Dr. Thomas C. Schmidt of Fairfield University started out agreeing with the scholars who think Christian scribes doctored the famous Jesus passage in the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, Charisma reports, via CBN’s Faithwire. His plan was to work out what had been changed so he could rebuild the original.
It went the other way. He ran every phrase in the paragraph through text databases and says each one traces back to Josephus’ own vocabulary and style. “It sounds exactly like him,” he said. His new book, Josephus & Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ, is a free download.
His reading is careful, not triumphant:
- The Greek word for Jesus’ miracles is closer to “paranormal deeds.” Josephus admits Jesus did supernatural things but doesn’t say where the power came from, which is how the skeptical crowds in the Gospels reacted too.
- On the resurrection, Schmidt says Josephus reports that Jesus’ first disciples claimed He appeared alive on the third day. Josephus isn’t professing faith himself.
- Schmidt argues Josephus knew people who had been at Jesus’ trial.
My take
I like that he isn’t overselling it. A non-Christian historian, born in Jerusalem a few years after the cross, recording that Jesus did wonders and that His followers said He rose on the third day? That’s a hostile-enough witness to be worth a lot. My faith doesn’t stand on Josephus. It stands on the risen Christ and the Spirit’s witness in my heart. But it’s good to see the scholarship keep circling back to the same empty tomb.
“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said” (Matthew 28:6).
God Bless, and Use the Source!
