One thing I always enjoyed about Indiana Jones was his love for History and Archaeology.
We can learn from the past to create a better future.
What does History tell us about Jesus?
Is there any evidence for Jesus outside of the Bible?
Josephus is a man we should be familiar with.
He mentioned Jesus twice in his writings.
This is one of the earliest writings about Jesus outside of the Bible.
The question is not, “does this local Pastor believe that Josephus is it true?”
The question is, “do the historians that study this for a living believe it’s legitimate?”
The answer is yes.
Even Bart Erhman the well-known atheist believes that Josephus is a legitimate source.
Who was Flavius Josephus?
He was a Jewish man who loved learning.
Josephus lived around one of the most difficult parts of history for the Jews.
Despite Josephus’s attempts to stop growing revolts, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70.
Josephus wrote, The Wars of the Jews, The Antiquities of the Jews, and Against Apion.
Below is the paragraph from The Antiquities of the Jews (18:63–64):
“At this time there appeared Jesus, a wise man…For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who received the truth with pleasure.
“And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin…And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so…And up until this very day the tribe of Christians, named after him, has not died out.”
There are writings about Josephus saying Jesus rose from the dead but the reason so many people don’t hold to this is because it contradicts his lifestyle.
Since he was not a Christian and was a Jewish man and a historian he most likely wouldn’t have believed that Jesus was raised from the dead.
Nevertheless through Josephus we do have a writing in history about Jesus Christ and his following that was growing.
According to the GotQuestions.org, “Josephus is a relatively credible historian whose work provides a thorough understanding of Jewish life in the first century and the Jewish War.
“Without such histories, our knowledge and understanding of these two areas would be far less rich.”
The main question of Josephus’ day was, “Was what Jesus taught true?”
And, “Were the Miracles of Jesus real?”
It was not, “Did Jesus really live?”
Josephus could have easily denied there was ever a man named Jesus.
Instead he has a few mentions of him.
When we understand that Jesus was a real man we can gain the revelation that He was also God.
He was not just another nice man, He is the savior of the World.
I think Indiana Jones would have definitely known of Josephusand I believe you should too.
