Most scholars agree that Jesus was executed by crucifixion on the authority of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem

Most scholars agree that Jesus was executed by crucifixion on the authority of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem.

Robert Funk, Honest to Jesus (San Fransisco, HarperCollins, 1996), p. 221

The importance of this quote is that Funk is very sceptical about the reliability of the gospels and thwe New Testament as history. However, even he admits that Jesus existed and died by crucifixion. To deny this would be to employ a scepticism to all history that would make almost nothing knowable.

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Jesus’ death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is as sure as anything historical can ever be

Jesus’ death by crucifixion under Pontius Pilate is as sure as anything historical can ever be. For if no follower of Jesus had written anything for one hundred years after his crucifixition, we would still know about him from two authors not among his supporters. Their names are Flavius Josephus and Cornelius Tacitus.

John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, p. 145. Crossan, far from being a conservative Christian, denies the historical reliabilityof mjuch of the New Testament. Yet even he accepts the historical reality of Jesus’ crucifixion.