The Gospels After Josephus

© Cliff Carrington 8-98

[All books are to be found in Carringtons Classical & Christian Library]

Aland, K., Synopsis of the Four Gospels, United Bible Societies, Stuttgart, 1979
Kurt Aland, the great German New Testament textual scholar, more than any fixed the text of the Greek New Testament. The Greek text we use in our modern Bibles is based upon his work. This Synopsis is arranged with the four gospels in parallel columns, the Greek text with critical apparatus on the verso; and the English R.S.V. translation with the editional variations on the recto. This work is the last word for the serious student wishing to study the text of the Gospels and their Greek and English variations.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, A-N. F., 10 Vols., Eerdmans, Michigan, 1979 reprint of 1867 Edinburgh edition.
This is the collection of the early Church Fathers, writing from from 135-326 CE. The Fathers that are of concern in this work are to be found in the first two volumes; Justin Martyr (110-165), Irenaeus of Lyons (140-211), Clement of Alexandria (150-215) and Origen of Alexandria (185-254). A modern reprint of the nineteenth century Edinburgh series. Still, as far as I know, the only complete English translation of the Fathers. As usual with work from the nineteenth century the scholarship is wonderful.

Barclay, W., Introduction to the First Three Gospels, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1979
Professor William Barclay, of Glasgow University, combined his critical work on the gospels with the project of the Daily Study Bible series which brought Biblical criticism to a wide general reading audience. His Introduction has been used as a standard text on the subject of New Testament criticism for decades, and has influenced a whole generation of scholars. He also believed in the actual historical Christ and this bias somewhat taints his claim to objectivity.

Barnett, P., Is the New Testament History?, Hodder & Stoughton, Sydney, 1986
Paul Barnett, a convinced believer, surveys the criticisms of the historicity of the Gospels. Understandably he upholds the gospels’ basic truth and historicity. It is nevertheless a very good overview of the historical problems inherent in the gospels. But, Barnett is a Christian apologist, rather than a serious Biblical scholar. I have used his work as an example of this type of writing.

Benz, E. The Eastern Orthodox Church, Doubleday, New York, 1963
Ernst Benz (1907-) took his Doctorate at Tubingen about 1930 and travelled frequently to the Orthodox countries. He learned Russian and studied the religion of the old Slavonic Church. His finds in this area both during and after the Second War opened the field of Orthodox Church history to the West. He was able, during the War, to study the remnants of the ecclesiastical life in the German occupied areas of the Soviet Union. He was thus able to collect many valuable works that might not have survived the war. In 1960 he was Visiting Professor of Church History at Harvard. I am thankful for his insight into the Slavonic copy of the Letter of Lentulus and its relationship to the Flavian Testimony found in the Slavonic Josephus. [p. 12]

Biblical quotations are from the N.R.S.V. - computer version from Parsons’ Technology.

Crossan, J.D., The Historical Jesus, Harper/Collins, San Francisco, 1991
John Dominic Crossan was a driving influence in the founding of the Westar Jesus Seminar, which ultimately had two hundred scholars participating. As co-Chairman, with Robert Funk, of the Jesus Seminar Dr. Crossan has great influence in his field. The Historical Jesus was written as a result of the Seminar. Dr. Crossan holds that the historical Jesus was a wandering first century Jewish peasant Cynic philosopher, a not untypical character of the period. The method used by the Jesus Seminar of evaluating the evidence for the historical Jesus was decided by the large committee of Biblical Scholars. They each researched their particular topic and through continuing meetings came to a consensus about what parts of the gospels were reporting fact and which fiction. The final decisions on the validity of each piece of evidence was reached by a vote of the members of the Seminar. Democratic Scholarship? Whatever we might think of the method, the consensus was that the four Gospels and Acts were written after the fall of Jerusalem.

