PART 5. SOURCES FOR JESUS' LIFE1. NON-EVANGELICAL SOURCES1. Non-Christian SourcesNot surprisingly, there are only few: a purely spiritual movement passes, atthe beginning of its existence (i.e. in the era of its founder), unnoticed by theworld. It will only be mentioned by historians from the moment that itsinfluence on public life begins to be felt. Moreover, the emergence of a newreligion was no extraordinary event in the Roman empire. The classicalhistorians, concentrated as they were on the empire, attached little importanceto a Galilean Jew executed by the Roman governor at the request of his ownpeople. The gospels were reserved to adherents. Anything falling outside thedomain of the politics and military prowess of the empire was regarded by thehistorians as uninteresting. The disputes between the Jewish sects escaped theirinterest. The crucified Christ was a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness togentiles (1 Co.1:23). The philosopher Philo of Alexandria (20BC-45AD) writesnot a word, and neither does Photius, chronicler to the Jewish kings fromMoses to Agrippa (+100BC).a) Official Jewry: Some stories about Jesus were in circulation. If onewishes to know in which spirit they were complied, cf. Mt.28:15 and thecomplaints of Christian writers regarding the slanders of the Jews. After theyear 70, the pharisees were the only surviving representatives of religious life.The pharisaic teachers who collated the tradition and oral rulings of the greatmasters were called Tannaites. The result of their labours is the Mishnah(±200). Nothing concerning Jesus can be found there. In the 4th and 5thcenturies, though including older material in it, the Amoreans compiled thecommentary on the Mishnah: the Talmud. Further, oral traditions were to hand;the Midrashim (with material from the Tannaite period). This is a supplementrather than an official collection.In the Mishnah, the Tosephta, the supplement to the Midrash, and in theMidrashim hardly anything can be found about Him...