Before 40 AD? 3 Pieces of SUPER EARLY Evidence for Jesus’ Divinity, Death and Resurrection

Street Theologian

11 min readJul 13, 2024

3 Potential Sources from the 30s

3 Potential Sources from the 30s

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A common theme I find among sceptics interacting with my articles is to treat the Bible as if it is simply one source for historical purposes.

The Bible is comprised of many books. Moreover, within these books, there is evidence of different sources being used, or brought together, by the authors.

Letters might include references to earlier creeds or hymns. Books written in Greek may include sayings from Aramaic sources and so forth.

3 Key Passages

What is fascinating is that when the New Testament documents are assessed in such a fashion, 3 key passages that point to Jesus’ divinity, death, and resurrection potentially are based on sources before 40 AD.

This is incredibly early evidence.

Please note, that many of the scholars we cite in this article aren’t even Christians!

Here are the 3 passages for consideration along with appropriate scholarly support.

1. Mark 14:60–64 Jesus charged with blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of Man

And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.

Maurice Casey- non-religious historian

In Aramaic Sources of Mark’s Gospel, non-religious historian, Maurice Casey, contends that a textual analysis of Son of Man in Mark (p.255), reveals a likely original Aramaic source that, by implication, would date back to the 30s AD.

Google Books

Rudolph Pesch- German critical scholar

German critical scholar, Rudolf Pesch, in Das Markusevangelium, dates this pre-Markan source as by AD 37 while Caiaphas was still a high priest (AD 18–37).

To support this point, Pesch notes, Caiaphas name is not mentioned in Mark’s high priest references (14:46, 54, 60, 61, 63, 66) and would have been assumed by the audience when the story began circulating. As such, there was no need to mention him by name in the earliest sources.

Interestingly, Caiaphas is mentioned explicitly in Matthew, Luke, John, and Acts but nowhere in Mark.

Logos Bible Software

What’s the big deal in saying you’re a son of man? Context.

Blasphemy

First, Jesus is charged with blasphemy so he clearly wasn’t making an ordinary claim. The high priest tears his clothes in response to blasphemy. As Peter Williams notes in Can We Trust the Gospels?, Babylonian Talmud Moed Qatan 26a reveals tearing clothes was done in response to blasphemy in the historical context in which Jesus lived.

Goodreads

Right hand of the Power- David’s Lord from Psalm 110

Second, Jesus claims to be the Son of Man seated at the right hand of or co-ruling with the Power. In effect, Jesus is claiming to co-rule with God. Moreover, this refers to David’s Lord of Psalm 110 who is at the right hand of God and rules over the nations like God does.

David Wikimedia Commons

Coming with the clouds of heaven

Third, Jesus claims to come with the clouds of heaven, yet, to a Jewish audience, this is a reference to divinity. Throughout the Old Testament, this is used as a reference to God (eg. Deut. 33:26; Is. 19:1; Ps. 104:3; Nah. 1:3; Job 38:1).

Reference to Daniel 7

Fourth, the Son of Man coming in the clouds is a reference to Daniel 7:13–14 where the Son of Man, who comes with the clouds of heaven, is given glory and an eternal kingdom that will not be destroyed when God has an eternal kingdom (eg. Dan. 4:34) and shares his glory with no one (Is. 42:8). Moreover, the Son of Man is served by all peoples, nations, and languages when God is the one to whom every knee will bow (Is. 45:23).

More here:

Jesus’ Favourite Name for Himself: 3 BIG Implications

Daniel 7:13–14

“I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

and was presented before him.

14 And to him was given dominion

and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

that shall not be destroyed.

Jewish binitarian context

Fifth, Jesus lived in a context where many Jews were binitarians and believed in a multi-personal God. For example, as Heiser notes, some believed in an invisible and visible YHWH, who was, in effect, two persons yet one Being. Hence, Jesus’ claims carried more weight than many would allow in a modern lens. More here:

Is the Trinity in the Old Testament? 30 Passages for Consideration

As Daniel Boyarin notes in Borderlines p.92:

“In the first and second centuries, there were Jewish non-Christians who firmly held theological doctrines of a second God, variously called Logos, Memra, Sophia, Metatron, or Yahoel; indeed, perhaps most of the Jews did so at the time.”

Goodreads

Unlikely a fabricated title

Sixth, it is unlikely the Son of Man title was fabricated by later Christians because the rest of the New Testament and early Christian writings outside the Gospels, barely, if ever, call Jesus by this name.

Son of Man appears in Acts 7:56, Rev. 1:13, and 14:14 to describe Jesus but nowhere else in the New Testament.

Habermas and Licona point out in the Case for the Resurrection of Jesus “only three times in early Christian writings during the first 120 years following Jesus (p.166)” is the Son of Man used to describe Jesus.

Goodreads

The Son of Man title is also attested across all four Gospels and shows a lack of theological evolution.

2. 1 Corinthians 15:3–7- Jesus died for sins and rose again, appearing to witnesses still alive at the time Paul was writing

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

Paul continues in v.8: Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Paul Wikimedia Commons

Scholars note this passage is not likely to have originated from Paul but rather takes on the form and structure of an early creed that dates to within several years or less of Jesus’ death.