Dio Chrysostom, Discourses, Tr. Cohoon, J.W., Loeb, Harvard, 1971
Dio Chrysostom (40-120 CE) a philosopher who was very good at improvised speeches, was a roving troubleshooter for the Romans. He and Josephus would have met when Flavius Vespasian was in Alexandria previous to ascending to the position of Emperor at Rome. Both Dio and Josephus had close access to the Emperor’s ear. The meeting of Dio and Vespasian is related in the Life of Apollonius, written by a later Flavius, Philostratus, also in the employ of an Emperor. If a contemporary like Dio Chrysostom, who was an itinerant philosopher, had any information about Jesus he certainly would have used it in his orations. Dio was the emperor’s travelling agent advising rebellious or riotous cities that their behaviour had come to the emperor’s notice, and that they had better mend their ways before the legions came. Dio constantly uses examples from excellent men for the purpose of contrasting their behaviour with that of those whom he addresses. If he had Jesus in his repertoire I am certain he would have used him as a prime example to the Alexandrians, and especially the large Jewish population. He did not.

Dodd, C.H., The Authority of the Bible, Collins, London, 1960
Charles Harold Dodd (1884-1973) studied the Classics at Oxford. About 1910 he turned to Theology and was ordained in 1912. He held the Rylands Chair of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at Manchester University. He was a Fellow of University College, Oxford and of Jesus College, Cambridge. Dodd was also the General Director of the New English Bible translation committee. His authority in matters Biblical is undisputed. But he was a believer and this undermined his scholarship. He never doubts that there was an historical Jesus, although he does not blindly follow the tradition. For instance, he sensibly places the writing of the Gospel of Mark after the destruction of Jerusalem, which it describes [p.219]. And, he has a clear view of what really happened in those early centuries, “...the Christian Church conquered Rome and turned Rome’s animating idea to its own uses.” [p. 243]

Eusebius,  History of the Church, 2 Vols., Trs. Lake, Lawlor & Oulton, Loeb, Harvard, 1980
Eusebius Pamphilus (260-339) Bishop of Caesarea, Imperial Secretary to the Emperor Constantine and Convener of the Nicene Council. In his spare time he wrote the earliest history of the Christian Church we possess. The History includes the accounts of 146 martyrs and the doctrines of 47 early heretics. It was Eusebius who arranged for the Roman Empire formally to adopt its own son, the Christian movement. There is also an English translation of the History of the Church, in the Penguin series.

Eusebius, Preparation for the Gospel, 2 Vols., Tr. Gifford, E.H., Baker Book House, Michigan, 1981
An extensive anti-pagan work; it is one of the most important sources for Classical and Hellenistic Greek quotations. Many of the ancient pagan ‘fragments’ are preserved only in Eusebius. These include most of the Neoplatonists and other writers on mysticism in the ancient world.

Farrar, F.W., History of Interpretation, Baker Book House, Michigan, 1961 reprint of 1886
Frederic Farrar (1831-1903) was an eminent Churchman, chaplain to Queen Victoria and the House of Commons. He was also, from 1895, Dean of Canterbury Although very much out of date this book is instructive reading for those looking into the history of theological developments in the history of Christianity. It is a survey of interpretation of the Bible in seven defined periods: “Rabbinic, Alexandrian, Patristic, Scholastic, Reformation, Post-Reformation, and Modern (nineteenth century).” As to be expected the work is Orthodox, and Protestant, but extremely well researched and referenced. The footnotes are invaluable; like much writing of that period they are literature in themselves. The references are in Greek and Hebrew where necessary. An outstanding example of excellent academic writing for today’s students.

Grant, M., Herod the Great, American Heritage Press, New York, 1971
Michael Grant holds at least three Doctorates of Letters and Law, from Edinburgh, Dublin, and Belfast, as well as a Fellowship at Cambridge. Dr. Grant is probably the most prolific of modern scholars. There are ten of his works in my library. Most of Dr. Grant’s writing is historical and biographies of great persons in the Roman era. This work on Herod the Great is most welcome for those who get confused not only over the Herods in the New Testament, but, the multiplicity of Herods mentioned in history. My only objection to reading this biography is that it came to an end with the death of Herod the Great. The rest of his family had fascinating careers as well. Herod’s sons and grandsons went on to assist several Roman emperors to come to power. Michael Grant has written many ancient biographies such as Julius and Augustus Caesar, Cleopatra and St. Paul, see below. However, his most important work is in the field of Roman Mythology, (see the following entry). He is the most readable of the scholars consulted in this book. He is one scholar with which I would like to sit down and have a conversation.

