Last modified on November 11, 2025, at 03:08

Josephus on Jesus

Josephus on Jesus is the collection of the historical testimonies of the first century Jewish historian Josephus on the Life, Death, Miracles, Prophecies and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. That Josephus spoke of the Lord Jesus is attested by ancient Church Fathers like St. Ambrose, Saint Isidore and St. Jerome.

Josephus on Jesus

There are 2 references to Jesus in the work of Josephus: The Testimonium Flavianum (Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 3, Section 3) and the James Passage (Antiquities Book 20, Chapter 9, Section 1). The Testimonium is seen as partially authentic by nearly all scholars and the James passage is seen as completely authentic by nearly all scholars.

Testimonium Flavianum

Testimonium Flavianum: "Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man; if it be lawful to call him a man. For he was a doer of wonderful works; a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross; those that loved him at the first did not forsake him. 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. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."

-Flavius Josephus, Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 3, Section 3[1]

The Testimonium Flavianum (Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 3, Section 3) is an independent non-Christian historical testimony that attests to all the most important facts in the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ: His divine Wisdom, His astonishing miracles, His lofty doctrine, His powerful preaching attracting men and women from all races and cultures; His crucifixion under Pilate and glorious resurrection in accordance with what the great prophets of Israel had written. It shows that all this was almost universally known among the Jews of the time, even those hostile or indifferent to the Gospel.

The consensus among scholars, based on multiple lines of evidence, has shifted to the Testimonium partially authentic, meaning that Josephus did write about Jesus to certain extent.[2]

The testimony is so clearly Josephan that it throws all secular critics into the greatest and insuperable difficulties; they have no choice but to desperately plead that it is a forgery to maintain their atheistic secularism. But this is an absurd pretense. The passage fits perfectly with all we know of Josephus’s style and vocabulary; it has unique expressions as “tribe of Christians” and calls Jesus “a wise man,” etc. that occur nowhere else. As the Catholic Encyclopedia notes, moreover, “all codices or manuscripts of Josephus’s work contain the text in question; to maintain the spuriousness of the text, we must suppose that all the copies of Josephus were in the hands of Christians, and were changed in the same way.” Moreover, its authenticity was universally taken for granted for centuries. “Third, Eusebius (“Hist. Eccl”., I, xi; cf. “Dem. Ev.”, III, v) Sozomen (Church History I.1), Niceph. (Hist. Eccl., I, 39), Isidore of Pelusium (Ep. IV, 225), St. Jerome (catal.script. eccles. xiii), Ambrose, Cassiodorus, etc., appeal to the testimony of Josephus; there must have been no doubt as to its authenticity at the time of these illustrious writers.”[3]

The James Passage

James, Brother of Jesus Passage: "And now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood, and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus. Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a Sanhedrim without his consent."

-Flavius Josephus, Antiquities Book 20, Chapter 9, Section 1

The James Passage (Antiquities Book 20, Chapter 9, Section 1) is known for providing details of the illegal trial and sentencing to death by stoning of James, the brother of Jesus under Ananus II and an assembly of the Sanhedrin. This type of trial resembles the gathering of the Sanhedrin on the trial of Jesus (e.g. Mathew 26).

The scholarly consensus is near universal that the James passage is authentic to Josephus and that it verifies that Josephus did write about Jesus.[4]

Saints and Historians on Josephus

St. Ambrose: "The Jews themselves also bear witness to Christ, as appears by Josephus, the writer of their history, who says thus: ‘That there was at that time a wise man, if (says he) it be lawful to have him called a man, a doer of wonderful works, who appeared to his disciples after the third day from his death, alive again according to the writings of the prophets, who foretold these and innumerable other miraculous events concerning him: from whom began the congregation of Christians, yet he was no believer, because of the hardness of his heart and his prejudicial intention. However, it was no prejudice to the truth that he was not a believer, but this adds more weight to his testimony, that while he was an unbeliever and unwilling, this should be true, he has not denied it to be so."

