Editing Josephus on Jesus (section)

=== Arguments for complete authenticity ===
==== Pre-modern criticism ====
Until the rise of modern criticism, many scholars believed the ''{{lang|la|Testimonium}}'' was nearly or completely authentic with little or no Christian interpolations.{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|p=89}} Some of these arguments relied on the language used in the ''{{lang|la|Testimonium}}''. For instance, Jesus is called "a wise man" (and Josephus described others like Solomon, Daniel, and John the Baptist in the same fashion), which would not have been a common Christian label for Christ at the time. He referred to Jesus merely as "a worker of amazing deeds" and nothing more, again disagreeing with how Christians viewed Christ. Referring to Jesus as "a teacher of people who accept the truth with pleasure", where "pleasure" ({{lang|grc|ἡδονή}}) connotes [[hedonistic]] value, is not in line with how Christians saw the point of Jesus' teachings. Claiming that Jesus won over "both Jews and Greeks" is a misunderstanding that a Christian scribe would not likely have made, knowing that Jesus mainly ministered to Jews. Also, the phrase "Those who had first loved him did not cease doing so" is Josephan in style, and calling Christians a "tribe" would not have made sense to a Christian writer.{{sfn|Van Voorst|2000|pp=89–90}}