culture
Ancient Manuscript May Hold Earliest Written Record of Jesus' Resurrection
A Spanish independent researcher has compared four ancient versions of a disputed passage by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, suggesting it may preserve traces of an early written account of Jesus appearing alive after his crucifixion. The study, a preprint not yet peer-reviewed, stops short of firm conclusions.
Jesús Fernández-Pedrera Correa has analysed a centuries-old passage known as the Testimonium Flavianum, which appears in Jewish Antiquities, a text written by the historian Flavius Josephus around AD 93 to 94. The researcher argues the passage may contain traces of a first-century written account of Jesus appearing alive after his crucifixion.
Fernández-Pedrera Correa compared four surviving versions of the passage, preserved in Greek, Latin, Arabic and Syriac. The Greek version states that Jesus appeared alive on the third day and links the event to biblical prophecy, while the Arabic account presents the appearance instead as something the disciples themselves reported. The researcher considers this difference between the versions significant.
Scholars have long debated which parts of the Testimonium Flavianum reflect Josephus's own words and which may have been inserted later by Christian copyists. The most disputed phrase in the passage directly names Jesus as the Christ, a declaration that sits uneasily with historical evidence suggesting Josephus did not accept Jesus as the Messiah.
The study remains a preprint and has not yet undergone peer review. Fernández-Pedrera Correa has been cautious about his findings, describing his reconstruction of the passage as plausible rather than established.
Playing it here loads it from Instagram, which lets Meta see that you visited. Open it on Instagram instead and nothing loads here.