Why Do People Discredit Josephus?

Question

He is widely acknowledged by academicians as one of the few "outside objective" confirmations of Jesus on earth, as well as His ministry, yet many scholars of today discredit him and say his historical accounts of the time of Jesus were either 1) not accurate 2) marred by later false additions to the documents.

What do you know of the opinions of a one Josephus? (writer of Antiquities)

Hey Johnny A...thanks for looking out for me. I would email and say hello but you don't allow it ;) God Bless you!

Answer 1

Well it is because we have proof that the parts of Josephus that talk about Jesus were added in centuries latter.

The Christian author Origen wrote around the year 240. His writings predate both the earliest known manuscripts of the Testimonium and the earliest quotations of the Testimonium by other writers. In his surviving works Origen fails to mention the Testimonium Flavianum, even though he was clearly familiar with the Antiquities of the Jews, since he mentions the less significant reference by Josephus to Jesus as brother of James, which occurs later in Antiquities of the Jews (xx.9), and also other passages from Antiquities such as the passage about John the Baptist. Furthermore, Origen states that Josephus was "not believing in Jesus as the Christ" [2] "he did not accept Jesus as Christ" [3], but the Testimonium declares Jesus to be Christ. Because of these arguments, some scholars believe that the version of Antiquities available to Origen did not mention Jesus at this point at all

We have early copies of Josephus, they do not contain the passage

In addtion any educated reading of the passage can show that this is a poor and glaring additon.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus#Arguments_against_authenticity

Answer 2

Josephus was a Jewish general who 'defected' to Rome, was adopted into a patrician Roman family and then wrote a long multi-volume history of Judaism for Roman consumption. His mention of Jesus is one of the very few non-religious mentions in the couple of centuries after Jesus lived, so Christians lean heavily on it.

But it is widely thought that Josephus never really mentioned Jesus, that Jesus was added centuries later to his writing. This is called the Testimonium Flavianum. Older versions of the same books written by Josephus have been found missing the testimony that is found in later versions.

Do some Googling and you'll read all about it.

Answer 3

Except that he's NOT. Or is this Opposite Day?

The one mention he puts in of Jesus are recognized as being a latter day insertion even by fundie "scholars."

Some of the deepest concerns about the authenticity of the passage were succinctly expressed by John Dominic Crossan, in The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Peasant:[9] "The problem here is that Josephus' account is too good to be true, too confessional to be impartial, too Christian to be Jewish." Three passages stood out: "if it be lawful to call him a man … He was [the] Christ … for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him." To some these seem directly to address Christological debates of the early 4th century. Consequently, some scholars regard at least these parts of the Testimonium as later interpolations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus (For much more)

Answer 4

You asked two questions. I will answer the first as you can google up answers to the second one.

People do not discredit Josephus; they TRY to. Why? Because the world would leave us all alone if we believed in a green sea monkey god which lived with an eight headed blue baby on Mars. But the world is confronted in Jesus teachings by its own unrighteousness. No one likes to be told they are unclean in God's eyes. Pride wells up and then anger and hatred that anyone dares suggest they are not "as good as anyone else". However in this case God and His perfect manifestation in Christ are not "just anyone else" - we are imperfect and are called by He who is perfect to come and be forgiven of our sins. If that is not a happy message then I do not know what is. But the world hates the gospel. His sheep hear his voice - and savour salvation. The others do not belong to Christ and hate the gospel. It is all clearly stated in scripture.

Answer 5

There are two reasons for discrediting Josephus:

First the earliest manuscript of Josephus does not have a reference to Jesus.

Second, the reference does not specifically mention Jesus.

Answer 6

Both point one and 2 are true esp. point 2. Much of the writings in Josephus that mention Jesus are not in the earliest versions.
I spent a lot of time looking in to this and no matter how much I wanted to find it NOBODY can provide any independent evidence for the historical reality of Christ. anybody who tells you otherwise is just plain wrong or they have found stuff nobody else has seen! Stop trying and just look to the message...

Answer 7

I have read, in an edition of the works of Josephus, that there is evidence that the references to Jesus were later additions. I have not had the time to undertake sufficient research to verify that, but that seems to be the opinion of several scholars who have done analyses on his works.

Answer 8

I think you've answered your own question. People don't discount the legitimate writings of Josephus; they DO take issue with those portions inserted later. The trouble is that most of the time, the average person doesn't have a clue what part is legitimate and what part is faked.

Answer 9

I have no idea who Josephus was, but I do know that the Catholic church has a letter written by the Blessed Virgin to the believers in Messina.
http://www.iipg.org/pieta.htm
(about 3/5 way down the page)

Answer 10

people believe the lie of the Renaissance painters that portray Jesus as this tall blond blue eyed white dude.which is nuts

i think Joe described him as a very short 4 ft+ tall ,dark haired Jew with a hunch back. and ugly.[ever see a Jew of the first centuries with blue eyes]?

which doesn't fit the fantasy of the ,[pretty Jesus] that knows every ones thoughts. which is all so wrong!!!!!!