Jul 10, 2007

Suetonius on Christians in Rome

The ancient Roman historian Suetonius made two interesting historical notes about the followers of Jesus Christ - from which we can draw some rather interesting inferences.

Suetonius writes in his Life of Clauidius that the Roman Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome "as the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus." (Historians agree that this was an alternative spelling or misspelling of "Christus" - the Roman name for Christ).

Suetonius' reference to Claudius' expulsion of the Jews from Rome affirms Luke's account of this same event (Acts 18:2), which took place in A.D. 49. Secular history backing up biblical history.

In a different work, Suetonius provides more insight into how and why "Chrestus" would cause such disturbances among the Jews in Rome when he tells of Nero's campaign of persecution against the Christians, launched in A.D. 64. (Scholars believe this was the persecution that claimed, among others, Peter and Paul - both believed to have died in Rome). Suetonius describes these "Christians" as a "class of men given to a new and mischevious superstition."

Let's consider the implications:

First, there were Jews in Rome as early as the late 40s A.D. who caused "disturbances" related to Jesus Christ. This was quite simply a controversy within the Jewish community that had spilled over into Rome. The controversy was what to do with this man Jesus who claimed to be the Messiah. It was the same controversy that led the Roman governor Pilate to authorize the crucifixion of Jesus in Jerusalem.

From this, we can surmise that Christianity had spread to Rome within 15 years of Jesus' death (and resurrection). This is a significant problem for liberal revisionist scholars who claim that Christianity was a later invention by power-hungry Christian priests and/or religious leaders.

Second, Suetonius confirms that Christians were dying for their beliefs during Nero's campaign of terror against them. Once more, this presents a problem for liberal revisionist scholars who claim that the doctrines of Jesus' divinity, resurrection, etc. were second or third century inventions.

And it absolutely demolishes the absurd claim made by Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code that Jesus' divinity was more or less originated by Constantine's Council of Nicaea in the 4th century.

We have it on Suetonius' authority and credibility that Christians were making trouble in Rome as early as the late 40s A.D. and were undergoing intense persecution by the mid-60s AD. Thus, we can conclude that the early Christian church was established and on the rise within just a few short years of Jesus' death and reported resurrection.