A scholar believes a nearly 2,000-year-old account of Jesus may be more historically reliable than previously thought, challenging longstanding doubts about one of the earliest non-Christian accounts of his life.
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account → believe → life
T.C. Schmidt, an associate professor of religious studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut, is the author of a 2025 book titled "Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ," examining a long-disputed passage about Jesus written by the ancient Jewish historian Josephus.
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Schmidt → title → historian
Josephus lived from roughly 37 to 100 A.D. and wrote about Jesus in his work "Antiquities of the Jews," providing one of the few surviving non-Christian accounts of his life.
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Josephus → live → life
In the passage, Josephus described Jesus as a wise man who attracted followers and was sentenced to crucifixion under Pontius Pilate.
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who → describe → Pilate
The text also referred to reports that Jesus appeared alive again after his death.
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Jesus → refer → death
For centuries, scholars have debated whether Christian scribes altered the passage, which contains statements about Jesus that some historians believe would have been unusual for a non-Christian Jewish writer.
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historians → debate → writer
But Schmidt told Fox News Digital that his research suggests the passage is authentic, citing linguistic analysis and comparisons with Josephus' other writings.
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passage → tell → writings
Schmidt examined ancient versions of Josephus' account in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Arabic and Armenian, using textual comparisons and computer-assisted stylistic analysis to argue that the disputed passage was consistent with Josephus' writing style.
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passage → examine → style
His analysis, Schmidt said, found similarities throughout the passage.
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Schmidt → say → passage
"I show that every single phrase in the passage can be indexed back to Josephus.
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phrase → show → Josephus
It all sounds like something Josephus would say," Schmidt told Fox News Digital.
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Schmidt → sound → Digital
"What this passage does is that it solidifies Jesus in history."
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it → solidify → history
Schmidt also argued that some of Josephus' descriptions of Jesus have been misinterpreted, making the passage appear more favorable to Christianity than Schmidt believes Josephus intended.
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Josephus → argue → Christianity
For example, he said Josephus' description of Jesus performing supernatural deeds does not necessarily mean the historian believed those powers came from God.
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powers → say → God
Instead, the language is more ambiguous, leaving open whether those powers were believed to come from divine or demonic sources.
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powers → leave → sources
"This actually sounds like something a non-Christian Jew would have said," Schmidt said.
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Schmidt → sound → something
"We have other accounts of later Jews saying similar things about Jesus.
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Jews → have → Jesus
"So you add it all together and the style of the passage matches Josephus and the claims of the message match what Josephus would have said as a non-Christian Jew," he added.
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he → add → Jew
"In other words, the passage looks totally authentic.
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passage → look → words
Schmidt said his findings could strengthen the historical evidence surrounding Jesus' life.
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findings → say → life
"What this passage does is that it solidifies Jesus in history," Schmidt said.
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Schmidt → solidify → history
He said Josephus' account corroborates details found in the Gospels, including Jesus' disciples, his reputation for performing miracles and his crucifixion under Pontius Pilate.
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account → say → Pilate
Schmidt also emphasized the passage's reference to Jesus' resurrection, arguing that it provides historical evidence of what his earliest followers believed.
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followers → emphasize → what
"Josephus doesn't himself affirm the resurrection, but he does affirm that early Christians, the disciples of Jesus, believed that Jesus was resurrected on the third day," Schmidt said.
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Schmidt → affirm → day
When asked about his book's reception, Schmidt said his book has received positive feedback, with some reconsidering their views on the passage's authenticity.
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some → ask → authenticity
Schmidt said his own research led him to question what he had previously been taught.
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he → say → what
The authenticity of Josephus' account still remains a subject of scholarly debate, with historians continuing to disagree over how much of the passage may have been altered by later Christian scribes.
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much → remain → scribes
Looking ahead, Schmidt said he has identified two or three additional possible connections between Josephus and people associated with Jesus' crucifixion since the book was published — a subject of future research.
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book → look → research
Schmidt also encouraged readers to examine historical sources for themselves, noting that his own research led him to question what he had previously been taught.
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he → encourage → what
"I was taught my whole scholarly life that this paragraph by Josephus was not authentic.
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paragraph → teach → Josephus
And I believed that," Schmidt said.
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Schmidt → believe → that
"But as I began sifting the evidence, everything kept pointing to the idea that it's authentic."
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it → begin → idea
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