of Tacitus are also valuable because they
confirm the fact that Christ (Christus) was crucified under Pontius Pilate during the reign of the
emperor Tiberius. They also confirm that a movement among his followers originating in Judaea,
had by 64 A.D. gained a significant following in Rome itself.
2) Suetonius, in full Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (69 A.D. - After 122 A.D.)
"Roman biographer and antiquarian whose writings include De viris illustribus (Concerning Illustrious Men), a collection of short biographies of celebrated Roman literary figures, and De vita Caesarum (Lives of the Caesars). The latter book, seasoned with bits of gossip and scandal relating to the lives of the first 11 emperors, secured him lasting fame." (Britannica)
In his Life of Nero Suetonius makes a passing reference which confirms the Tacitus statement
above:
"Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a body of people addicted to a novel and mischievous superstition." (16.2) (http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/suet.nero.html#16)
Again in his Life of Claudius he says concerning the Emperor:
"He banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus."
(http://www.historyinfilm.com/claudius/classics/12caesar/claudius3.htm)
Of course this reminds us of Luke's statement in Acts 18:2 that "Claudius had commanded all the
Jews to leave Rome." Likely this was in the year 49 A.D. which proves that within 20 years of
Christ's resurrection, there was a strong movement of his followers in the city of Rome itself.
Likely difficulties among the Jews in that city had arisen because of different responses to the
preaching of the gospel. Now clearly Suetonius is under the mistaken impression that "Chrestus"
was a troublemaker living in Rome at the time, but this does not detract from the value of his
testimony.
3) Thallus
In his Christian Apologetics, Norman Geisler has the following:
"Samaritan-born historian Thallus (c.A.D. 52). According to Julius Africanus (c.221) " Thallus, in the third book of his histories, explains away this darkness (at the time of the crucifixion) as an eclipse of the sun - unreasonably, as it seems to me."
It was unreasonable, of course because a solar eclipse could not take place at the time of the full moon, and it was the time of the Paschal full moon when Christ died. (There does appear to be some doubt that Thallus was in fact a Samaritan). The importance of this reference is that it makes clear that the darkness at the time of the resurrection was widely acknowledged, even though many sought a naturalistic explanation for it.
In his very readable book The Case For Christ, award winning journalist Lee Strobel tells of raising this matter of the Thallus quotation with Edwin M. Yamauchi, one of America's leading experts in ancient history. Strobel records that Yamauchi quoted from a work entitled Pontius Pilate by scholar Paul Maier as follows:
"This phenomenon evidently, was visible in Rome, Athens, and other Mediterranean cities. According to Tertullian ...it was a "cosmic" or "world event." Phlegon, a Greek author from Caria writing a chronology soon after 137 A.D., reported that in the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e. 33 A.D.) there was "the greatest eclipse of the sun" and that "it became night in the sixth hour of the day (i.e noon) so that stars even appeared in the heavens. There was a great earthquake in Bithynia, and many things were overturned in Nicaea."
4) Pliny the Younger in full Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (c.61 A.D. - 113 A.D.)
Britannica has:
"Roman author and administrator who left a collection of private letters of great literary charm, intimately illustrating public and private life in the heyday of the Roman Empire.
After administering the drainage board of the city of Rome (104-106), he was sent (c.110) by Emperor Trajan to investigate corruption in the municipal administration of Bithynia, where apparently he died two years later.
Between 100 and 109 he published nine books of selected, private letters, beginning with those covering events from the death of Emperor Domitian (October 97) to the early part of 100. The 10th book contains addresses to Emperor Trajan on sundry official problems and the emperor's replies."
In his Letters, Pliny writes the following to the Emperor Trajan:
"It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished.
Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome.
Soon accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings going on, and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document was published containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition. I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to check and cure it. It is certainly quite clear that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found. Hence it is easy to imagine what a multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity for repentance is afforded." (96, 97)
(http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/pliny.html)
Trajan responds to Pliny as follows:
"You observed proper procedure, my dear Pliny, in sifting the cases of those who had been denounced to you as Christians. For it is not possible to lay down any general rule to serve as a kind of fixed standard. They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it--that is, by worshipping our gods--even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age." (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/pliny.html)
Several points of interest can be gleaned from this exchange. Sometime in the early to mid-60s Peter had addressed two epistles to Christians residing in the region around Bithynia, and it is apparent that now some 50 years later there has been a rapid spread of Christianity in the area, both among those who possessed Roman citizenship and those who did not. People from all walks of life and from every class have embraced this new movement ("For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms.") As a result pagan temples were falling into disrepair, and those who sold food for sacrificial animals found their livelihood affected.
