Editing Josephus on Jesus (section)

=== Three perspectives on authenticity ===
[[File:Flavius Josephus 1582 by Froben.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|''The Complete Works of Josephus'', 1582]]
[[Paul L. Maier]] and Zvi Baras state that there are three possible perspectives on the authenticity of the ''{{lang|la|Testimonium}}'':
# It is entirely authentic.
# It is entirely a Christian forgery.
# It has authentic material about Jesus, but Christian interpolations exist in some parts.{{sfn|Maier|2007|pp=336–337}}{{sfn|Baras|1987|p=339}}

Paul Maier states that the first case is generally seen as hopeless given that as a Jew, Josephus would not have claimed Jesus as the Messiah, and that the second option is hardly tenable given the presence of the passage in all extant Greek manuscripts; thus a large majority of modern scholars accept partial authenticity.{{sfn|Maier|2007|pp=336–337}} Baras adds that partial authenticity is more plausible because it accepts parts of the passage as genuine, but discounts other parts as interpolations.{{sfn|Baras|1987|p=339}} [[Craig A. Evans]] (and separately [[Robert E. Van Voorst]]) state that most modern scholars accept the position that the ''{{lang|la|Testimonium}}'' is partially authentic, had a kernel with an authentic reference to Jesus, and that the analysis of its content and style support this conclusion.{{sfn|Evans|2001|p=43}}{{sfn|Van Voorst|2003|pp=509–511}}

While before the advent of [[literary criticism]] most scholars considered the ''{{lang|la|Testimonium}}'' entirely authentic, thereafter the number of supporters of full authenticity declined.{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|pp=89–90}} Most scholars now accept partial authenticity and many attempt to reconstruct their own version of the authentic kernel, and scholars such as [[Géza Vermes]] have argued that the overall characterizations of Jesus in the ''{{lang|la|Testimonium}}'' are in accord with the style and approach of Josephus.{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|pp=89–90}}<ref name=Henry185>''Jesus and the oral Gospel tradition'' by Henry Wansbrough 2004 {{ISBN|0-567-04090-9}} p. 185</ref><ref>''The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament'' by Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum and Charles L Quarles 2009 {{ISBN|0-8054-4365-7}} pp. 104–108</ref><ref name=Geza35 /><ref>''Jesus and His Contemporaries: Comparative Studies'' by Craig A. Evans 2001 {{ISBN|0-391-04118-5}} p. 316</ref>