If Schmidt and Correa are right, the most famous non-Christian sentence about Jesus says less than many of us hoped. And it’s worth more than many of us realized.
Less, because Josephus confesses nothing. He reports.
More, because a report from outside is exactly what a historian wants. Here is a man who never joined the church, writing for Roman readers some sixty years after the cross. And he tells them Jesus was a wise man and a doer of startling deeds. That He drew Jews and Greeks alike. That Pilate crucified Him on the accusation of the leading men of Josephus’s own people. That His followers kept loving Him anyway, and said He appeared to them alive on the third day. That the movement named after Him was still going.
Well thought out and researched article. Fascinating reading of facts I never knew. Thank you!
My pleasure, Phillip.