History · Contested
The Letter of Mara bar Serapion
A Syriac letter, probably from the second or third century, compares the death of a 'wise king' of the Jews to the deaths of Socrates and Pythagoras, perhaps referring to Jesus.
The evidence explained
Preserved in a sixth- or seventh-century manuscript in the British Library, the letter is written by a Stoic-leaning prisoner to his son. He argues that those who persecute wise men suffer for it: Athens lost its freedom after Socrates, Samos was overrun after Pythagoras, and the Jews were driven from their kingdom after executing their 'wise king', whose teaching lived on.
The text never names Jesus or Christ. Some scholars take the king to be Jesus, with the Jewish exile alluding to AD 70. Others, including most recent specialists, argue the author may be a non-Christian who knew only that the Jews had killed a respected teacher, and that the letter's date, anywhere from shortly after AD 73 to the third century, cannot be fixed.
The letter is better used to show how a non-Christian could frame a teacher's death as unjust than as a witness to the crucifixion. If the earliest date holds, it is an independent non-Christian perspective; if not, it may depend on Christian ideas.
What it does show
- • At least one non-Christian writer saw a teacher's execution as an injustice with consequences.
- • Christian claims about a wise Jewish teacher's death were known beyond Christian circles by the third century at the latest.
- • Some ancient authors framed 70 AD as divine retribution.
What it does not show
- • It does not name Jesus, so identification is an inference.
- • It does not confirm miracles or resurrection.
- • It does not date reliably to the first century.
Primary sources and literature
- British Museum MS Add. 14658The manuscript containing the letter.
- Craig Evans, Jesus and His Contemporaries (1995)Discusses the letter among non-Christian references.
- David Rensberger, 'Mara bar Serapion' in Anchor Bible DictionaryCautious treatment of identity and date.
Where scholars disagree
Scholars disagree whether the 'wise king' is Jesus and whether the letter reflects Christian influence; the date range is unusually wide.
For further study
Primary and secondary sources on both sides of this question. Reading the strongest opposing case is part of the work, not a concession.
The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach — Michael Licona
The most methodologically careful defense, explicit about historiographical method and the limits of the evidence.
The Resurrection of the Son of God — N. T. Wright
Eight hundred pages on what resurrection meant in the ancient world and why the early Christian claim is historically odd.
Jesus and the Eyewitnesses — Richard Bauckham
Argues the Gospels rest on named eyewitness testimony rather than anonymous community tradition.
How Jesus Became God — Bart Ehrman
The leading skeptical account of the resurrection claim's origin; engage this rather than a caricature.
Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews — Paula Fredriksen
A first-rate secular historian's reconstruction, valuable for testing apologetic claims against mainstream scholarship.