Editing Josephus on Jesus (section)

==== Origen of Alexandria ====
In the third century, [[Origen of Alexandria]] claimed in two works that Josephus had mentioned James, the brother of Jesus. In Origen's commentary on [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]], he writes:
{{Blockquote|And to so great a reputation among the people for righteousness did this James rise, that Flavius Josephus, who wrote the "Antiquities of the Jews" in twenty books, when wishing to exhibit the cause why the people suffered so great misfortunes that even the temple was razed to the ground, said, that these things happened to them in accordance with the wrath of God in consequence of the things which they had dared to do against <strong>James the brother of Jesus who is called Christ</strong>. And the wonderful thing is, that, though he did not accept Jesus as Christ, he yet gave testimony that the righteousness of James was so great; and he says that the people thought that they had suffered these things because of James.|''Commentary on Matthew'', [[Wikisource:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IX/Origen on Matthew/Origen's Commentary on Matthew/Book X/Chapter 17|Book X, Chapter 17]] (emphasis added)}}
In Origen's apologetic work ''[[Contra Celsum]]'', he made a similar remark:
{{Blockquote|Now this writer [Josephus], although not believing in Jesus as the Christ, in seeking after the cause of the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple, whereas he ought to have said that the conspiracy against Jesus was the cause of these calamities befalling the people, since they put to death Christ, who was a prophet, says nevertheless—being, although against his will, not far from the truth—that these disasters happened to the Jews as a punishment for the death of <strong>James the Just, who was a brother of Jesus (called Christ)</strong>,—the Jews having put him to death, although he was a man most distinguished for his justice.|''Contra Celsum'', [[Wikisource:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Origen/Origen Against Celsus/Book I/Chapter XLVII|Book I, Chapter XLVII]] (emphasis added)}}
Many commentators have concluded that Origen is making reference to the "James, the brother of Jesus" passage found in ''Antiquities'', Book 20 here, but there are some problems with this view.{{sfn|Mizugaki|1987}}{{sfn|Painter|2005|p=205}} Origen is attributing statements to Josephus that he never wrote in any of his extant works (such as the claim that the killing of James caused the destruction of the Jerusalem temple),{{sfn|Painter|2005|pp=132–137}} suggesting that he is at least partially confused.