"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."Antiquities 18:63-64
This quote is allegedly the testimony of what Flavius Josephus had to say about Christ Jesus. However, scholars have debated over the inclusion of certain statements, which could not be logically uttered by a Jew unless one had become a Christian, which Josephus never had. Here is that testimony with the questionable aspects struck out.
"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."
Here is how a 10th century Arabic manuscript of Josephus records that testimony.
"At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. His conduct was good, and [He] was known to be virtuous. Many people from among the Jews and the other nations became His disciples. Pilate condemned Him to be crucified and to die. Those who had become His disciples did not abandon His discipleship. They reported that He had appeared to them three days after His crucifixion and that He was alive. Accordingly, He was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders."
This testimony is more neutral concerning Jesus. It does not contain the disputed aspects from the above testimony, but still tells us quite a bit concerning Jesus. This testimony would be much more closer to the original penned by Josephus. Here are the facts this testimony reveals to us about Jesus:
- Jesus was a wise, virtuous man with a significant following of Jewish and Gentile disciples.
- He was crucified under Pilate.
- There were reports that He appeared to witnesses following His resurrection.
- Some were claiming that He was the Messiah that the Jewish prophets had predicted.
Whether or not some well-meaning but misguided Christian (most likely a Catholic) made edits or embellishments to Josephus' original testimony or not is not of importance. The fact is, Josephus testified to the very real existence of Jesus. There is zero doubt that He existed. No serious scholar has ever ventured to postulate the non-historicity of Jesus, and with good reason.