I talked to someone this week that told me that they honestly don’t believe  Jesus ever lived.  It was kind of like they were lumping Jesus in with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and breaking the news to me that they were all fake.  So I asked the person if they believed Hitler was a real person. They said, “yes”. I asked, “how do you know, you have never seen or met him?”  They replied, “Hitler is in our history books.” Hmm….. Below are my favorite quotes from historians who mention Jesus and were not believers.

H. G. Wells, British writer, 1866-1946

When asked which person left the most permanent impression on history, he replied that judging a person’s greatness by historical standards:

“By this test, Jesus stands first.”

“I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”

“Christ is the most unique person of history. No man can write a history of the human race without giving first and foremost place to the penniless teacher of Nazareth.”

Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French

“You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory? My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”

“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”

“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel.  Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”

Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor from 361-363 A.D. and one of the most gifted ancient adversaries to Christianity.

In his work against Christianity:

“Jesus…has now been celebrated about three hundred years having done nothing in his lifetime worthy of fame, unless anyone thinks it is a very great work to heal lame and blind people and exorcise demoniacs in the villages of Bethsaida and Bethany.”

But at the end of his life was forced to say:

“Thou has conquered, O Galilean!”

-    He also affirms the authenticity of all four gospels.