Jesus in the Writings of the First-century Jewish historian Josephus

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The Antiquities of the Jews, written by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in 93 CE, is our most important resource for knowing about the history of Israel around the time of Jesus and his earliest followers. This twenty-volume work contains two brief references to Jesus himself, and are in fact the only two mentions of Jesus in any non-Christian writing of the entire first century. But there are many questions surrounding these statements. Are they authentic to Josephus? Were they added to his writings by later Christian scribes? Could the be authentic in part but altered by scribes. If they are authentic do they strengthen the case for the historicity of Jesus, or are they merely records of hearsay? Do they provide us with any valuable informatioin about Jesus that we otherwise would never know?

Megan asks Bart:

- Why is this an important topic?

- Who is Josephus, and when did he write?

- What purpose was he writing for?

- This doesn’t read as a Jewish person talking to another Jewish person, can you comment on what’s going on here?

- Why don’t you think the whole passage was forged?

- What kind of sources would Josephus have been working with?

- Do these references strengthen the case for an historical Jesus at all, or is he merely recording hearsay?

- Can historians learn anything about Jesus from Josephus’ writings?