Grant, M., Roman Myths, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1973
Just two quotations to make Dr. Grant’s point about Roman Religion and mythology. “Roman religion was in the employment of the state. The historian Polybius, in the second century B.C., makes no bones about this. In Roman public and private life, he says, religion is dramatized and exploited to the highest possible degree; and he expresses the belief that the ruling class arranges matters in such a way on account of the masses, who need to be impressed and 'restrained’” [p.249] “One thing that is quite certain is that the Roman stories, unlike, apparently, the mythologies of certain other parts of the world, did not just well up from the masses of the population as collective expressions of its will. On the contrary, these sagas, even if they made use of a certain amount of folklore, were on the whole invented or adapted or adjusted at the top, and steps were then taken to ensure that they flowed downwards.” [p. 250]

Grant, M., Saint Paul, Scribners & Sons, New York, 1976
St. Paul might not be a mystic, but Christ was resurrected in him. Or at least that is what Saul/Paul thought. Dr. Grant casts his net wide into the deep waters of the Pauline controversies. “So Paul dismisses the Jewish Law and all it stands for as mere garbage. The New English Bible cautiously allows ‘dung’ as an alternative translation; but the real equivalent for what Paul meant is a nastier term... This virulent abuse was meant to separate Christianity from Judaism; to sever the new dispensation from the old. And that is just what it did.” [p. 95] Many would argue with his interpretation of Paul’s words, but he is perfectly correct in his summation of the effect. The results were a final separation of the religions and the subsequent formation of Christian Church.

Hadas-Lebel, M., Flavius Josephus, (biography), Macmillan, New York, 1993
Mireille Hadas-Lebel wrote her biography of Josephus in French, it is translated by Richard Millar. Writing from the viewpoint of a modern Jew she examines the Josephus question of his Jewishness. Over all she is favourable and fairly examines Josephus’ actions and attitudes from a realistic rather than idealistic position. Her sections in the two Epilogues, The Historian’s Craft and Posthumous Fate are particularly useful. The first gives an overview of the importance, and failings, of Josephus as an historian. The second Epilogue records the history of his works in the West, noting the various versions - some partial, others fictional - which had influence upon European thought. She especially notes the fourth century Latin paraphrase by Hegesippus, erroneously thought of as an independent history of the early Christian Church. Of the biographies of Josephus Mireille Hadas-Lebel’s is the easiest and fairest for the general reader.

Hull, J.M., Hellenistic Magic and the Synoptic Tradition, SCM, London, 1974
John Martin Hull was educated at Melbourne High School, the Universities of Melbourne, Cambridge, and Birmingham. Since 1968 he was a lecturer at Birmingham University. Dr. Hull’s book explores contemporary forms of ancient magic, especially from the first centuries BCE to early centuries CE. He gives secular and other literary examples of all of the miracles Jesus was supposed to have uniquely performed. Deeply researched and just as deeply written. The references are extremely useful for tracing contemporary religious, magical, and mystical systems existing at the time of the formation of the Church.

Kellett, E.E., A Short History of Religions, Penguin, Harmondsworth. 1962
Ernest Edward Kellett (1864-1950) was a scholar at Wadham College, Oxford, he had a long career as teacher at Leys School, Cambridge. His is a very useful and easily read source for the study of comparative Christianity. His introductory chapter on the nature and origin of Religion is profound if not slightly dated. Kellett starts with Judaism and then covers the Roman and Greek religions before spending the rest of the book writing on the history of the various sects of the Christian Church. He starts with the early Church of Acts and ends with Swedenborgianism. Very informative about the history of the differing sectarian manifestations of the Christian Religion, mainly in Europe.

