Okay. Now I'll go through it.
Josephus recounts in Book XVIII, 4 the various political dealings by the then governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius Veteris against the Parthian king Artabanus who in 35 tried to take Armenia. In 37, Artabanus concluded a peace treaty with Vitellius.
So we are already, chronologically, at 37 AD when Josephus begins Chapter V by saying, "About this time...." and recounts the sordid affair of Herod Antipas divorcing the daughter of Aretas of Nabatea and marrying one of his half-brother's wives. He continues by discussing the attack by Aretas on Antipas as retribution for divorcing his daughter. Antipas complains to Tiberius who writes to Vitellius telling him to go kick Aretas' ass.
Josephus then discusses the death of JtheB in the next paragraph and notes how some jews thought the defeat of Antipas' army was punishment for the death of JtheB. As you note, there is nothing in the passage which specifically links the death to the marriage of Herod and Phillip's wife. Just that John was influential and Antipas thought it best to get him out of the way. Nothing really unusual there, happened all the time that a king got rid of a political opponent.
But we are speaking of time and as Josephus makes clear Vitellius obeyed his orders, took two legions and some allied troops and headed south. He got as far as Jerusalem when:
So now we have another bona fide historical marker. Tiberius died in in Mid-March, 37 AD. Allow 3-4 weeks for the news to reach a jerkwater town like Jerusalem and you have Vitellius calling off the war in April of 37. A second historical marker concerns Vitellius himself. Under the military system set up by Augustus and continued by Tiberius a man had to have been an ex-consul in order to qualify for one of the major military commands of the Empire. The Imperial Legate of Syria was one such command. Vitellius was consul in 34. His term of office would have been complete on January 1, 35. Only then could this figure, who is so prominent in Josephus' tale of these events, have even assumed the office of Imperial Legate and history tells us that he was initially quite busy with the Parthian threat to Armenia.
So on the one hand we have actual historical figures, who actually did things in the real world, (Antipas, Vitellius, Tiberius, Aretas, Artabanus, perhaps even John, himself) and we find them doing them c 36-37 AD. Your gospels, OTOH, insist that the godboy's ministry began only after John's death. But historically we can't place that any earlier than 36 which leaves the gospels at odds with known history. And it certainly blows your 30/31AD date out of the water. Obviously I disagree with you. The dating of these events is critical and I can see why you wish to downgrade them to insignificance. Gospel v history?
Now I'll let you guess how that works out.
Josephus recounts in Book XVIII, 4 the various political dealings by the then governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius Veteris against the Parthian king Artabanus who in 35 tried to take Armenia. In 37, Artabanus concluded a peace treaty with Vitellius.
So we are already, chronologically, at 37 AD when Josephus begins Chapter V by saying, "About this time...." and recounts the sordid affair of Herod Antipas divorcing the daughter of Aretas of Nabatea and marrying one of his half-brother's wives. He continues by discussing the attack by Aretas on Antipas as retribution for divorcing his daughter. Antipas complains to Tiberius who writes to Vitellius telling him to go kick Aretas' ass.
Josephus then discusses the death of JtheB in the next paragraph and notes how some jews thought the defeat of Antipas' army was punishment for the death of JtheB. As you note, there is nothing in the passage which specifically links the death to the marriage of Herod and Phillip's wife. Just that John was influential and Antipas thought it best to get him out of the way. Nothing really unusual there, happened all the time that a king got rid of a political opponent.
But we are speaking of time and as Josephus makes clear Vitellius obeyed his orders, took two legions and some allied troops and headed south. He got as far as Jerusalem when:
Quote:But when on the fourth day letters came to him, which informed him of the death of Tiberius, he obliged the multitude to take an oath of fidelity to Caius; he also recalled his army, and made them every one go home, and take their winter quarters there, since, upon the devolution of the empire upon Caius, he had not the like authority of making this war which he had before.
So now we have another bona fide historical marker. Tiberius died in in Mid-March, 37 AD. Allow 3-4 weeks for the news to reach a jerkwater town like Jerusalem and you have Vitellius calling off the war in April of 37. A second historical marker concerns Vitellius himself. Under the military system set up by Augustus and continued by Tiberius a man had to have been an ex-consul in order to qualify for one of the major military commands of the Empire. The Imperial Legate of Syria was one such command. Vitellius was consul in 34. His term of office would have been complete on January 1, 35. Only then could this figure, who is so prominent in Josephus' tale of these events, have even assumed the office of Imperial Legate and history tells us that he was initially quite busy with the Parthian threat to Armenia.
So on the one hand we have actual historical figures, who actually did things in the real world, (Antipas, Vitellius, Tiberius, Aretas, Artabanus, perhaps even John, himself) and we find them doing them c 36-37 AD. Your gospels, OTOH, insist that the godboy's ministry began only after John's death. But historically we can't place that any earlier than 36 which leaves the gospels at odds with known history. And it certainly blows your 30/31AD date out of the water. Obviously I disagree with you. The dating of these events is critical and I can see why you wish to downgrade them to insignificance. Gospel v history?
Now I'll let you guess how that works out.
