56. Luke 23:47.
III. The Flavian Testimony for Christ
1. Josephus, Antiquities, Book XVIII, chapter 3, sec. 3, emphasis added.
2. Josephus, Antiquities, Book XVIII, chapter 5, sec. 2, emphasis added.
3. Galatians 5:14, Mark 12:30-31, Luke 6:31 and 10:26-27, Matthew 7:12 and 22:26-40, John 13:35; cf. Leviticus 19:18, Sirach 31:15, and Hillel, Shabbos 31a.
4. Josephus, Antiquities, Book XX, chapter 9, sec.1, emphasis added.
5. Levick, ante, pp. 67-68, and see her citations.
6. Feldman, Louis H., “The Testimonium Flavianum: the State of the Question,” in Robert F. Burkey and Sarah A. Edwards, eds., Christological Perspectives: Essays in Honor of Harvey K. McArthur, 1982, New York: Pilgrim Press, pp. 179-199, 288-293.
7. Feldman, Louis, H., “Introduction,” Josephus, Judaism, and Christianity, Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata, ante, p. 57; St. Jerome, Epistula ad Eustochium, 22.
8. Mizugaki, Wataru, “Origen and Josephus,” in Josephus, Judaism, and Christianity, Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata, ante, p. 329, 327.
9. Origen, Contra Celsum, ante, Book I, chapter 47, emphasis added.
10. Origen, Contra Celsum, ante, Book II, chapter 13, emphasis added.
11. Origen, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, trans. John Patrick, Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., 1867, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, X, 17, emphasis added.
12. Carrier, Richard, “Origen, Eusebius, and the Accidental Interpolation in Josephus,” Jewish Antiquities 20.200,” The Journal of Early Christian Studies, vol. 20, no. 4, Winter 2012, pp. 489-514.
13. Josephus, Antiquities, Book XX, chapter 9, sec.1-3, et seq.
14. Ibid.
15. Mizugaki, Wataru, “Origen and Josephus,” in Josephus, Judaism, and Christianity, Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata, ante, p. 329, 327.
16. Goldberg, G.J., “The Coincidences of the Testimonium of Josephus and the Emmaus Narrative of Luke,” The Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, vol. 13, 1995, pp. 59-77.
17. Feldman, Louis, H., “Introduction,” Josephus, Judaism, and Christianity, Louis H. Feldman and Gohei Hata, ante, p. 56.
18. Photius, Bibliotheca, Codex 33.
19. Genesis 37:1-11
20. Genesis 37:39-41
21. Josephus, Life, sec. 42, Wars, Book III, chapter 8, sec. 3.
22. Josephus, Wars, Book III, chapter 8, sec. 3.
23. Ibid, emphasis added.
24. Genesis 41:12
25. 2 Corinthians 12:1-4
26. Josephus, Antiquities, Book VIII, chapter 2, sec. 5.
27. Eisenman, James the Brother of Jesus, ante, pp. 797-798.
IV. Engineering a Religion
1. John 2:18; cf. Mark 14:58 and Matthew 26.61. NOTE: References to Jesus at least symbolically rebuilding the temple make a literal interpretation of Gospel descriptions of Jesus as either being a carpenter (Mark 6:3) or the son of a carpenter (Matthew 13:55) problematic. The word used, “tekton” (τέκτων), could also mean an artisan in stone, the building material for which Jesus named Peter when he predicted that Apostle’s “foundational” role in the new Church.
2. Mark 11:15-17; cf. Luke 19:45-47, Matthew 21:12-13, John 2:13-16.
3. Numbers 14:33-34
4. Genesis 7:12
5. Levick, ante, p. 199 and p. 205.
6. NOTE: “Gnosticism” was a theological approach that influenced a number of ancient religions, including Judaism, the most common elements of it being a radical rejection of the material world in favor of the spiritual and the pursuit of hidden knowledge (hence the name). Such ideas were already starting to have an impact on certain Jewish groups by the 1st Century, if not sooner. Some have argued that the Gospels themselves show traces of Gnostic influence. In any case, it represented another form of syncretism of various religious traditions with ideas developed from Platonism. According to the work of scholar Elaine Pagels, Paul himself may be seen as a proto-Gnostic. See Pagels, Elaine, The Gnostic Pauclass="underline" Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters, 1975, Fortress Press, and generally, The Gnostic Gospels, 1979, Vintage Books.
7. Levick, ante, p. 205.
8. Valliant, James, “First ‘Scripts’ of ‘Passion’ Penned by Anti-Semitic Romanophiles,” 12-13-2003, Fredericksburg Star, Fredricksburg.com, http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2003/122003/News/FLS/2003/122003/12132003/1180065/index_html?page=1. (The author did not title the article.)
9. Matthew 27:25
10. Matthew 27:19
11. Sherwin-White, A. N., “Pontius Pilate,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, revised, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 2002, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans.
Conclusion
1. Moggach, Douglas, The Philosophy and Politics of Bruno Bauer, 2003, Cambridge University Press. NOTE: Bauer’s 1877 work Christ and the Caesars has not been translated in any major English edition, but Charleston House Publishing in 1999 released informally what may only be a software-generated translation under an apparent pseudonym, "Frank E. Schacht."
2. Strauss, David Friedrich, Life of Jesus, Critically Examined, trans. George Elliot, 2010, Cosimo Classics (orig. pub. in German, 1835).
3. Schweitzer, Albert, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, 1910, p.159.
4. Nietzsche, Friedrich, Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo, Walter Kaufmann, ed., 1989, Random House: Vintage Books Edition, Ecce Homo, p. 278.
5. Nietzsche, Friedrich, Beyond Good and Evil, trans. R.J. Hollingdale, 1973, London: Penguin Books, pp. 117, 125.
6. Marx, Karl, Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, 1843, trans. J. O’Malley, 1977, Cambridge University Press.
Map, Timeline and Family Trees
The Mediterranean in the 1st Century
Timeline
Acknowledgements
The authors are forever grateful for the keen editorial advice and encouraging words offered by many, but especially, Robert Begley, Michael Fahy, William Warren Fahy, Andy George, Aaron Haspel, Kate Jones, Michael Limber, Ashby Manson, Robert Mayhew, Carolyn Murray, Onika Nugent, Leonard Peikoff, Lourene Vail, Holly Valliant, Wayne Valliant, William Warren Valliant and Jeffrey Young. Our gratitude toward these individuals does not imply their agreement. Our special thanks is due for the generous praise and support of this book by Professor Robert Eisenman.