John the Baptist | thebereancall.org

TBC Staff

Secular Sources confirm the existence of John the Baptist.

"Herod (Antipas) was caught up in a quarrel with the King of Petra, Aretas, whose daughter he had married and with whom he had lived with for some time. But once while he was staying in Rome with his half brother Herod (also known as Philip, the son of Herod the Great by Mariamme, the daughter of Simon the high priest), Antipas fell in love with his brother's wife Herodias, and he promised to marry her and divorce Areta's daughter....

Although John [the Baptist] was a good man and taught the Jews to worship God and to lead righteous lives and practice justice toward others, Herod had him executed. John preached that baptism should not be used to obtain a pardon from sins committed, but as a consecration of the body . . . Great crowds began to gather around John because of his preaching and Herod feared that John’s great persuasive power over men would lead to rebellion. Therefore, he decided that it would be better to kill him before he caused an uprising.  John was brought in chain's to the fortress of Machaerus and was put to death in that prison.” (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 18 Chapter 5)