Josephus, Complete Works, Tr. Whiston, W., Kregel, 1867, reprint 1980
The translator William Whiston (1667-1752) followed Sir Isaac Newton as professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University in 1703. He wrote a work explaining the Newtonian views, Theory of the Earth. He was also a well known as a theologian and devout but dissenting Christian. In 1737 his translation of the Complete Works of Josephus appeared. It has been reprinted, with corrections, ever since. Whiston’s is the only version of Josephus’ works to be found in one volume. He held that the Flavian Testimony was not only genuine but he attempted to demonstrate that Josephus, between the writing of the Jewish War and the Jewish Antiquities, had converted to Christianity. Whiston thought that as a Jewish Christian, or Ebionite, Josephus testified to the presence of Jesus in history. This theory has not met with universal acceptance.

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Tr. Thackeray, H. St J., Loeb Harvard, 1967
His second book after the Jewish War, written by 93 CE and revised until his death after 100. It is a history of the Jewish nation from the Creation to the start of the War. The first ten of twenty books are a paraphrase translation of the orthodox books of the Jewish Scriptures. The second ten bring the history through the Herods to the Romans. The eighteenth book contains the famous Flavian Testimony, the supposed earliest reference to Jesus Christ.

Josephus, The Jewish War, Tr. Thackeray, H. St. J., Loeb, Harvard, 1976
The propaganda piece that Josephus wrote for his Roman masters immediately after the Jewish war. The earliest Aramaic version appeared by 73 CE and the Greek after 75. In the Slavonic version of Josephus the Flavian Testimony is placed in the second book of the Jewish War, where Pilate is mentioned, showing that it was a ‘floating’ interpolation.

Maccoby, H. The Mythmaker, Paul, Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1987
Hyam Maccoby, Fellow of Leo Baeck College, London, is a Jewish writer who tries to set the record of Jesus’ death and the growth of the early Church in the context of Rabbinical Judaism. His earlier work Jesus and the Jewish Revolution examines the life and death of Jesus, whom he assumes is an historical character. This work takes in the period of Acts, which he uncritically accepts as history. But he does at least date Luke’s Acts after Josephus, ie. post 90’s. [p. 52] Maccoby argues that it was St. Paul who founded what we now have as the Catholic Christian Church and not the Jewish followers of Jesus. In Galatians 1:16 he claims that “Paul is saying, quite straightforwardly, that he is himself the incarnation of the Son of God. He is thus claiming to have even higher status in his new religion than was claimed for Moses in Judaism.” [p. 106]

 Martin, R.P., New Testament Foundations, Eerdmans, Michigan, 1975
A school text book. Martin gives a very clear account of the various schools of Biblical criticism. His explanation of the Synoptic Problem is clear and avoids either over simplification or scholastic complication. If the Christian assumptions are taken into account it is a useful entry into Biblical criticism.

Neill & Wright, The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861-1986, Oxford, 1988
Bishop Stephen Neill wrote the original work The Interpretation of the New Testament 1861-1961. When he died in 1984 the Reverend Dr Tom Wright took on the task to bring Bishop Neill’s work up to date, 1986. Both were Church men with a missionary background, and the work contains the assumptions we should expect of them. While critical with the interpreters they both had absolutely no doubt there was an historical Jesus who is reported by the gospels, if they could sort them out. The resultant book is invaluable in the study of modern Christian history.

Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Tr. Conybeare, F.C., Loeb, Harvard, 1969
Flavius Philostratus (b. 172 CE) wrote the Life under the imperial patronage of the Empress Julia Domna who died early in the third century. The final edition of the Life was published about 217 CE. Apollonius of Tyana was born during the opening years of the Common Era and died in old age after 100 CE. He was an itinerate wonder worker and Pythagorean sage who did many of the same things that Jesus is reported to have done, such as healing the sick and raising the dead. The Life was based on the memoirs of one of Apollonius’ companions, Damis of Nineveh. Philostratus was what the Greeks called a Sophist, or professor, and his training shows up in his style. However, he did not merely copy from Damis, he also travelled extensively to collect information from those cities where Apollonius’ memory was held in honour, including visiting the temple to Apollonius in his birthplace of Tyana. This is the story of a real, historical, religious philosopher from the first century. There is also an English translation of the Life by C.P. Jones in the Penguin Classics series.

