An ancient passage about Jesus’ reported resurrection may have gotten a theological makeover, according to a new analysis of a Roman-era historian’s writings.
uncertain
passage → report → writings
Jesús Fernández-Pedrera Correa, an independent researcher from Spain, has reexamined a controversial passage in “Jewish Antiquities,” a history written around AD 93 to 94 by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian who was not Christian, originally reported on by the Daily Mail.
asserted
who → reexamine → Mail
Known as the “Testimonium Flavianum,” the passage recounts Jesus’ life, crucifixion and reported resurrection — but scholars have long debated how much of it Josephus actually wrote.
asserted
Josephus → know → it
In a preprint published Aug. 15, Fernández-Pedrera Correa compared Greek, Latin, Arabic and Syriac versions of the passage, looking for clues to what Josephus may have written before later Christian writers altered the text.
uncertain
writers → publish → text
The Greek version makes a miraculous claim: Jesus appeared alive on the third day after his crucifixion, as divine prophets supposedly foretold.
uncertain
prophets → make → crucifixion
But Fernández-Pedrera Correa suspects this wording may reflect later Christian influence rather than Josephus’ original account.
uncertain
wording → suspect → influence
The other language traditions offer clues.
asserted
traditions → offer → clues
The Latin version dates to around AD 392, while the Arabic and Syriac versions survive in works from the 10th and 12th centuries, respectively.
asserted
versions → date → centuries
In the Arabic version, Jesus’ reported return from the dead is framed as something his disciples said they witnessed, rather than a fact.
asserted
they → report → something
The researcher describes the disciples as having “reported that he appeared to them” alive three days after the crucifixion.
asserted
he → describe → crucifixion
That distinction is central to his argument: Josephus may have been reporting what Jesus’ followers claimed, rather than affirming the Resurrection himself.
uncertain
followers → report → Resurrection
Another clue lies in three deceptively small words: “was the Christ.”
asserted
clue → lie → words
The Greek version states it outright.
asserted
version → state → it
The Latin, Arabic and Syriac traditions are more cautious, describing Jesus as someone who was believed or thought to be the Messiah.
asserted
who → describe → someone
The Arabic version hedges even further, suggesting that perhaps he was the Messiah.
asserted
he → hedge → ?
Fernández-Pedrera Correa argues that these variations suggest the passage was modified over time, particularly its declaration of Jesus’ messianic status.
asserted
passage → argue → status
Although the surviving Greek manuscripts are remarkably consistent, that doesn’t mean every word is original.
asserted
word → survive → ?
The researcher also points to Origen, an early Christian writer who said in the third century that Josephus did not accept Jesus as the Christ.
asserted
Josephus → point → Christ
That statement lends support to the argument that the Greek passage’s emphatic declaration may not be Josephus’ original wording.
uncertain
declaration → lend → argument
Another passage in Jewish Antiquities refers to James as the brother of Jesus “who was called Christ.”
That reference is generally considered authentic and identifies Jesus without endorsing Christian beliefs — supporting the possibility that Josephus wrote about him in similarly neutral terms elsewhere.
asserted
Josephus → refer → terms
What can the ancient text actually tell us?
asserted
text → tell → us
The researcher considers the declaration that Jesus “was the Christ” the clearest example of a likely alteration.
asserted
Jesus → consider → alteration
The Arabic version supports the possibility that Josephus originally described what Jesus’ followers reported, rather than stating that the Resurrection happened as fact.
asserted
Resurrection → support → fact
But the surviving texts cannot establish exactly how much of the account came from the first-century historian.
asserted
much → survive → historian
Nor can the researcher reconstruct the precise original wording or conclusively identify who made the changes.
For now, the analysis offers a glimpse of how one of history’s most consequential stories may have been transmitted and reshaped over generations — without settling whether Josephus himself wrote about Jesus rising from the dead.
uncertain
Jesus → reconstruct → dead
That mystery, it seems, is still very much alive.
asserted
it → seem → ?
In other Bible-related news, the hunt for Noah’s Ark may have hit another intriguing — if unconfirmed — milestone.
uncertain
hunt → relate → milestone
As previously reported by The Post, researchers say they’ve recovered pieces of charred and uncharred wood nearly 30 feet beneath Turkey’s Durupınar Formation, a roughly 538-foot-long, boat-shaped geological structure near Mount Ararat.
asserted
they → report → Ararat
The material is now undergoing testing, but researchers have yet to establish its age or whether it has any connection to the biblical vessel.
asserted
it → undergo → vessel
First identified in 1959, it has captivated Ark hunters for years thanks to its ship-like shape and proximity to Mount Ararat, where the Bible says Noah’s legendary vessel came to rest after a catastrophic flood some 4,300 years ago.
asserted
vessel → identify → flood
The team believes its latest findings could bolster the case that the formation is more than a geological oddity.
uncertain
formation → believe → oddity
But until the lab results are in, the search for the Ark — much like the mystery surrounding Josephus’ account of Jesus — remains a work in progress.
asserted
search → surround → progress
The Aporia
