Flavius Josephus on Jesus and James

Flavius Josephus was born in Jerusalem around AD 37, fought against the Romans in the war of 66–70, was captured and ended his life in Rome writing the history of his people. In the "Jewish Antiquities", finished around AD 93–94, he speaks of Jesus in two passages.

The first, in Antiquities 20.200, recounts that in AD 62 the high priest Ananus took advantage of the absence of a Roman governor to condemn to death by stoning "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James". Almost all scholars, Christian or not, accept this passage as authentic: it is a passing phrase, with nothing of Christian language.

The second, in Antiquities 18.63-64, is the famous "Flavian Testimony". In the form that has come down to us, it calls Jesus a "wise man", says that he did wonderful works, that Pilate condemned him to the cross and that his followers did not abandon him. But it also brings phrases like "he was the Christ" — difficult to imagine in the mouth of a Jew who did not convert. That is why most experts think that Josephus did write about Jesus there, but that Christian copyists added some expressions. A 10th-century Arabic version (quoted by Agapius) brings a more sober text.

Why it matters: outside the New Testament, in the 1st century, a Jewish historian knew that Jesus existed, that he was called Christ, that he was crucified by Pilate, that he had a brother named James and that his followers remained active.