BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Josephus and Jesus

Evaluating the earliest non-Christian source about Jesus

Josephus & Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ (Oxford Univ. Press, 2025), by T.C. Schmidt.

Josephus was a first-century Jewish historian whose writings contain the earliest surviving non-Christian account of Jesus. In his Jewish Antiquities, Josephus recounts that Jesus was a wise teacher who performed startling deeds, won many followers, was condemned to crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, and appeared alive three days later. Scholars have long argued that later Christian copyists edited this passage—called the Testimonium Flavianum—to be more sympathetic to Christianity. In a new and fascinating line of research, New Testament scholar Thomas Schmidt finds reason to believe they didn’t.

In this interview, BAR Editor-in-Chief Glenn Corbett speaks with Schmidt about his new book Josephus & Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ. After examining how ancient translators rendered Josephus’s words, how early Christian writers understood them, and who may have supplied Josephus with information about Jesus—including people present at Jesus’s trial—Schmidt offers a fresh perspective on what the earliest non-Christian historian knew about Jesus.

Listen here to join the conversation.

Become a BAS All-Access Member Now!

Read Biblical Archaeology Review online, explore 50 years of BAR, watch videos, attend talks, and more

Related reading in Bible History Daily

The Histories of Flavius Josephus

Josephus on the Essenes

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

Text Treasures: The Histories of Flavius Josephus

How Reliable Is Josephus?