Sanders, E.P., The Historical Figure of Jesus, Allen Lane, London 1993
Professor Sanders exploded onto the theological scene in 1977 with the publication of his book Paul and Palestinian Judaism. His aim was to correct misconceptions about Rabbinic Judaism, especially in the German school. The impact of the book was being felt many years later. In this book Sanders is correcting the view of the relationship of Jesus to Palestinian Judaism. One of the best researched hagiographies that I have seen written.

Schonfield, H., The Pentecost Revolution, Macmillan, New York, 1974
Hugh Schonfield also wrote The Passover Plot, a work to correct the misdirection of the blame for the crucifixion of Jesus from the Jews, to the Romans. This work continues his theme from the point of view of the book of Acts. He demonstrates that “the Jewish people were rarely on the side of their hierarchy... The Jewish people of Jerusalem were strongly on the side of the followers of Jesus.” [p.116] He places the gospels after Josephus, “Like the Acts, the Gospels were written after the Jewish war with the Romans, when Jerusalem and the Temple were in ruins.” [p. 265] Dr. Schonfield essays the question of the veracity of the gospels in his introduction, which could have just as well been his conclusion: “What the Evangelists had done was to transfer to the past the characteristics of a subsequent period. They wrote up the story of Jesus and his followers in a manner agreeable to the circumstances of their own time, and falsely conveyed that the Faith to which they subscribed had been in evidence from the very beginning.” [pp. 13-14]

Shutt, R.J.H., Studies in Josephus, S.P.C.K., London, 1961
To judge Dr. Shutt’s attitude to Josephus we need merely to quote him on the Flavian Testimony: “It seems certain that Josephus knew more about the Christians than his short notice tells us, and that he, with most Jews, despised them. He maintained what has been termed a ‘stolid silence about Christianity’, and gives only a short account, suppressing the truth about them.” [p. 125] There is not much chance of this book being objective. However, he does well in bringing other historical figures into the picture who are most often overlooked by other writers. In this part of the book the reader feels comfortable and informed. But the going gets heavy when we come to Shutt’s philological theory about the ‘Assistants’ who were supposed to helped Josephus with his Greek. He differs from Josephus’ other great translator Dr. Thackeray, and argues against the theory of the assistants being needed. He holds that Josephus wrote his work himself. This seems to be the main purpose of Dr. Shutt’s book, to expound his own philological theories.

Sordi, M., The Christians and the Roman Empire, Croom Helm, Kent, 1986
Marta Sordi wrote in Italian, her work was translated by Annabel Bedini. Sordi demonstrates that the persecutions by the Romans of which the Christians are so fond never happened. She is a thorough scholar and draws upon many little known sources, such as copies of imperial decrees from inscriptions, to show that there never was a widespread official persecution of early Christians. On the contrary, she demonstrates the close and friendly relationship between the Roman emperors and the Church. Chapter 3, on Christians and the Flavians, has proved extremely useful to me. From the Flavians, through to Domitian, “we find no traces of hostility towards the new religion.” [p. 38] In fact she would have found my thesis years ago, but she unfortunately has the fundamental belief in the early writing of the gospels and Luke’s Acts before the Jewish war. This has blinded her to the chance of seeing the story from its proper perspective. However, even with that flaw her findings about the early history of the emerging Church are of the greatest use in correcting many of the common misconceptions of the ‘persecuted’ Church.

Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Tr. Graves, R., Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1977
Suetonius C. Tranquillus (69-140 CE) wrote a history of the Caesars from Julius to the Domitian. He has a brief, if confused, reference to the followers of a ‘Chrestus’ in the biography of the emperor Claudius in his work The Twelve Caesars. He also confuses them with the detested Jews. Suetonius was secretary to the emperor Hadrian (117-138 CE) for some time, but fell into disfavour by having too close a relationship with the emperor’s wife. He had also served in several high positions before his downfall through indiscretion, including Commander of the Guards. In his Life of Vespasian (5.) Suetonius mentions our other historian Josephus and the prophecy he gave to Vespasian of his coming into the purple. As Josephus, Suetonius and Tacitus, were all in the Imperial service at the same time they must have had some dealings with each other.

Tacitus, Annals, Tr. Grant, M., Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1977
Tacitus C. Cornelius, (55-120 CE), Josephus’ younger contemporary, started his career under Vespasian and continued in the Imperial Service through the reign of the Flavian dynasty. He was rather anti-Jewish in his outlook. He followed the stories that originated in Egypt that the Jews had been expelled for having a disgusting contagious disease, and that they were atheists. This attitude was prevalent in Roman circles, as the Jews had caused innumerable disturbances throughout the empire, even as far as full rebellion and a protracted war in Judea. In the fragments of book five of his Histories we have a description of the Jews and their land. His description of Judea is mostly drawn from Josephus’ earlier account which was in Imperial circulation. It is in this book that he gives an account of the Spirit of God leaving the temple of the Jews, found in Josephus. Tacitus also gives an account of the Christians in his other surviving work the Annals when he describes the fire in Nero’s Rome. His account of the Christians being blamed for starting the fire and being persecuted for the act is not found in any of the other historical accounts of Nero or the fire in Rome. The Annals were written well after 100 CE and for a purely gentile audience who were probably just becoming aware of the Christian sect of the Jews. For them there was little, if any, difference between Christian and Jew: they were equally detested as atheists and haters of mankind.

Tacitus, Histories, Tr. Wellesely, K., Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1972
See above.

Vermes, G., Dead Sea Scrolls, Penguin, 3rd ed., 1987
Geza Vermes was born in Hungary in 1924 and studied at Budapest and Louvain. In 1953 he obtained a Doctorate in Theology. His first article on the Dead Sea Scrolls was in 1949, soon after they were discovered. He has played a leading part in ‘Scrolls’ scholarship ever since. However, he is convinced of the historicity of Jesus and an early date for the gospels. “The so-called Testimonium Flavianum they [other historians] maintain is a Christian interpolation into the genuine text of the Antiquities, (though others, myself included, think that part of the text is authentic).” [p. 34 of his introduction]

Williamson, G.A., The World of Josephus, Secker & Warburg, London, 1964
G. A. Williamson is well known as the translator of the Penguin edition of the Jewish War, a popular translation currently used in schools. Born in 1895 he was educated at Oxford and taught in Norwich from 1922-1960 His attitude to the question of Josephus and the Christians is close to that of Dr. Shutt’s above: “It is impossible to doubt that as in his own home country so also in Rome Josephus saw and knew far more of the Christians than he cared (or dared) to set down in black and white.”[P. 143] Thus he is entirely suspect when dealing with that Christian obsession - the Flavian Testimony. Otherwise his is a good general introduction to Josephus’ works for the student, as long as the Christian bias is noted.

Wilson, A.N., Jesus, Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1992
A journalist who turned his investigative experience to the question of the existence of the historical Jesus. The book has already assumed its answer to the question being asked. Wilson never doubts in the existence that he is trying to prove.

Wilson, I., Jesus: The Evidence, Pan Books, London, 1984
Ian Wilson graduated in Modern History from Magdalen College, Oxford in 1963. He then turned to investigative journalism. He has written on the Turin Shroud and a critical investigation on reincarnation claims. This work is an investigation of the evidence of the existence of an historical Jesus. He is a practicing Roman Catholic, although somewhat liberal. He finishes his book on this note: “With every sceptical faculty alive and kicking I do believe that nearly two thousand years ago, in the land we call Israel, the ‘word, a vital something of that indefinable something men call God, was made flesh and dwelt in a Galilean Jew called Jesus.” [p. 156 Italics are the author’s] That is not a good starting point for a critical work on the subject of one’s own belief.