On Josephus, Jesus and the Egyptian: Part 1

Over forty years ago, my father bought me the translation of the Works of Flavius Josephus by the remarkable Arian theologian, William Whiston (1667-1752) and I have maintained an abiding interest in the history of my Jewish relatives ever since.When on a visit to the twin cities of St Paul and Minneapolis , Minnesota USA in 1990 on behalf of the Somme Association with its then Director, David Campbell, we took part in a Passover Seder on 9th April at the home of my cousin, Euan Kerr and his wife, Jane. I had been invited by the highly influential Minister Rev Calvin Didier to speak the previous day, Palm Sunday, in the House of Hope Presbyterian Church, one of the finest in the Mid-West of America. David was later to become my Best Man and Chief-of-Staff to David Trimble, MP in the New Northern Ireland Assembly. He became Chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party, and a supporter of closer links with the Conservative Party.

At the Seder we partook of our Hillel sandwiches, according to the Biblical command, and learned much about the famous sage.Because of their dispersal throughout the world the Jews have played a vital role in a vast array of events as diverse as history itself. Indeed, Israel Besht, founder of the Hasidic movement in 18th century Russia, has said “Like the soil, everyone treads on the Jews”. “But God has put into that soil the power to bring forth all kinds of plants and fruits”. The Jewish literary tradition, the world’s oldest, remains unbroken, though of course the problems of Jewish identity are complex because they live in two worlds, an external world of the Gentiles and their own internal one of ancient tradition and belief. Yet too few Jews, as well as Christians, are as familiar as they should be with the values, relevance and vitality of those thousands of years of the creativity of the Children of Israel .

They say that nothing is known about Jesus and Paul except that which is written about them in what Christians call the New Testament. But nothing is known of Josephus save what he tells us of himself in his writings. And much of what we think we know of Jewish history from the rise of the Macabees to the fall of Masada in 73 AD is derived from his books. Joseph Ben Mattathias, Titus Flavius Josephus (c 40-100 AD), tells us he is of priestly and Hasmonean descent . His Vita or Life was written to justify his betrayal of his country to save his own life and to win favour with the Romans. Strangely enough, though a conscienceless Romanophile in Jerusalem, who would not have tolerated the Christians as they were considered a threat to Roman State religion, he was a proud Judeophile in Rome, who would have also thought that Jesus was illegitimate, a false prophet and a magician. He wrote the Wars of the Jews to praise the Romans in their cause and, later, Against Apion and Antiquities of the Jews to praise the Jews and Judaeism.

However, by following the tradition of Greco-Roman historiography, in what he would have thought to have been a quest for historical truth, Josephus in effect has set his work apart from Biblical Authors before him, and Jewish and Christian writers for centuries after him, who regarded the purpose of history as proof of God controlling the destiny of the Universe. His writing contains statements which are biased, erroneous, embellished with outright fabrication, and include legend and folklore presented as fact. Yet his work is probably as accurate as any Hellenic historian. Although he omits reference to such great exegetes as Hillel, Paul and the Apostles and there are questionable references to Jesus, his chief authority is the everyday life of Judea, its geography, agriculture and the politics of the celebrities of the day, particularly focussed on two of the most critical centuries of recorded history. Indeed the Wars of the Jews is one of the most magnificent literary achievements of all time, which not only tears at the emotions but spurs the imagination and haunts our memory as only a Jewish composition can do.

To be continued

On Josephus, Jesus and the Egyptian: Part 1

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