The evidence for Jesus’ existence is incredibly strong. There is evidence from the Bible itself, but there are also many references to His existence from other ancient sources. Josephus, the Jewish historian, writing around A.D. 66 tells us that Jesus was called ‘the Christ’, was the founder of the ‘Christians’, was crucified by Pontius Pilate, had a brother called James and there was a belief he rose from the dead. Pliny, a Roman writer around A.D. 112, tells us that Jesus’ followers were called Christians and that they worshipped Jesus as ‘a God’.  Tacitus, a Roman historian of the same period, tells us that Jesus was executed in Judea during the period when Tiberius was Emperor (A.D. 14-37) and Pontius Pilate was Governor (A.D. 26-36).  He also tells us the movement (of Christianity) spread from Judea to Rome. A few years later, Suetonius (who was a biographer employed by Pliny) tells us that Christians existed by the time of Nero and were persecuted by him (A.D. 66). None of these writers were Christians and yet from them we learn that the broad outline of Jesus’ life which Christians believe today was accepted in the ancient world.