The question as to how many early ancient texts there are which refer to Jesus is often proposed.
So, how many early references are there?
The logical question is: how many have been found and or how many do we know about? In other words, we do not know how many references there are since we may discover more manuscripts of ancient works tomorrow and do not know how many undiscovered or destroyed writings there actually have been. This seems like an obvious consideration but it seems particularly important to note considering that Jerusalem, the nexus of Jesus’ activity, was destroyed in 70 AD.
James H. Charlesworth, “Jesus did exist; and we know more about him than about almost any Palestinian Jew before 70 C.E.”1
Ed Parish Sanders, “We know a lot about Jesus, vastly more than about John the Baptist, Theudas, Judas the Galilean, or any of the other figures whose names we have from approximately the same date and place.”2
A. E. Harvey, commenting particularly on the crucifixion, “It would be no exaggeration to say that this event is better attested, and supported by a more impressive array of evidence, than any other event of comparable importance of which we have knowledge from the ancient world.”3
How much do we know about anyone who lived 2,000 years ago or 1,000 or less even?
Consider Tiberius Caesar. He was the Roman Emperor from 14-37 AD. How many non-Christian references do we know of which mention him within 150 years of his life? Nine.
Let us consider from whence our knowledge of Alexander the Great comes. Alexander lived 356-323 BC and we only know about him from two sources written circa one century after his death. Most of what we claim to know about him dates to 300 to 500 years after his death.
Below I will present a list of the names of texts and range of dates that they were written. This is not a complete list. I am calling upon the assistance of anyone who may read this and is aware of any that I may have missed, please do inform me of any that you note. Also, I have, more or less, followed the date range as suggested by the website Early Christian Writings, if you can provide different of more definite dates, please do inform me.
The list below attempts to cover references to “Jesus,” “Christ,” “Jesus Christ,” or references to Jesus Christ which are obvious within the context by titles such as “Lord,” “Savior,” or “Son,” or “Son of God,” etc.
The list will cover a period spanning from pre 70 AD to 280 AD. Note also that the list totals 236 texts. This number refers to the texts themselves and not to the number of times that Jesus is referenced in each text. Counting each reference would take us well beyond the 236 total. Furthermore, the number refers to the texts and not to each manuscript behind each text. Counting each manuscript would also take us well beyond the 236 total.
1) The Gospel of Matthew
2) The Gospel of Mark
3) The Gospel of Luke
4) The Gospel of John
5) The Book of Acts
6) Romans
7) 1st Corinthians
8) 2nd Corinthians
9) Galatians
10) Ephesians
11) Philippians
12) Colossians
13) 1st Thessalonians
14) 2nd Thessalonians
15) 1st Timothy
16) 2nd Timothy
17) Titus
18) Philemon
19) Hebrews
20) James
21) 1st Peter
22) 2nd Peter
23) 1st John
24) 2nd John
25) Jude
26) Book of Revelation
These texts make up the body of the New Testament (the only one that is not represented here is 3rd Letter from John). These were all written prior to 70 AD with the possible exception of Revelation which is dated to circa 95 AD. These represent the very best attested documents of antiquity. Any other documents would represent vastly inferior works.
At the end of the list of references I will provide some links to further research materials.
27) 50-75 AD : Thallus (works preserved by others, such as Julius Africanus who wrote about 221 AD)
28) 50-120 AD : The Didache
29) 50-140 AD : Papyrus Oxyrhnchus #1224
30) 50-140 AD : The Gospel of Thomas
31) 50-200 AD : The Sophia of Jesus Christ
32) 70-120 AD : Papyrus Egerton #2
33) 70-160 AD : The Gospel of Peter
34) 70-200 AD : Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
35) 70-200 AD : Fayyum Fragment
36) 70-255 AD : Letter of Clement of Alexandria on Secret Mark
37) 73-200 AD : Mara bar Serapion (referred to the Jews’ wise King)
38) 75-160 AD : Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (in the section of his writing on Emperor Claudius who ruled 41-54)
39) 80 AD : Phlegon (preserved by Origen and Julius Africanus)
40) 80-120 AD : The Epistle of Barnabas
41) 80-140 AD : The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
42) 80-150 AD : The Gospel of the Hebrews
43) 90-95 AD : Flavius Josephus4
44) 100-150 AD : The Preaching of Peter
45) 100-150 AD : The Apocryphon of James
46) 100-150 AD : The Apocalypse of Peter – The Ethiopic Text
47) 100-160 AD : The Gospel of the Ebionites
48) 110 AD : Ignatius to Polycarp
49) 110-140 AD : The Epistle Of Polycarp
50) 110-140 AD : Fragments Of Papias From The Exposition Of The Oracles Of The Lord.
