is common dealings with men and in his
teachings Jesus used this language. Greek was the language of the
government and of trade, and in a measure the Jews were a bilingual
people. Jesus may thus have had some knowledge of Greek, but it is
unlikely that he ever used it to any extent either in Galilee, or Judea,
or in the regions of Tyre and Sidon.

II

Sources of Our Knowledge Of Jesus

20. The earliest existing record of events in the life of Jesus is given
to us in the epistles of Paul. His account of the appearances of the Lord
after his death and resurrection (I. Cor. xv. 3-8) was written within
thirty years of these events. The date of the testimony, however, is much
earlier, since Paul refers to the experience which transformed his own
life, and so carries us back to within a few years of the crucifixion.
Other facts from Jesus' life may be gathered from Paul, as his descent
from Abraham and David (Rom. i. 3; ix. 5); his life of obedience (Rom. v.
19; xv. 3; Phil. ii. 5-11); his poverty (II. Cor. viii. 9); his meekness
and gentleness (II. Cor. x. 1); other New Testament writings outside of
our gospels add somewhat to this restricted but very clear testimony.

21. Secular history knows little of the obscure Galilean. The testimony of
Tacitus is that the Christians "derived their name and origin from one
Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius had suffered death by the sentence of
the procurator, Pontius Pilate" (Annals, xv. 44). Suetonius makes an
obscure and seemingly ill-informed allusion to Christ in the reason he
assigns for the edict of Claudius expelling the Jews from Rome (Vit.
Claud. 25). The younger Pliny in the second century had learned that the
numerous Christian community in Bithynia was accustomed to honor Christ
as God; but he shows no knowledge of the life of Jesus beyond what must be
inferred concerning one who caused men "to bind themselves with an oath
not to enter into any wickedness, or commit thefts, robberies, or
adulteries, or falsify their word, or repudiate trusts committed to them"
(Epistles X. 96). This secular ignorance is not surprising; but the
silence of Josephus is. He mentions Jesus in but one clearly genuine
passage, when telling of the martyrdom of James, the "brother of Jesus,
who is called the Christ" (Ant. xx. 9. 1). Of John the Baptist, however,
he has a very appreciative notice (Ant, xviii. 5. 2), and it cannot be
that he was ignorant of Jesus. His appreciation of