Reference to the meeting on "a fixed day"...during which a hymn is sung "to Christ as to a god" is of course reference to the Lord's Day assembly. It is significant that at a time when Christians were accused of all sorts of crimes, those dragged before Pliny were adamant that they had committed themselves "by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so." Clearly the second meeting mentioned, which the Christians abandoned in response to Pliny's having forbidden political associations, was the "love feast". (2 Pet 2:13; Jude 12) The claim of these Christians that they partook of "ordinary and innocent food" at these feasts is significant in light of the fact that Christians were rumoured to engage in cannibalism and other gruesome practices (likely a misunderstanding of the Lord's supper).
It is worth noting that both Pliny and Trajan use the term "Christian" (Acts 11:26) and both
understand that the true Christian cannot engage in idol worship.
5) References To Official Roman Records
Sometime about 150 A.D. Justin Martyr one of the early "church fathers" wrote his Apology a defence of the Christian faith which he addressed to:
"the Emperor Titus Aelius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Caesar, and to his son Verissimus the Philosopher, and to Lucius the Philosopher, the natural son of Caesar, and the adopted son of Pius, a lover of learning, and to the sacred Senate, with the whole People of the Romans..." (First Apology 1)
(http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-46.htm#P3593_620967)
In the context of our present study, the following citations from this work are of particular interest:
a) "And hear what part of earth He was to be born in, as another prophet, Micah, foretold. He spoke thus: 'And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Governor, who shall feed My people.' Now there is a village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem, in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judaea." (1.34.2)
b) And that it was predicted that our Christ should heal all diseases and raise the dead, hear what was said. There are these words: "At His coming the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be clear speaking: the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed; and the dead shall rise, and walk about." And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate. (1.48.2)
c) And the expression, "They pierced my hands and my feet," was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after He was crucified they cast lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate. (1.35.7-9) (http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-46.htm#P3593_620967)
Now Justin is petitioning the Emperor "in behalf of those of all nations who are unjustly hated and wantonly abused, myself being one of them" (1.1) and clearly he wants to make the very best case possible. In doing so he invites the emperor to consult official Roman documents, namely the Acts of Pontius Pilate and the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius, the first procurator in Judaea. Clearly these documents with the record of Christ's birth at Bethlehem and execution under Pontius Pilate were in existence at this time and available to the Emperor for perusal.
6) Lucian (120 A.D. - 180 A.D.)
Britannica has:
"Greek Lucianos, Latin Lucianus, or Lucinus, ancient Greek rhetorician, pamphleteer, and satirist, author of Dialogues of the Gods and Dialogues of the Dead."
Other writings of Lucian have come down to us including The Death of Peregrine in which we find the following:
"The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day - the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account. You see, these misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property."
Although hardly intending to do so, Lucian pays the Christians of his own time the compliment
of recognising their sacrificial lives, their faith and their generosity. He also alludes to the
crucifixion, to the fact that Christ is an object of worship and to the Christian belief in
immortality.
7) Celsus
Under the heading Celsus The Palatonist we have the following in the Catholic Encyclopaedia:
"An eclectic Platonist and polemical writer against Christianity, who flourished towards the end of the second century. Very little is known about his personal history except that he lived during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, that his literary activity falls between the years 175 and 180, and that he wrote a work entitled 'Alethés Lógos ("The True Word", or "The True Discourse") against the Christian religion.... It is generally supposed that Celsus was a Roman."
Celsus owes his prominence in the history of Christian polemics not so much to the pre-eminent character of his work, as to the circumstance that about the year 240 a copy of the work was sent to Origen by his friend Ambrosius, with a request to write a refutation of it. This Origen, after some hesitation, consented to do, and embodied his answer in the treatise "Against Celsus" (Kata Kélsou). So careful is Origen to cite the very words of his opponent that it is possible to reconstruct the text of Celsus from Origen's answer.
