(November 22, 2014 at 12:03 pm)His_Majesty Wrote: Nonsense. The entire passage isn't an interpolation. It is obvious what parts are interpolated and what part isn't. Josephus was a Jewish historian, writing about stuff pertaining to the Jews, and it would be difficult to write about the history of the Jews in first century Palestine and not mention Jesus is some way, shape, or form, which he did. The only question would be to what length and in what context...but Jesus would be mentioned, nevertheless.
Curious that the passage allegedly existed (minus the parts you say are interpolations) yet not a single historian mentions it until 324. And then it is mentioned by Eusebius, a church father who said that it is permissible to lie for the Christian faith.
But the entire passage is sandwiched between 2 other passages that talk about nothing but trivial matters about the Jews of the time. The entire passage is out of place, and very uncharacteristic of Josephus other writings.
By the way, Josephus also mentions Hercules more times than Jesus in his writings, in much the same kind of context.
How reliable are his writings about Hercules?
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
