Page "Historicity of Jesus" Paragraph 53

Tacitus was a patriotic Roman senator and his writings shows no sympathy towards Christians.

Andreas Köstenberger and separately Robert E. Van Voorst state that the tone of the passage towards Christians is far too negative to have been authored by a Christian scribe-a conclusion shared by John P. Meier Robert E. Van Voorst states that " of all Roman writers, Tacitus gives us the most precise information about Christ ".

John Dominic Crossan considers the passage important in establishing that Jesus existed and was crucified, and states: " That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be, since both Josephus and Tacitus ... agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact.

" Bart D. Ehrman states: " Tacitus's report confirms what we know from other sources, that Jesus was executed by order of the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, sometime during Tiberius's reign.