St. Jerome: "Josephus, the son of Matthias, priest of Jerusalem, taken prisoner by Vespasian and his son Titus, was banished. Coming to Rome he presented to the emperors, father and son, seven books On the captivity of the Jews, which were deposited in the public library and, on account of his genius, was found worthy of a statue at Rome. He wrote also twenty books of Antiquities, from the beginning of the world until the fourteenth year of Domitian Cæsar, and two of Antiquities against Appion, the grammarian of Alexandria who, under Caligula, sent as legate on the part of the Gentiles against Philo, wrote also a book containing a vituperation of the Jewish nation. Another book of his entitled, On all ruling wisdom, in which the martyr deaths of the Maccabeans are related is highly esteemed. In the eighth book of his Antiquities he most openly acknowledges that Christ was slain by the Pharisees on account of the greatness of his miracles, that John the Baptist was truly a prophet, and that Jerusalem was destroyed because of the murder of James the Apostle. He wrote also concerning the Lord after this fashion: “In this same time was Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it be lawful to call him man. For he was a worker of wonderful miracles, and a teacher of those who freely receive the truth. He had very many adherents also, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles, and was believed to be Christ, and when through the envy of our chief men Pilate had crucified him, nevertheless those who had loved him at first continued to the end, for he appeared to them the third day alive. Many things, both these and other wonderful things are in the songs of the prophets who prophesied concerning him and the sect of Christians, so named from Him, exists to the present day." [5]

St. Isidore: "There was one Josephus, a Jew of the greatest reputation, and one that was zealous of the law ; one also that paraphrased the Old Testament with truth, and acted valiantly for the Jews, and had shown that their settlement was nobler than can be described by words. Now since he made their interest give place to truth, for he would not support the opinion of impious men, I think it necessary to set down his words. What then does he say? “Now there was about that time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles: he was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, those that loved him at first did not forsake him, for He appeared to them alive again the third day, for the divine prophets had foretold these, and a vast number of other wonderful things concerning Him; and the tribe of Christians, so named after Him, are not extinct at this day”. Now I cannot but wonder greatly at this man’s love of truth in many things but chiefly where he says, “Jesus was a teacher of men who received the truth with pleasure.” [6]

Sozomen likewise wrote in Ecclesiastical History: "But if any be ignorant of these facts it is not difficult to know them by reading the sacred books. Josephus, the son of Matthias, also who was a priest, and was most distinguished among Jews and Romans, may be regarded as a noteworthy witness to the truth concerning Christ; for he hesitates to call Him a man since He wrought marvelous works, and was a teacher of truthful doctrines, but openly calls him Christ; that He was condemned to the death of the cross, and appeared alive again the third day. Nor was Josephus ignorant of numberless other wonderful predictions uttered beforehand by the holy prophets concerning Christ. He further testifies that Christ brought over many to Himself both Greeks and Jews, who continued to love Him, and that the people named after Him had not become extinct. It appears to me that in narrating these things, he all but proclaims that Christ, by comparison of works, is God. As if struck by the miracle, he ran, somehow, a middle course, assailing in no way those who believed in Jesus, but rather agreeing with them."[7].

References

  1. ↑ https://onepeterfive.com/secularists-proof-resurrection/
  2. ↑ Alice Whealey. "The Testimonium Flavianum". A Companion to Josephus. 2015. Wiley-Blackwell. page 354. ISBN 9781118325162."Although the thesis of total fabrication was probably in the majority by the late nineteenth century, this opinion was never unanimous among critical scholars; many, pointing in particular to Jerome’s ancient literal translation with the variant reading “he was believed to be the Christ” (“credebatur esse Christus”), argued that the phrase in the textus receptus “he was the Christ,” and perhaps a few others, had been corrupted over time. By the late twentieth century, the view that the text was partly authentic gained scholarly ground: in part because stylistic studies revealed it to be closer to Josephus’s language than was once assumed, and in part because scholars of the primitive church no longer assume that a Jew of priestly background—like Josephus—could not have written in such a positive way about Jesus or those he attracted. The discovery that a literal Syriac translation of the text containing a phrase parallel to Jerome’s phrase reading “he was believed to be the Christ” reveals that there must once have been a Greek Testimonium with such a reading, and this has played a role in shifting the view that the text is at least partly authentic towards what seems to be a current scholarly consensus, with those scholars maintaining the thesis of complete fabrication becoming a minority, if still a significant one."
  3. ↑ https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08375a.htm
  4. ↑ Louis Feldman. 1987. Josephus, Judaism and Christianity.BRILL. p.56 ISBN 9789004085541. "That, indeed, Josephus did say something about Jesus is indicated, above all, by the passage—the authenticity of which has been almost universally acknowledged—about James, who is termed (A XX, 200) the brother of "the aforementioned Christ."
  5. ↑ De Viris Illustribus. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm
  6. ↑ https://onepeterfive.com/josephus-objections/
  7. ↑ Ecclesiastical History, Book I, Chapter 1 (around 440 A.D.)