Tacitus' passage on Christ in Annals.

[stillwood]

So I've been searching the historical evidence of Christ's existence, and I keep coming across the Tacitus passage in Annals. Can someone explain WHY this passage is so important? Tacitus wasnt alive during Christs life, so what makes it so significant?

 

[rusra02]

• Tacitus confirms the historicity of Jesus Christ. Awake!—2016 explains:
  TACITUS
  • "(c. 56-120 C.E., or Common Era) Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest of the ancient Roman historians. His Annals deal with the Roman Empire from 14 C.E. to 68 C.E. (Jesus died in 33 C.E.) Tacitus wrote that when a great fire devastated Rome in 64 C.E., Emperor Nero was considered responsible. But Tacitus wrote that Nero accused the Christians in order to “scotch the rumour.” Then Tacitus said: “Christus, the founder of the name [Christian], had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius, by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilatus.”—Annals, XV, 44."
    

 

[Brickjectivity]

So I've been searching the historical evidence of Christ's existence, and I keep coming across the Tacitus passage in Annals. Can someone explain WHY this passage is so important? Tacitus wasnt alive during Christs life, so what makes it so significant?

Since Tacitus works were preserved by the churches its possible that somebody thought it would be clever to add in something about Christ. Presumably that is not what happened, but I do not think you can be certain if you have doubts about it.

 

[Augustus]

So I've been searching the historical evidence of Christ's existence, and I keep coming across the Tacitus passage in Annals. Can someone explain WHY this passage is so important? Tacitus wasnt alive during Christs life, so what makes it so significant?

As a Roman Senator he would likely have had access to Roman records.

You have to assume that someone checked for a man by that name being crucified once his followers grew significantly in number.