In this passage:

Jesus dies for sins following Old Testament prophecy (v.3)
Jesus was buried (v.4)
Jesus was raised on the third day (v.4)
Jesus appeared to Cephas (Peter) and the twelve (v.5)
Jesus appeared to more than five hundred witnesses many of whom still lived and could have confirmed or denied the claims in the creed (v.6)
Jesus appeared to James and Paul (v.7–8)

Here are some quotes from scholars in this passage:

Atheist Gerd Lüdemann- no later than 3 years after crucifixion

Atheist NT critic Gerd Lüdemann: “The elements in the tradition are to be dated to the first two years after the crucifixion of Jesus…not later than three years… the formation of the appearance traditions mentioned in I Cor.15.3–8 falls into the time between 30 and 33 CE.” [The Resurrection of Jesus, 1994, p. 171–72.]

Critic of Christianity Robert Funk- 2 to 3 years at most after Jesus’ death

Non-Christian Jesus Seminar scholar Robert Funk: “The conviction that Jesus had risen from the dead had already taken root by the time Paul was converted about 33 C.E. On the assumption that Jesus died about 30 C.E., the time for development was thus two or three years at most.” [Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar, The Acts of Jesus, 466.]

James Dunn- entirely confident within months of Jesus’ death

James Dunn (Professor at Durham): “This tradition, we can be entirely confident, was formulated as tradition within months of Jesus’ death.” [Jesus Remembered (Eerdmans, 2003) 854–55.]

Atheist Michael Goulder- within a couple of years of crucifixion

Michael Goulder (Atheist NT professor at Birmingham)” “[It] goes back at least to what Paul was taught when he was converted, a couple of years after the crucifixion.” [“The Baseless Fabric of a Vision,” in Gavin D’Costa, editor, Resurrection Reconsidered, 1996, 48.]

Oxford Companion to the Bible- 35 CE or earlier

The Oxford Companion to the Bible: “The earliest record of these appearances is to be found in 1 Corinthians 15:3–7, a tradition that Paul ‘received’ after his apostolic call, certainly not later than his visit to Jerusalem in 35 CE, when he saw Cephas (Peter) and James (Gal. 1:18–19), who, like him, were recipients of appearances.” [Eds. Metzer & Coogan (Oxford, 1993), 647.]

Oxford reference

3. Phil 2:6–11- famous passage on Jesus’ humiliation and exaltation where Jesus is considered equal with God and has a YHWH passage from Isaiah applied to him

6 Who (Jesus Christ in v5), though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

A few key things this passage highlights:

Jesus is pre-existent (v.6)
Jesus was in the form of God (v.7)
Jesus took on human flesh (v.7,8)
Jesus died on a cross (v.8)
Jesus is highly exalted (v.9) like the Suffering Servant of Is. 52:13 who died for the transgressions of others (Is. 53:5).
Jesus is YHWH. Jesus is Lord of all and every knee will bow to him and tongue confess he is Lord (v.10–11) just as it is God to whom every knee will bow and tongue swear allegiance in Is. 45:23.

Now to some scholarly perspectives:

Internet Archive

Ernst Lohmeyer- un-Pauline vocabulary and structure

Ernst Lohmeyer in 1928 in Kyrios Jesus argued this hymn contained un-Pauline vocabulary and grammatical structure.

It even contains one word not found anywhere in the New Testament in harpagmon (something to be grasped) .

Lohmeyer contends the hymn was written by someone whose mother tongue was Semitic.

Furness- originally written in Aramaic

Furness contends the hymn was originally written in Aramaic and then translated into Greek (Expository Times 70 1958, p. 240–43).

Joseph Fitzmyer- Aramaic speaking Jewish Christian potentially wrote the hymn

Joseph Fitzmyer, in The Aramaic Background of Philippians 2:6–11 (CBQ 50, no. 3 (July 1988): 470–83), similarly suggests an Aramaic-speaking Jewish Christian potentially authored the hymn.

Pre-Pauline Hymn?

These points lead various scholars to conclude Phil. 2:6–11 dates back to a “pre-Pauline” hymn composed in the 30s AD (Ralph Martin, Carmen Christi Revisited, 1998). Ralph Martin explains that though there is some disagreement among scholars as to the authorship or literary genre of the passage:

The agreed conclusions (among scholars) are that Philippians 2:6–11 gives us a window into the liturgical beliefs and practices of Christian groups that either antedated Paul or were contemporary with his ministry (Where Christology Began: Essays on Philippians 2, p.2).

Vincent Taylor considers in The Person of Christ in New Testament Teaching p.63, “It may well be that the “hymn” is pre-Pauline.”

Conclusion

From these passages we have multiple early sources that date back to either Aramaic tradition, or early hymns or creeds that attest to Jesus’ divinity, death, and resurrection.

Link..

The idea Jesus was merely considered a good teacher or prophet early on and that belief in his resurrection or divinity evolved later does not match the evidence of these 3 passages that date back to early sources.

From these passages we see: