Discovery #4 – The People of NT History
The first place for us to look in determining whether the New Testament is history or mythology is its cast of characters. Are the people the Gospel writers refer to real people?
Take a second to read Luke 3:1-2
. This passage lists quite a few names that should be fairly easy to check non-biblical records for any references. Were Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Annas, and Caiaphas real people. If not, our examination ends here. But if they are, they provide quite a detailed time stamp for our Gospel records and will either lend credibility to Luke’s Gospel, or will debunk his historical claims.
Caiaphas Bone Box
“The Caiaphas family has been confirmed from both Christian and Jewish sources, including several rabbinic works, as a prominent family in first century Israel. The Caiaphas ossuary box (shown above) was found in a limestone cave together with ossuaries for a son (Simon, son of Joseph) and two daughters (Miriam and Salome).
The Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, writing at the end of the first century in his Antiquities of the Jews, recounts the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. He states that the high priest who presided over the Sanhedrin at the time was Joseph Caiaphas.
The custom of secondary burial in limestone ossuaries was practiced by the Jews during the century preceding the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70. Thus, the evidence is conclusive that the Caiaphas high priest referred to in the New Testament Gospels is the same person found in the Jerusalem ossuary,” (Surprised by Faith Study and Discussion Guide, pg.32).
Not only do we have extra-biblical confirmation that a major player in the Gospel accounts, Joseph Caiaphas, existed, but his remains have actually been discovered!
Each one of the names that Luke listed in the passage above can be historically verified by sources other than the New Testament. One would think that if Luke were propagating a lie that he would want to remove as many ties to historical authenticity as possible, not increase the chances for someone to prove him wrong.
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[...] week we learned that the people of the New Testament are historical figures, not fictional characters. But what about there actions? Are the events and the settings reported [...]