▁assumed ▁of ▁some ▁un can on ical ▁g ospel ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁G ospel ▁of ▁Thomas . ▁Nevertheless , ▁some ▁authentic ▁first ▁century ▁and ▁many ▁second ▁century ▁writ ings ▁exist ▁in ▁which ▁Jesus ▁is ▁mentioned , ▁leading ▁many ▁sch ol ars ▁to ▁conclude ▁that ▁the ▁historic ity ▁of ▁Jesus ▁is ▁well ▁established ▁by ▁historical ▁documents . St anton , ▁Graham , ▁The ▁G osp els ▁and ▁Jesus ▁Oxford ▁University ▁Press , ▁ 2 nd ▁ed . ▁ 2 0 0 2 , ▁p . ▁ 1 4 5 . ▁He ▁writes : ▁" T od ay ▁nearly ▁all ▁histor ians , ▁whether ▁Christians ▁or ▁not , ▁accept ▁that ▁Jesus ▁existed ▁and ▁that ▁the ▁g osp els ▁contain ▁plenty ▁of ▁valuable ▁evidence ▁which ▁has ▁to ▁be ▁we ighed ▁and ▁ass essed ▁crit ically ." ▁ ▁G osp els ▁ ▁Act s ▁of ▁the ▁Apost les ▁and ▁Ep ist les ▁ ▁T ent atively ▁identified ▁ ▁These ▁are ▁Bib lic al ▁figures ▁for ▁which ▁tent ative ▁but ▁likely ▁ident ifications ▁have ▁been ▁found ▁in ▁contemporary ▁sources ▁based ▁on ▁matching ▁names ▁and ▁credentials . ▁The ▁possibility ▁of ▁coinc ident al ▁matching ▁of ▁names ▁cannot ▁be ▁ruled ▁out ▁however . ▁ ▁Heb rew ▁Bible ▁( Pro to can on ical ▁Old ▁Testament ) ▁▁ ▁Ah az iah / A maz iah , ▁King ▁of ▁Jud ah . ▁The ▁Tel ▁Dan ▁Ste le ▁contains , ▁according ▁to ▁many ▁sch ol ars , ▁an ▁account ▁by ▁a ▁Sy rian ▁king ▁( pro bably ▁Haz ael ), ▁claim ing ▁to