You may come across this guy “Josephus” during your personal Bible study, or you may hear his name mentioned in Bible class or during a sermon. Who was Josephus, and why should we believe what he wrote?
Josephus was born in Yosef Ben Matityahu, which means “Joseph, son of Matthias”, in A.D. 37. He died at about age 63 — not very old by today’s standards. He assumed the Roman name “Titus Flavius Josephus” after he became a Roman citizen in A.D. 71. Outside of Israel, this is how he is known today.
A good bit of what Josephus wrote, he never saw first-hand, but one of his two most famous books, The Jewish War (or The Wars of the Jews), covers the period A.D. 66-70, much of which he would have either been an eyewitness to, or would have interviewed eyewitnesses. His other major work, Antiquities of the Jews, is probably the one you may have heard referenced before. Typically when you hear something like, “Josephus said…”, most likely the reference is to this latter work.
Josephus’ written works are no doubt of historical importance, but they are not without controversy. Take this quote, for example:
About this time lived Jesus, a man full of wisdom, if indeed one may call Him a man. For He was the doer of incredible things, and the teacher of such as gladly received the truth. He thus attracted to Himself many Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. On the accusation of the leading men of our people, Pilate condemned Him to death upon the cross; nevertheless those who had previously loved Him still remained faithful to Him. For on the third day He again appeared to them living, just as, in addition to a thousand other marvelous things, prophets sent by God had foretold. And to the present day the race of those who call themselves Christians after Him has not ceased. (Antiquities, Book XVIII, Chapter iii — item [63] in the linked text)
The controversy in this passage, dubbed Testimonium Flavianum, is that this appears to be a confession in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, yet Josephus was almost positively not a Christian, and remained a devout Jew until his death. The fact that the earliest extant manuscript of Antiquities dates to the 11th century means there is plenty of room for corruption in copies of copies of the original. Jesus is the Christ though, whether or not Josephus declared Him such. The authenticity of this passage should merely caution us not to depend on Josephus alone for background into Bible events.
So are the writings of Josephus of any value at all to the Christian? Certainly. They are of as much value as any historical writing, and should be considered as such. Josephus did not write with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but his writings are valuable documentation of things he witnessed personally, interviews with others who witnessed the events about which he wrote, and oral traditions passed down through generations of God’s people.
If you’re interested in downloading a copy of the writings of Josephus, they’re in pubic domain and available from several sources. Project Gutenberg is one place where you may download these works.