4 - Our Sources of Information about Jesus

Summary

We have little significant evidence from non-Christian, for example, Roman, sources, which might seem surprising, but is easy to explain. During his lifetime, Jesus made an impact on Jewish Galilee and Judea, but they were on the fringe of the Roman Empire and not important places from a Roman point of view; Galilee was not administered directly by the Romans, and Judea, when it became a Roman province, was a junior posting for a governor. Roman communications by road and sea were impressive by ancient standards, but there was nothing like modern telecommunications and social media, and very little news of events in Palestine would reach Rome, let alone news that would deserve writing about in the histories of the day.