Ben Wilson

About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, for he was one who performed surprising deeds and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. And when upon the accusation of the principal man among us, Pilate had condemned him to a cross, those who had first come to love him did not cease.

And the tribe of the Christians so called after him has still to this day not disappeared. Okay, so N.T. Wright goes on. The bits I've highlighted in bold are the bits which most probably were glosses added by a scribe to give Jesus a better spin from Josephus, but in favor of the authenticity of the rest. Note one, the language here is consistent with Josephus' style elsewhere.

And the tribe of the Christians so called after him has still to this day not disappeared. Okay, so N.T. Wright goes on. The bits I've highlighted in bold are the bits which most probably were glosses added by a scribe to give Jesus a better spin from Josephus, but in favor of the authenticity of the rest. Note one, the language here is consistent with Josephus' style elsewhere.

Two, there is another mention of Jesus again, which presupposes what Josephus first wrote here. And three, the Arabic and Syriac versions of the text have a slightly less embellished version of the testimonium than the Greek copies and are therefore probably closer to the original wording. So while it is disputed, I think the testimonium is at its core authentic.

Two, there is another mention of Jesus again, which presupposes what Josephus first wrote here. And three, the Arabic and Syriac versions of the text have a slightly less embellished version of the testimonium than the Greek copies and are therefore probably closer to the original wording. So while it is disputed, I think the testimonium is at its core authentic.

Okay, so yeah, the historical Jesus is pretty well attested to as are many of the major points of his life. What about the miracles? Were the miracles Real. Or were they a later invention? Again from N.T. Wright. But why did the Judean leadership, the priestly aristocracy, request that Pilate inflict the death penalty on Jesus in the first place?

Okay, so yeah, the historical Jesus is pretty well attested to as are many of the major points of his life. What about the miracles? Were the miracles Real. Or were they a later invention? Again from N.T. Wright. But why did the Judean leadership, the priestly aristocracy, request that Pilate inflict the death penalty on Jesus in the first place?

As all the sources agree, the Romans did not allow subject peoples the right to use the death penalty. One immediate answer comes to us from a Jewish tradition preserved in the Babylonian Talmud about Jesus' execution. Quote, Jesus was hanged on the eve of Passover.

As all the sources agree, the Romans did not allow subject peoples the right to use the death penalty. One immediate answer comes to us from a Jewish tradition preserved in the Babylonian Talmud about Jesus' execution. Quote, Jesus was hanged on the eve of Passover.

The herald went before him for 40 days, saying, He is going to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and enticed and led Israel astray. Let everyone knowing anything in his defense come and plead for him. But nothing was found in his defense, so he was hanged on the eve of Passover. But in what ways did they think Jesus was leading the people astray?

The herald went before him for 40 days, saying, He is going to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and enticed and led Israel astray. Let everyone knowing anything in his defense come and plead for him. But nothing was found in his defense, so he was hanged on the eve of Passover. But in what ways did they think Jesus was leading the people astray?

The charge goes back to the times during Jesus' public career when he was accused of being in league with Satan, a charge impossible to imagine being invented by the early church. Such a charge was an obvious way of reacting to powerful and surprising actions, Jesus' miracles, for which there was no other explanation open to people committed to rejecting Jesus' message.

The charge goes back to the times during Jesus' public career when he was accused of being in league with Satan, a charge impossible to imagine being invented by the early church. Such a charge was an obvious way of reacting to powerful and surprising actions, Jesus' miracles, for which there was no other explanation open to people committed to rejecting Jesus' message.

Okay, so when you have a non-Christian source saying that he was executed for sorcery, then it does indeed seem like that was a key part of his life. So I think the evidence is pretty strong that he did perform miracles, or at least, you know, if you're non-Christian, claim to have performed miracles. I do think that was a real part of his reputation during his life was as a miracle worker. Okay.

Okay, so when you have a non-Christian source saying that he was executed for sorcery, then it does indeed seem like that was a key part of his life. So I think the evidence is pretty strong that he did perform miracles, or at least, you know, if you're non-Christian, claim to have performed miracles. I do think that was a real part of his reputation during his life was as a miracle worker. Okay.

Um, yeah, that's the end of most of my important notes. I'll note one other thing. There is one other source that I consulted or at least looked at, which was the gospel of Thomas. So this is a gospel that was found, uh, recently in the last 60 years, I think, um, it was discovered with the dead sea scrolls and, uh, it's a Gnostic account of Jesus's life. Um,

Um, yeah, that's the end of most of my important notes. I'll note one other thing. There is one other source that I consulted or at least looked at, which was the gospel of Thomas. So this is a gospel that was found, uh, recently in the last 60 years, I think, um, it was discovered with the dead sea scrolls and, uh, it's a Gnostic account of Jesus's life. Um,

it's kind of exciting to read something new, like a new gospel of Jesus's life. It's actually a book of sayings. So it doesn't go through his biography. It just goes through things that he said, you know, just, and Jesus said, and Jesus said, it gives us a lot of his sayings. Again, it's kind of exciting to read something new, but ultimately it's frankly, it's not that good.

it's kind of exciting to read something new, like a new gospel of Jesus's life. It's actually a book of sayings. So it doesn't go through his biography. It just goes through things that he said, you know, just, and Jesus said, and Jesus said, it gives us a lot of his sayings. Again, it's kind of exciting to read something new, but ultimately it's frankly, it's not that good.

And I think it highlights how good the four gospels of the Bible are from a literary perspective. you know, believe it or not, they're engaging, they're interesting, they're fun to read. The Gospel of Thomas is kind of tedious. And many of the teachings do line up with the four canonical gospels, although some of them do not. So I don't know. You can do it. I kind of enjoyed it.