New information on Josephus:  the Earliest Non-Christian testimony of Jesus Christ

by | Jul 5, 2025 | Jesus and History, New Testament Reliability

                                                                                                                                               PDF version available here

The New Testament provides eye-witness testimony and early records from Christian perspectives.  It is hardly surprising that most writers who believed that Jesus was resurrected became Christians.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have an account from a Jewish perspective…an account from someone who had an inside track on what the Jewish leaders thought?  (above image: Joseph, son of Gorian called Flavius Josephus, 1st century Jewish historian.)  Painting is “Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by Francesco Hayez. 1867.  Josephus was a witness of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. (Images are from Wikipedia)  That is exactly what the Jewish historian provides.  He was a priest and military general.  He understood both the Jewish and Roman perspectives.  It is highly likely that he knew people who were at Jesus’ trial.  Perfect. (Figure 1)

Figure 1.  Timeline for Josephus and the “Testimonium Flavianum”

But…. (There is always a but).   Do we really have his actual testimony?  Many have concluded that the references to Jesus were added by Christian editors.  This would cancel out the value of Josephus as an early knowledgeable information source.  Many scholars have concluded that some parts are likely not original, though some were probably authentic. Josephus actually refers to Jesus twice.  The second reference seems to assume that the first was already in the book as it doesn’t explain at all who Jesus was. (Figure 2). Surely some of that first reference is authentic.

Figure 2. Text of Josephus’s second reference to Jesus

For instance, atheist scholar, Bart Ehrman wrote, “”It was Christians who copied Josephus’ writings through the ages… This reference to Jesus was beefed up a bit by a Christian scribe who wanted to make Josephus appear more appreciative of the ‘true faith’.”  I was satisfied with the more limited view because did provide very early attestation that Jesus lived and that was useful.  This year this changes.  I am excited because Dr. T. C. Schmidt has just published a book that provides a very convincing case that we should accept all of the Josephus quote, known as “Testimonium Flavianum” as original.   His book is titled: “Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ”. (Schmidt 2025) It is just coming out in the U.S.   Christian apologist, Sean McDowell (2025) interviewed him here:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwyFaJcapcI

Here is Schmidt’s translation of the TF:  “And in this time, there was a certain Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man, for he was a doer of incredible deeds, a teacher of men who receive truisms with pleasure. And he brought over many from among the Jews and many from among the Greeks. He was [thought to be] the Christ. And, when Pilate had condemned him to the cross at the accusation of the first men among us, those who at first were devoted to him did not cease to be so, for on the third day it seemed to them that he was alive again given that the divine prophets had spoken such things and thousands of other wonderful things about him. And up till now the tribe of the Christians, who were named from him, has not disappeared.”

It is different than other translations of this writing and less distinctively Christian. Why? Today all of Josephus’ writings are available and catalogued on computer databases. Using these, Dr. Schmitt has been able to demonstrate some key facts that address the points that have called into question this writings’ authenticity

Just to review, here are the arguments given that persuaded people that the text was tampered with.

1. The style doesn’t seem to sound like Josephus. The “Testimonium Flavianum” uses a different vocabulary than the rest of Josephus’s writing. This includes a word used that is not found anywhere else in his writing.

  1. It does not read like something, Josephus, a non-Christian Jew would have ever said.
  2. If the oldest Greek texts of this portion of Josephus’s writing are from the 11th century, can we really believe that the words have not been miscopied over the years?

Here are some points that I took away from McDowell’s interview with Dr. Schmitt:

  • The style of writing actually fits well within Josephus’ writings. There are stylistic parallels for every phrase.
  • Even the fact that a word is used in this passage that is not used elsewhere is very like Josephus’s writing.
  • The text can be and perhaps should be translated in ways that would be very like what an early non-Christian Jew might have said about Jesus. The phrases commonly translated in ways that sound “fantastically Christian” probably should be translated in more ambiguous or perhaps negative ways.
  • Some have claimed that it is just an odd insertion in the book, but Schmidt shows that it fits well into the context and topic that Josephus was addressing.
  • Do we really know what was written if the full copies are so long after it was written? This quote actually has some of the best ancient attestation of any ancient passage.
    • It is usual for the oldest manuscripts to have been written a thousand years after the original.
    • In this case, the TF was actually quoted in antiquity 20 times.
    • The oldest quote that we have was by Eusebius in 313 AD and it matches the Greek text from later. (Figure 1)
    • It was also translated just as we have it in the Greek today by two talented ancient translators: Jerome into Latin (393 AD) and into Syrian by Jacob of Edessa (c.708 AD).
    • Any significant additions to the text would have had to have been very early.
  • Josephus really was positioned well to know the story of Jesus from the perspective of Jesus’ enemies. (Figure 3)
    • Schmidt points to 10 people who may have been at Jesus’ trial that Josephus knew.
    • Josephus knew Herod Agrippa personally and as Paul pointed out, he was familiar with Jesus’ trial, execution and the claims of His resurrection because they “were not done in a corner”.
    • Josephus’ comments are not hearsay… he knew the witnesses

 

 

When was the first recorded report of Jesus’ resurrection?

Figure 3.  Highlights from Josephus’s life.  Notice that he lived in both Jerusalem and Galilee. He meets the criteria that he could have possessed the knowledge he reports.

The TF provides important independent early attestation of 10 points that specifically support the authenticity of the New Testament  accounts (Figure 4).

Figure 4.  Ten specific confirmations from Josephus

Dr. Schmidt also provides this alternative translation of the TF that is even more negatve:

“And in this time, there was a certain Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man, for he was a doer of magical deeds, a teacher of men who take pleasure in truisms. And he led astray many from among the Jews and many from among the Greeks. He was thought to be the Christ. And, when Pilate had condemned him to the cross at the accusation of the first men among us, those who at first were devoted to him did not cease to be so, for on the third day it seemed to them that he was alive again given that the divine prophets had spoken such things and thousands of other wonderful things about him. And up till now the tribe of the Christians, who were named from him, has not disappeared.”

Perhaps it is even more likely to represent what Josephus meant. He would in effect represent a hostile witness.

So what?

How often do we have the testimony of such a witness to an ancient event?  We normally would have only one side. It is uncertain why one as familiar with the story according to the enemies of Jesus is not even more critical. Perhaps he reflected the views of many that just did not know what to do with Jesus.  “Who was Jesus?” remains one of the most important questions in the world. Josephus seems to have taken the stance that he didn’t know but knew that Jesus could not easily be claimed as someone evil. 

C.S. Lewis wrote, “One must keep on pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

 

References:

Schmidt, T. C. 2025. Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ. New York: Oxford University Press. https://josephusandjesus.com/.

Sean McDowell, dir. 2025. Breaking: The Earliest Non-Christian Testimony to Jesus May Be Authentic (Josephus). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwyFaJcapcI.