Jesus resurrection account may have gotten a biblical makeover, researcher claims

Talk about a holy mystery.An ancient passage about Jesus’ reported resurrection may have gotten a theological makeover, according to a new analysis of a Roman-era historian’s writings.Jesús Fernández-Pedrera Correa, an independent researcher from Spain, has reexamined a controversial passage in “Jewish Antiquities,” a history written around AD 93 to 94 by Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian who was not Christian, originally reported on by the Daily Mail.Known as the “Testimonium Flavianum,” the passage recounts Jesus’ life, crucifixion and reported resurrection — but scholars have long debated how much of it Josephus actually wrote.In a preprint published Aug.

15, Fernández-Pedrera Correa compared Greek, Latin, Arabic and Syriac versions of the passage, looking for clues to what Josephus may have written before later Christian writers altered the text.The Greek version makes a miraculous claim: Jesus appeared alive on the third day after his crucifixion, as divine prophets supposedly foretold.But Fernández-Pedrera Correa suspects this wording may reflect later Christian influence rather than Josephus’ original account.The other language traditions offer clues.The Latin version dates to around AD 392, while the Arabic and Syriac versions survive in works from the 10th and 12th centuries, respectively.In the Arabic version, Jesus’ reported return from the dead is framed as something his disciples said they witnessed, rather than a fact.The researcher describes the disciples as having “reported that he appeared to them” alive three days after the crucifixion.That distinction is central to his argument: Josephus may have been reporting what Jesus’ followers claimed, rather than affirming the Resurrection himself.Another clue lies in three deceptively small words: “was the Christ.”The Greek version states it outright.

The Latin, Arabic and Syriac traditions are more cautious, describing Jesus as someone who was believed or thought to ...