51) 110-160 AD : Papyrus Oxyrhynchus #840
52) 110-160 AD : The Traditions of Matthias
53) 112 AD : Pliny the Younger (Plinius Secundus) “Epistles 10.96”
54) 115 AD : Cornelius Tacitus (in his “Histories” (preserved by Sulpicus Severus) and “Annals”.
55) 120-130 AD : Quadratus, Bishop of Athens
56) 120-130 AD : The Apology Of Aristides
57) 120-140 AD : The Naassene Psalm
58) 120-160 AD : Valentinus – Myth according to Irenaeus
59) 120-160 AD : Valentinus – The Divine Word Present in the Infant
60) 120-160 AD : Valentinus – Fragment A
61) 120-160 AD : Valentinus – Fragment B
62) 120-160 AD : Valentinus – Fragment E
63) 120-160 AD : Valentinus – Jesus’ Digestive System: Epistle to Agathapous
64) 120-180 AD : The Apocryphon of John (aka The Secret Book of John or The Secret Revelation of John)
65) 120-180 AD : Gospel of Mary aka The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene
66) 120-180 AD : The Dialogue of the Savior
67) 120-180 AD : The (Second) Apocalypse of James
68) 120-180 AD : Trimorphic Protennoia
69) 170 AD : Lucian of Samosata “The Death of Peregrine 11-13”
70) 130-140 AD : Marcion – The Gospel of the Lord
71) 130-140 AD : Marcion – Antitheses
72) 130-140 AD : The Gospel of Marcion, Section I
73) 130-140 AD : The Gospel of Marcion, Section II
74) 130-140 AD : The Gospel of Marcion, Section III
75) 130-140 AD : The Gospel of Marcion, Section IV
76) 130-140 AD : The Gospel of Marcion, Section V
77) 130-140 AD : The Gospel of Marcion, Section VI
78) 130-160 AD : Second Clement
79) 130-170 AD : The Gospel of Judas
80) 130-200 AD : The Epistle To Diognetus
81) 140-150 AD : The Epistula Apostolorum
82) 140-160 AD : Clement’s Quotations of Isidore
83) 140-160 AD : Ptolemy’s Commentary On The Gospel of John Prologue
84) 140-170 AD : Infancy Gospel of Thomas
85) 140-170 AD : Infancy Gospel of James
86) 140-180 AD : The Gospel of Truth
87) 150-160 AD : The Martyrdom Of Saint Polycarp, Bishop Of Smyrna
88) 150-160 AD : Justin Martyr – Fragments Of The Lost Work Of Justin On The Resurrection
89) 150-160 AD : Justin Martyr – Justin’s Hortatory Address To The Greeks
90) 150-160 AD : Justin Martyr – Dialogue With Trypho
91) 150-160 AD : Justin Martyr – The Second Apology Of Justin For The Christians – Addressed To The Roman Senate
92) 150-160 AD : Justin Martyr – The First Apology Of Justin
93) 150-180 AD : Fragments of Heracleon
94) 150-180 AD : Excerpts of Theodotus
95) 150-200 AD : Acts of Andrew
96) 150-200 AD : Acts of Paul
97) 150-200 AD : Acts of John
98) 150-200 AD : Acts of Peter
99) 150-200 AD : The Ascension of Isaiah
100) 150-225 AD : The Book of Thomas the Contender
101) 150-225 AD : Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles
102) 150-255 AD : “The Acts of Pilate” – The Report of Pilate to the Emperor Claudius
103) 150-255 AD : “The Acts of Pilate” – The Descent of Christ into Hell
104) 150-255 AD : Melchizedek
105) 150 AD : Numenius (preserved by Origen in Contra Celsum)
106) 150-160 AD : Trypho (preserved by Justin Martyr in Dialogue with Trypho)
107) 160-170 AD : Tatian’s Address to the Greeks
108) 160-180 AD : Claudius Apollinaris
109) 160-180 AD : Julius Cassianus
110) 167-167 AD : Marcus Aurelius
111) 165-175 AD : Fragments of Melito of Sardis
112) 165-175 AD : Fragments of Hegesippus
113) 170-175 AD : Diatessaron
114) 170-200 AD : Treatise on the Resurrection
115) 170-200 AD : The Muratorian Canon
116) 170-200 AD : The Dura-Europos Gospel Harmony
117) 170-220 AD : Letter of Peter to Philip
118) 175-180 AD : Athenagoras of Athens
119) 175-185 AD : Irenaeus – Book I
120) 175-185 AD : Irenaeus – Book II
121) 175-185 AD : Irenaeus – Book III
122) 175-185 AD : Irenaeus – Book IV
123) 175-185 AD : Irenaeus – Book V
124) 175-185 AD : Irenaeus – Fragments From The Lost Writings Of Irenaeus
125) 175-185 AD : Irenaeus – Fragments of Irenaeus in Eusebius
126) 178 AD : Letter from Vienna and Lyons
127) 177-178 AD : Celsus’ view of Christians and Christianity (preserved by Origen in Contra Celsus)
128) 180 AD : The Passion of the Scillitan Martyrs
129) 180-220 AD : Kerygmata Petrou
130) 180-185 AD : Theophilus of Antioch – Book II
131) 180-185 AD : Theophilus of Antioch – Book III
132) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – Treatise On Christ And Antichrist
133) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – Expository Treatise Against The Jews
134) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Extant Works And Fragments Of Hippolytus (Part I – Exegetical)
135) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – Fragments From Commentaries On Various Books Of Scripture
136) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Refutation Of All Heresies Book X
137) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Refutation Of All Heresies Book IX
138) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Refutation Of All Heresies Book VIII
139) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Refutation Of All Heresies Book VII
140) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Refutation Of All Heresies Book VI
141) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Refutation Of All Heresies Book V
142) 180-230 AD : Hippolytus of Rome – The Refutation Of All Heresies Book IV
143) 180-250 AD : 1st Apocalypse of James
144) 180-250 AD : Gospel of Philip
145) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Book III
146) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Book IV
147) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Book V
148) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Book VI
149) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Book VII
150) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Fragments Of Clemens Alexandrinus.
151) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Who is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved?
152) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – To The Newly Baptized (aka Exhortation To Endurance aka To The Newly Baptized Precepts Of Clement)
153) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – Exhortation To The Heathen
154) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – The Instructor. [Paedagogus.] The Instructor Book I
155) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – The Instructor. [Paedagogus.] The Instructor Book II
156) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – The Instructor. [Paedagogus.] The Instructor Book III
157) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – The Stromata, or Miscellanies Book I
158) 182-202 AD : Clement of Alexandria – The Stromata, or Miscellanies Book II
159) 185-195 AD : Fragments of Polycrates
160) 188-217 AD : Talmud – Baraitha Bab. Sanhedrin 43a
161) 188-217 AD : Talmud – B. Yebamoth 49a, M. Yebamoth 4.13
162) 188-217 AD : Talmud – Sanhedrin 107b5
163) 189-199 AD : Victor I
164) 193-193 AD : Anonymous Anti-Montanist
165) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – To Scapula
166) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Chaplet, Or De Corona
167) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Shows, Or De Spectaculis
168) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Idolatry
169) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Apology
170) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – A Treatise on the Soul
171) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Soul’s Testimony
172) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – An Answer To The Jews
173) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Prescription Against Heretics
174) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Five Books Against Marcion. Book I
175) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Five Books Against Marcion. Book II
176) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Five Books Against Marcion. Book III
177) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Five Books Against Marcion. Book IV
178) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Five Books Against Marcion. Book V
179) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Scorpiace. Antidote For The Scorpion’s Sting
180) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Against Praxeas
181) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On The Resurrection Of The Flesh
182) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On The Flesh Of Christ
183) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Against The Valentinians
184) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Against Hermogenes
185) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Ad Martyras
186) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Prayer
187) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Baptism
188) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Against All Heresies
189) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Repentance
190) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On The Veiling Of Virgins
191) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On The Apparel Of Women
192) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – Of Patience
193) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – The Passion Of The Holy Martyrs – Perpetua And Felicitas
194) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – To His Wife
195) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Exhortation To Chastity
196) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Monogamy
197) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Modesty
198) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – On Fasting
199) 197-220 AD : Tertullian – De Fuga In Persecutione
200) 200-210 AD : Apollonius
201) 200-210 AD : Fragments of Serapion of Antioch
202) 200-220 AD : Caius
203) 200-220 AD : The Treatise Of Eusebius, The Son Of Pamphilus, Against The Life Of Apollonius Of Tyana Written By Philostratus, Occasioned By The Parallel Drawn By Hierocles Between Him And Christ
204) 200-250 AD : a church was been discovered in Megiddo, Israel. Excavations uncovered a large tile floor and wall remnants. There are mosaics of fish which were the original Christian symbol. Also found were some inscriptions inlaid into the mosaic one which reads, “Akeptous, the God-loving, offered this table for (the) God Jesus Christ, as a remembrance” (“Akeptous” is the name of the woman who offered this “remembrance”).
205) 200-225 AD : The Acts of Thomas206) 200-250 AD : Didascalia
207) 200-250 AD : Books of Jeu
208) 200-255 AD : Pistis Sophia – Book I
209) 200-255 AD : Pistis Sophia – Book II
210) 200-255 AD : The Apocalypse of Peter
211) 202-203 AD : Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas
212) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen de Principiis: Preface
213) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen de Principiis: Book I
214) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen de Principiis: Book II
215) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen de Principiis: Book III
216) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen de Principiis: Book IV
217) 203-250 AD : Origen – A Letter from Origen to Africanus
218) 203-250 AD : Origen – A Letter from Origen to Gregory
219) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book I
220) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book II
221) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book III
222) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book IV
223) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book V
224) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book VI
225) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book VII
226) 203-250 AD : Origen – Origen Against Celsus: Book VIII
227) 203-250 AD : Origen – Prologue of Rufinus
228) 203-250 AD : Origen – Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book I
229) 203-250 AD : Origen – Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book II
230) 203-250 AD : Origen – Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book IV
231) 203-250 AD : Origen – Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book V
232) 203-250 AD : Origen – Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book VI
233) 203-250 AD : Origen – Commentary on the Gospel of John: Book X
234) 203-250 AD : Origen – Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew
235) 221 AD : Julius Africanus
236) 280 AD : Porphyry of Tyre (in Against the Christians – Life of Pythagoras)
Gary R. Habermas, Reinterpretations of the Historical Jesus
Paul L. Maier, Did Jesus Really Exist? and Josephus and Jesus
Wayne Jackson, The Historicity of Jesus Christ
J. P. Holding, Jesus – Shattering the Christ-Myth – The Reliability of the Secular References to Jesus and Fairy Castles Built on Sand and The Apostate Who Wasn’t All There
Mike Licona, A Review and Critique of Brian Flemming’s “The God Who Wasn’t There”
Gary R. Habermas, The Late Twentieth-Century Resurgence of Naturalistic Responses to Jesus’ Resurrection
Bede and Christopher Price, Did Jesus Exist? Bede’s Library
Bernard Muller, Review of Doherty’s “The Jesus Puzzle”
Bob and Gretchen Passantino, Doherty’s “Challenging the Verdict”: Appeal Denied
Christopher Price, Short Review of “The Jesus Puzzle”
Doxa website, Mythological Jesus
Patrick Narkinsky, The Jesus Mosaic
Preventing Truth Decay, Taking the “Jesus Puzzle” Apart Piece-by-Piece
GDon, “The God Who Wasn’t There” an Analysis
The Gary DeMar show, The Jesus Who Never Lived