In our ongoing series overcoming common objections to the preservation of the New Testament we come to a forked argument. One the one hand, it is argued that Jesus is not mentioned in any official Greek or Roman documents until 112AD – 90 years after Jesus’ death – and so we only have Christian documents to verify his life and ministry; this seems suspicious if Jesus was such a well-known figure. The other side of the coin is that Christianity spread rapidly -- so much so that within 30 years of Jesus’s death there were churches spread all across Asia Minor -- making suspect the proper communication of the true gospel message.

One may be tempted to argue that you can’t have it both ways, Christianity clearly spread rapidly as evidenced by archaeological finds so what difference does it make that Jesus isn’t mentioned in official documents? But there are better arguments to be made. In truth, these questions are perfectly valid but reveal a lack of knowledge surrounding the culture and events of the day.

Ravi Zacharias, author and head of the Zacharias Institute, in his book The Scandalous Jesus documents a rarely known fact about Roman law. The Romans had many methods of execution; crucifixion was reserved for criminals who the Empire wanted erased from history. The name of a crucified criminal was never again to be spoken, their history never to be written, and their life to be forgotten. By controlling the narrative and eliminating discussion of a person they could effectively remove the person from history. This is why the Jewish religious leaders wanted Jesus to be executed by the Romans rather than under their own law. It would effectively destroy the Jesus cult. This explains why there is no formal documentation about Jesus in any official documents.

Due to this law, it is interesting that any mention of Jesus appears in any written form at all, Christian or otherwise, within 100 years of Jesus’ death, but it does. Josephus mentions him in one of his historical documents in 93 AD, and a Roman official mentions Jesus in 112AD. And while many believe the James Ossuary, a burial box inscribed with the names of both James and Jesus dating to the middle of first century, may be a counterfeit many others believe it is authentic (including the editors of Biblical Archaeology Review). Further evidence will undoubtedly come to light as we continue to unearth the ancient past.

As for the expansive and quick spread of Christianity, answers may be found in the Book of Acts. If you have been a believer for very long you are familiar with the events that occurred at Pentecost. Due to the holiday tens of thousands of Jews had descended upon Jerusalem, and many of them witnessed the Holy Spirit’s first act of indwelling the disciples. Peter preached an amazing sermon and 3,000 came to faith in Jesus. We are told that the believers shared with everyone from whatever they had so that these new believers could stay on in Jerusalem to learn about their new found faith before heading back to their homes abroad.

This by itself would have spread the gospel and the church far and wide, but then many of the apostles and others (like Apollos) traveled on lengthy missionary journeys spreading the good news even further and, later, into even Gentile cities. This in itself is a testimony to the truth about Jesus. To become a follower of the Christ meant disobeying both Jewish and Roman law, disobedience that proved life threatening. So we see that these questions about the spread of early Christianity actually help prove the authenticity of both the New Testament and its teachings.