# Question about Tacitus on Jesus



## MJ William Denman (May 28, 2020)

Came across an interesting comment by Tacitus in the 1st Century AD.



> _Nero fastened the guilt ... on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of ... Pontius Pilatus, *and a most mischievous superstition*, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome...._



What do you suppose the bolded part is in reference to?


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## Taylor (May 28, 2020)

Pretty sure he speaks of Christianity here.

EDIT: I see. I think you're asking whether he speaks here about a particular aspect of Christianity. We read this document in seminary. If I recall, he speaks in the letter about some of the aspects of Christianity he finds sacrilegious—such as worshipping Christ as God—and practices he finds barbaric—such as feeding on Christ's body and blood, and of "love between brothers and sisters."


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## Phil D. (May 28, 2020)

As a pagan historian referring to the beliefs of Christians, several accounts I've read believe Tacitus was likely referring to the Resurrection.


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## arapahoepark (May 28, 2020)

Probably the resurrection based upon how it comes after his suffering under Pilate.


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## Contra_Mundum (May 29, 2020)

I'd attribute the phrasing to "the scandal of particularity." Christianity was a message (certainly the Resurrection was a powerful element in it), and that message did not mesh with the Roman vision of the proper order of things. The faith grew in popularity, but not with Imperial sanction. Christianity seemed (in the eyes of the ruling class) to foster disorders, first among the mercurial Jews in their homeland; and then elsewhere, even including Rome itself.

Rome's difficulty in both understanding the Christians, and coming to terms with it, is illustrated in this exchange of letters: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/pliny.html


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## wcf_linux (May 30, 2020)

"Superstition" is, ironically, not the best translation of "superstitio" these days. We tend to use "superstition" to mean particular unfounded beliefs, like not saying "MacBeth" in a theatre. In a text like Tacitus, it means something closer to "false religion". Something that is not a recognized, licit religion, or even to pathological excesses in worshipping recognized gods. So Tacitus is probably referring to Christianity as a whole when he speaks of "_*a most mischievous superstition*_", not to a particular doctrine.


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