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Timeline era

The Gospel & Jesus Christ

The world of Jesus, his ministry, death, and resurrection, and the Christian claim that Israel’s story reaches its center in him.

Empire in this era: Rome ruled, through Augustus, Tiberius, King Herod and the governor Pilate.

On the strip: Rome. The strip shows who held the stage over the land of Israel, not who was biggest in the world.

Group pages:

All the empires, era by era, with the outside evidence

What the sources say, and how sure we are

  • The text says

    The Gospels present Jesus as born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, baptized by John, teaching and healing in Galilee and Judea, crucified in Jerusalem under Pontius Pilate, and raised on the third day.Matt 2:1; Luke 3:1–3; Mark 15; Luke 24

  • Outside evidence

    Tacitus, writing about AD 116, says that Christ was executed under Pilate during Tiberius’ reign. Josephus mentions Jesus and the execution of his brother James; the longer passage about Jesus (Antiquities 18.63) is widely thought to have been expanded by later Christian copyists, so scholars debate which parts are original. The Pilate inscription from Caesarea confirms the governor. A burial box inscribed for a Joseph son of Caiaphas was found in Jerusalem; most scholars think it belonged to the high priest’s family (moderate-to-strong evidence), though a minority question the reading of the name.Tacitus, Annals 15.44; Josephus, Antiquities 18.63; 20.200; Pilate Stone; Caiaphas ossuary

  • Debated

    The year of the crucifixion is debated. Herod died in 4 BC, which puts the birth earlier than that, and the Gospels’ details point to either AD 30 or AD 33 for the crucifixion. Scholars also disagree about how to use the Gospels as historical sources.Luke 3:1; John 2:20

  • Debated

    Historians widely agree that Jesus’ followers soon sincerely claimed that he had risen and appeared to them. What caused that belief is debated, and the Gospels differ in details of the resurrection accounts.1 Cor 15:3–8; Matt 28; Luke 24; John 20

  • Christian conclusion

    Christians hold that Jesus is the promised Messiah, crucified for sin and raised from the dead.Acts 2:36; Rom 1:3–4

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