'Josephus and his Historiographical Balancing Act'

[evangelion]

We're all familiar with Josephus, the famous Jewish historian of the 1st Century whose writings include references to Jesus, James, and John the Baptist. But Josephus was also a former soldier, who switched sides and joined the Romans when Vespasian took Jotapata in AD 69.

His historical works are therefore carefully balanced, maximising honour to the Jews while minimising offence to the Romans. For greater insight into Josephus' conflicting loyalties and motivations, I highly recommend this excellent paper by Lydia Main: goo.gl/DzfrzH

[wraggy]

Here is another article dealing in part with Josephus entitled:
Did Jesus Exist? Searching for Evidence Beyond the Bible by Lawrence Mykytiuk.

After two decades toiling in the quiet groves of academe, I published an article in BAR titled “Archaeology Confirms 50 Real People in the Bible.”a The enormous interest this article generated was a complete surprise to me. Nearly 40 websites in six languages, reflecting a wide spectrum of secular and religious orientations, linked to BAR’s supplementary web page.b Some even posted translations.

I thought about following up with a similar article on people in the New Testament, but I soon realized that this would be so dominated by the question of Jesus’ existence that I needed to consider this question separately. This is that article:1

Did Jesus of Nazareth, who was called Christ, exist as a real human being, “the man Christ Jesus” according to 1 Timothy 2:5?

The sources normally discussed fall into three main categories: (1) classical (that is, Greco-Roman), (2) Jewish and (3) Christian. But when people ask whether it is possible to prove that Jesus of Nazareth actually existed, as John P. Meier pointed out decades ago, “The implication is that the Biblical evidence for Jesus is biased because it is encased in a theological text written by committed believers.2 What they really want to know is: Is there extra-Biblical evidence … for Jesus’ existence?”c

Therefore, this article will cover classical and Jewish writings almost exclusively.

I have not read it as yet, only had a quick skim read. (Guitar practice).

www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/did-jesus-exist/?mqsc=E3784200&utm_source=WhatCountsEmail&utm_medium=BHD+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=E4BD08#note36

[evangelion]

I am working my way through that article. Looks great, thanks Wraggy.

[wraggy]

Dec 11, 2014 8:10:28 GMT evangelion said:

I am working my way through that article. Looks great, thanks Wraggy.

You will note the usual myther responses.

Paul says

Despite what the writer of this article claims, there were at least 40 recognized writers of the time who do not mention this particular Jesus at all. Jesus or Joshua was a common name then, and even Josephus mentions at least six or eight of them.

The writings of authors like Josephus and the others that the writer refers to, have either been corrupted, interpolated or misinterpreted. The apologists keep refering to these writings (a line, a name or a few sentences) again and again though proven as forgery by historians and scholars.

Even Apostle Paul does not mention anything of Jesus’ human life, his ministry, his virgin birth, his miracles, his parables, his sermons, his trial and so on. He only realization of Christ was through his visions. And if his generally accepted chronology is to be believed, Paul must have been born and lived during Jesus’ time, and martyred in 66/68 A.D. His Epistles are the first Gnostic Christian writings.

[James Hannam]

Dec 11, 2014 9:31:16 GMT wraggy said:

You will note the usual myther responses.

Nice to see the author below the line as well, even giving a courteous response to the myther.

Best wishes

James

[James Hannam]

Here's a nice article from Andrew Brown of the Guardian asking if it matters if Moses didn't exist.

I'd say he is definitely beyond the reach of history, but that is a step away from saying he never lived.

www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/30/moses-man-versus-myth-ridley-scott

J

[unkleE]

James, I notice that the Mykytiuk article comes from the Biblical Archaeological Society. Can you, or anyone else, advise on what standing this society has please? Is it genuinely based on good scholarship, or is it a christian apologetics organisation that follows the "official" line regardless?

[ignorantianescia]

Bib-Arch/BAR/BAS is a fairly mainstream society/journal (although intended for a more general audience) that allows a variety of perspectives. Mykytiuk is a respected scholar, who has recently come out against Biblical minimalism with a mildly worded but forceful series of articles. Based on those, I'd expect him to be moderately conservative.