SOURCES FOR JESUS' LIFE1. NON-EVANGELICAL SOURCES1. Non-Christian SourcesNot surprisingly, there are only few: a purely spiritual movement passes, at the beginning of its existence (i.e. inthe era of its founder), unnoticed by the world. It will only be mentioned by historians from the moment that itsinfluence on public life begins to be felt. Moreover, the emergence of a new religion was no extraordinary eventin the Roman empire. The classical historians, concentrated as they were on the empire, attached little import -ance to a Galilean Jew executed by the Roman governor at the request of his own people. The gospels were re -served to adherents. Anything falling outside the domain of the politics and military prowess of the empire wasregarded by the historians as uninteresting. The disputes between the Jewish sects escaped their interest. Thecrucified Christ was a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles (1 Co.1:23). The philosopher Philo ofAlexandria (20BC-45AD) writes not a word, and neither does Justus of Tiberias, chronicler of the Jewish kingsfrom Moses to Agrippa († ca. 100AD).a) Official Jewry: Some stories about Jesus were in circulation. If one wishes to know in which spirit theywere complied, cf. Mt.28:15 and the complaints of Christian writers regarding the slanders of the Jews. Afterthe year 70, the Pharisees were the only surviving representatives of religious life. The pharisaic teachers whocollated the tradition and oral rulings of the great masters were called Tannaites. The result of their labours isthe Mishnah (±200). Nothing concerning Jesus can be found there. In the 4th and 5th centuries, though includ-ing older material in it, the Amoraeans compiled the commentary on the Mishnah: the Talmud. Further, oral tra-ditions were to hand; the Midrashim (with material from the Tannaite period). This is a supplement rather thanan official collection.In the Mishnah, the Tosephta, the supplement to the Midrash, and in the Midrashim hardly anyt...