What does Josephus say about Jesus?
Most scholars agree that Josephus wrote about Jesus Christ in his book, Jewish Antiquities (see Antiquities 18.3.3). However, because Christians preserved his writings they argue that Christian scribes to support their claims about Jesus tampered with the original report that spoke of Jesus as Messiah and of the resurrection. That Josephus was a believing Jew who did not become a Christian seems to support this interpretation of the data. Additionally, no early Christian writers quoted from Josephus to support their claims that seems to suggest that the original composition did not include the confessional elements of the text that has been preserved. Nevertheless, because most of the text in question is characteristic of his style, except those parts that have been questioned, is seems probable that that portion is original to Josephus. The following is the preferred reading of the text by many scholars:
After this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out.
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at and is filed under Biblical Historians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.