Editing Josephus on Jesus (section)

=== Arguments against authenticity ===
Rivka Nir argues that the kind of baptism performed by John the Baptist was not considered legitimate in the mainstream Jewish circles to which Josephus belonged, and therefore Josephus could not have described John as positively as he is in ''Antiquities'', Book 18. Nir therefore concludes that the passage is likely a Christian interpolation.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Nir |first=Rivka |title=Josephus' Account of John the Baptist: A Christian Interpolation? |journal=Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus |volume=10 |issue=1 |year=2012 |pages=32–62 |publisher=Brill |doi=10.1163/174551911X618885 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Joel Marcus states that Nir's argument is based on an outdated notion of "mainstream Judaism" which fails to consider the essential diversity of Second Temple Judaism during this period.<ref>{{cite book |title=John the Baptist in History and Theology |last=Marcus |first=Joel |publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-61117-901-9 |page=126}}</ref>

Claire Rothschild has stated that the absence of Christian interpolations in the Josephus passage on John the Baptist can not by itself be used as an argument for its authenticity, but is merely an indication of the lack of tampering.<ref>Rothschild, Claire (2011). ""Echo of a Whisper": The Uncertain Authenticity of Josephus' Witness to John the Baptist". In Hellholm, David; Vegge, Tor; Norderval, Øyvind et al. Ablution, Initiation, and Baptism: Late Antiquity, Early Judaism, and Early Christianity. Walter de Gruyter. {{ISBN|978-3-11-024751-0}} p. 271</ref>