Know that Jesus resurrected from the dead?

"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."

He studied philosophy in Greece, and lived in Sicily where he wrote fifteen books against the Christian faith. In one of his books, "Life of Pythagoras", he contended that magicians of the pagan world exhibited greater powers than Christ. His argument was an inadvertent concession of Jesus' existence, and power.

These are all historical events recorded down by the ancient writer Luke. The fact that this is part of the historicity of Jesus allows us to authenticate the life and events of Jesus. Just like we must process the other anti-Christian ancient writers from the secular history.

These were the writings of the Jews following the destruction of Jerusalem. They mention Jesus many times, all in negative light, for they considered him a rebel. The writings say that Jesus was a sorcerer that practiced magic, caused trouble against the wise men of the day and was moved to destroy the Law of Moses.

Whether or not you agree with the declaration of Jesus, according to Luke the historian, Jesus predicted crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

He was a famous Stoic philosopher of the first-century. Writing to his son in prison, he encourages him with the fact that it is foolish to persecute wise men of history, specifically Socrates, Pythagoras and Christ. He said concerning the latter "What advantage did the Jews gain from executing their King?"…​"the wise King die for good; He lived on in the teaching which He had given." Whether you believe Luke and Bar-Serapion that Jesus died on the cross or not, it does not change the authenticity of the historicity of the event.

It is of interest to note that this account is not only mentioned in the Bible, but also in secular history. There are ancient writings of Julius Africanus, discussing another writer named Thallus, concerning this event. It says "On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his 'History', calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun."

Whether or not you believe the sun went dark during the day of the crucifixion, it does not dismiss the ancient writers who were there and witnessed the sun going dark at that time.

Whether or not you believe that those closest to the events were convicted enough to convert, live for, and even die for the resurrected Jesus, does not nullify those whose [who] were present, even the secular historians, confirm the same.

Tacitus was considered one the greatest Roman ancient historians. He wrote concerning the Nerodian persecution of Christians, dating only thirty years after Jesus. "Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus…​"

In writing to Emperor Trajan requesting advice on how to deal with the sect of Christians, which according to his words, were troubling his province. He wrote the following concerning Christians. "They were in a habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang an anthem to Christ as God, and bound themselves by a solemn oath not to commit any wicked deed…​after which it was their custom to separate, and then meet again to partake of food, but a food of an ordinary and innocent kind."

In his writing "The Life of Claudius" he mentions Jesus in historical context saying, "As the Jews were making constant disturbances as the instigation of Chrestus, he expelled them from Rome." This was the same historical event that occurred in:

He was a Greek philosopher. In criticizing the early Christians he wrote: "The Christians, you know, worship a man to this day — the distinguished personage who introduced their novel rites, and was crucified on that account…​ You see, these misguided creatures started with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws. All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property."

He produced the oldest existing literary attack against Christianity. His True Discourse (c. A.D. 178) was a bitter assault upon Christ. Celsus argued that Jesus was born in low circumstances, being the illegitimate son of a soldier named Panthera. As he grew, He announced Himself to be God, deceiving many. Celsus charged that Christ’s own people killed Him, and that His resurrection was a deception. His criticisms and hatred of Christianity unconsciously confirmed his acceptance of the personhood of Jesus.