Incredible Encounters?

Imagine entering a Christian congregation during the first-century. What kinds of people would you see and meet? Imagine further that you were introduced to ones who had the special honor of being healed or resurrected by Jesus Christ. Even though their Lord was no longer in their midst, they could readily explain what Jesus did to them as seen in the Gospels. Interacting with such ones would be absolutely incredible and dramatically increase trust in the Gospel accounts.

Yet, these encounters were reported to have actually occurred. One Christian included this when writing to Emperor Hadrian in defense of the faith. Hadrian was born in 76 C.E. and reigned from 117 to 138 C.E. The writer was Quadratus, and he wrote a book now lost but was quoted from by church historian Eusebius.^[1] Quadratus curiously wrote:

But the works of our Saviour were always present, for they were true, those who were cured, those who rose from the dead, who not merely appeared as cured and risen, but were constantly present, not only while the Saviour was living, but even for some time after he had gone, so that some of them survived even till our own time.^[2]

Another translation presents:

But the works of our Saviour were always present, for they were genuine:—those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also always present; and not merely while the Saviour was on earth, but also after his death, they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day.^[3]

This translation points out that Quadratus “seems to introduce a contrast, and allows us to assume with some measure of assurance that an exposure of the pretended wonders of heathen magicians, who were numerous at that time, preceded this ocular proof of the genuineness of Christ’s miracles.” We are then cautioned that “Quadratus had evidently seen none of these persons himself; he had simply heard of them through others. We have no record elsewhere of the fact that any of those raised by Christ lived to a later age.” This is an important caution, and it raises the questions of when he wrote to the emperor and, most importantly, of life expectancy. First, the Catholic Encyclopedia notes that “He addressed a discourse to the Emperor Hadrian containing an apology for the Christian religion, during a visit which the latter made to Athens in 124 or 125.”^[4] Another scholar noted this was “when Hadrian visited Athens and was initiated in the Eleusinian mysteries.” He also cautions that “it is improbable that any one contemporary with subjects of our Lord’s miracles should survive to 170 [sic 117?].”^[5] This is a good point. To recap, Hadrian was born in 76. So, if a person was 30 and healed in 30 C.E., then he would be 76 in 76 C.E. But Jesus healed younger people too, like the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter, the daughter of Jairus, and the widow of Nain’s son—with only the daughter of Jairus being given an age, 12.^[6] But it’s unlikely someone from Jesus’ time survived into the early second century. So Quadratus may have been flattering Hadrian by referring to the time of his year of birth. We also know nothing about when Quadratus was born.

Additionally, another scholar reports:

About half a century later, Irenaeus may have relied on Quadratus for his own discussions of miracles (Haer. 2.31.2 and 2.32.4), later copied by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 5.7). Irenaeus claimed that in Christian churches there were those who “cure the sick by laying hands on them, and…the dead have been raised and remained with us for many years.” It is not absolutely certain what time frames either Quadratus or Irenaeus had in view.^[7]

The bottom line is, people whom Jesus healed and resurrected were reported to have become Christians.


Footnotes:
^[1]This testimony was also presented in two issues of the Watchtower:

Further proof comes from fourth-century church historian Eusebius. In his book The History of the Church From Christ to Constantine, he quotes a certain Quadratus who sent a letter to the emperor in defense of Christianity. Quadratus wrote: “Our Saviour’s works were always there to see, for they were true—the people who had been cured and those raised from the dead, who had not merely been seen at the moment when they were cured or raised, but were always there to see, not only when the Saviour was among us, but for a long time after His departure; in fact some of them survived right up to my own time.” Scholar William Barclay observed: “Quadratus is saying that until his own day men on whom miracles had been worked could actually be produced. If that was untrue nothing would have been easier than for the Roman government to brand it as a lie.” w95 3/1 pp. 4-5 Jesus’ Miracles—History or Myth?

Eusebius of Caesarea, in The Ecclesiastical history, provides an interesting statement by a certain Quadratus, who wrote an “apology” in behalf of Christianity to Hadrian, emperor of Rome from 117 to 138 C.E. Quadratus declares: “The works of our Saviour were always conspicuous, for they were real. Both they that were healed, and they that were raised from the dead, were seen, not only when they were healed or raised, but for a long time afterwards; not only whilst he dwelt on this earth, but also after his departure and for a good while subsequent to it: insomuch that some of them have reached to our times.” w76 7/15 p. 430 A Look at Some Miracles of Jesus

^[2] Loeb Classical Library
^[3] Arthur Cushman McGiffert
www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0265-0339,_Eusebius_Caesariensis,_Historia_ecclesiastica_%5BSchaff%5D,_EN.pdf
^[4] Quadratus of Athens
www.earlychristianwritings.com/info/quadratus-cathen.html
^[5] Quadratus
www.earlychristianwritings.com/info/quadratus-wace.html
^[6] (Daughter of Jairus: Matthew 9:18, 19, 23-26. Mark 5:22-24, 35-43. Luke 8:41, 42, 49-56. Son of the widow of Nain: Luke 7:11-17. Daughter of the Syrophoenician: Matthew 15:22-28. Mark 7:26-30.) A list of Jesus’ miracles is here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracles_of_Jesus
^[7] Robert M. Grant, “Quadratus,” The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 582. See also: Quadratus of Athens
www.earlychristianwritings.com/quadratus.html

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