And when we do reconstruct the text of Celsus from Origen's answer, we further buttress the case for Christ's historicity. Origen's work is quite lengthy, and below we reproduce just a few of his citations from Celsus, and his responses to this harsh critic of Christianity:
"(a) For he (Celsus) represents him disputing with Jesus, and confuting Him, as he thinks, on many points; and in the first place, he accuses Him of having "invented his birth from a virgin," and upbraids Him with being "born in a certain Jewish village, of a poor woman of the country, who gained her subsistence by spinning, and who was turned out of doors by her husband, a carpenter by trade, because she was convicted of adultery; that after being driven away by her husband, and wandering about for a time, she disgracefully gave birth to Jesus, an illegitimate child, who having hired himself out as a servant in Egypt on account of his poverty, and having there acquired some miraculous powers, on which the Egyptians greatly pride themselves, returned to his own country, highly elated on account of them, and by means of these proclaimed himself a God." (1:28)
(http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-55.htm#)
(b) And after such statements, showing his ignorance even of the number of the apostles, he proceeds thus: "Jesus having gathered around him ten or eleven persons of notorious character, the very wickedest of tax-gatherers and sailors, fled in company with them from place to place, and obtained his living in a shameful and importunate manner."
(http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-55.htm#).
(c) To the preceding remarks he adds the following: "Since a divine Spirit inhabited the body (of Jesus), it must certainly have been different from that of other beings, in respect of grandeur, or beauty, or strength, or voice, or impressiveness, or persuasiveness. For it is impossible that He, to whom was imparted some divine quality beyond other beings, should not differ from others; whereas this person did not differ in any respect from another, but was, as they report, little, and ill-favoured, and ignoble." (6:75)
(http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-61.htm#P10804_2883047)
(d) The Jew (a character employed by Celsus) continues his discourse thus: "How should we deem him to be a God, who not only in other respects, as was currently reported, performed none of his promises, but who also, after we had convicted him, and condemned him as deserving of punishment, was found attempting to conceal himself, and endeavouring to escape in a most disgraceful manner, and who was betrayed by those whom he called disciples? (2.9)
(http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-56.htm#P8046_1967451)
Now clearly Celsus was an implacable enemy of Christ, this "ill-favoured," illegitimate son of a
peasant woman who deceived others with his magic tricks, who gained a following among men
of "notorious character" and who suffered the condemnation which he deserved. Ironically his
attack upon Jesus and his disciples provides us with yet more evidence that Jesus was an
historical figure.
8) Mara bar Serapion
F. F. Bruce tells of "a Syriac manuscript in the British Museum (British Museum Syriac MS. Additional 14,658)... (which) preserves the text of a letter written some indeterminate time later than A.D.73 by a man named Mara bar Serapion to his son Serapion". (Jesus And Christian Origins Outside The New Testament). The letter contains the following paragraph:
"What advantage did the Athenians gain from putting Socrates to death? Famine and plague came upon them as a judgment for their crime. What advantage did the men of Samos gain from burning Pythagoras? In a moment their land was covered with sand. What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their wise King? It was just after that their Kingdom was abolished. God justly avenged these three wise men: the Athenians died of hunger; the Samians were overwhelmed by the sea; the Jews, ruined and driven from their land, live in complete dispersion. But Socrates did not die for good; he lived on in the teaching of Plato. Pythagoras did not die for good; he lived on in the statue of Hera. Nor did the wise King die for good; He lived on in the teaching which He had given."
(The entire text can be found at: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0863.htm)
This reference to Jesus may not be of great value because nothing certain is known about the
writer, the date of the letter and suchlike. However it is clear that the writer regards Jesus as an
historical figure, and I include the reference here because it is often discussed in connection with
the historicity of Christ. Commenting upon the Serapion letter, Edward C. Wharton says: "By the
time this letter was written, Jesus had already received a place of recognition equal to the sages
of the ages. Jesus was as real a person of history as was Socrates and Pythagoras". (Christianity
A Clear Case Of History!)
Concluding Comment
In an informative and easy to read book entitled The Modern Search For the Real Jesus, Professor Robert B. Strimple of Westminster Theological Seminary surveys the historical roots of Gospel criticism from the mid 18th century forward. Strimple tells us that "at least one Hegelian New Testament scholar in the mid-nineteenth century (namely Bruno Bauer) was willing to take the most radical position possible with regard to the historicity of the Gospels and the creative role of Jesus in the origin of Christianity. He denied that Jesus ever existed!" Apparently many in the field of New Testament studies were more than ready to entertain this idea, and "fifty years and more after Bauer's proposal, many books were written by scholars in many countries in defence of Bauer's thesis". (ibid) Strimple adds; "Virtually no one today denies the historicity of Jesus."
In his excellent little book The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable, F.F. Bruce says:
"Some writers may toy with the fancy of a 'Christ-myth,' but they do not do so on the ground of historical evidence. The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. It is not historians who propagate the Christ-myth'' theories."