Records comparison to the Messiah

Below are other historical figures, and the earliest accounts we have of them.

Alexander the Great

•Lifetime: 356-323 BC
•Earliest Accounts:
•Arrian: “Anabasis of Alexander” written around AD 130-150, about 400 years after Alexander’s death.
•Plutarch: “Life of Alexander” written around AD 100, about 400 years after Alexander’s death.

Julius Caesar

•Lifetime: 100-44 BC
•Earliest Accounts:
•Suetonius: “The Twelve Caesars” written around AD 121, about 165 years after Caesar’s death.
•Plutarch: “Life of Caesar” written around AD 100, about 150 years after Caesar’s death.

Tiberius Caesar

•Lifetime: 42 BC – AD 37
•Earliest Accounts:
•Tacitus: “Annals” written around AD 115, about 80 years after Tiberius’s death.
•Suetonius: “The Twelve Caesars” written around AD 121, about 85 years after Tiberius’s death.

Socrates

•Lifetime: 470-399 BC
•Earliest Accounts:
•Plato: Various dialogues written soon after Socrates’s death, but the best-preserved texts are from about 50-100 years later.
•Xenophon: Writings also from about 50 years after Socrates’s death.

**Comparison with Yeshua**

•Lifetime: Circa 4 BC – AD 30
•Earliest Accounts:
•Paul’s Epistles: Written between AD 50-60, within 20-30 years of Jesus’s death.
•Gospels (Mark): Generally dated to around AD 70, about 40 years after Jesus’s death.
•Josephus: AD 93-94, about 60 years after Jesus’s death.
•Tacitus: AD 115, about 85 years after Jesus’s death.

For a crucified Jewish carpenter to have records of his existence earlier than all of the above figures… that’s pretty impressive, don’t you think?