Exploring Josephus and the Historical Context of Jesus

The Antiquities of the Jews, written by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in 93 CE, is our most important resource for knowing about the history of Israel around the time of Jesus and his earliest followers.

This twenty-volume work contains two brief references to Jesus himself, and are in fact the only two mentions of Jesus in any non-Christian writing of the entire first century. But there are many questions surrounding these statements.

Are they authentic to Josephus? Were they added to his writings by later Christian scribes? Could the be authentic in part but altered by scribes. If they are authentic do they strengthen the case for the historicity of Jesus, or are they merely records of hearsay? Do they provide us with any valuable informatioin about Jesus that we otherwise would never know?