John the Baptist

[John V]

Um....

Mark 1

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted[g] by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

And? It says that after John was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee and preached. It says nothing about this being the absolute beginning in of his ministry.

Matty 4

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
16 the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”[f]

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

This one's better due to the "began," but that could refer to the specific message referenced.

Only in Luke is the message unclear.

It's not clear in any of them.

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Herodias took upon her to confound the laws of our country, and divorced herself from her husband while he was alive, and was married to Herod Antipas

This is the line by apologists to shoe-horn the dates back before 30 CE. I've already mentioned the problems:

1. 27 CE is too soon for JtB's arrest because he didn't even start his ministry until 28 CE at the earliest.

2. So Philip just let it all go without incident? Is there any mention of him divorcing his wife in history outside this wikipedia article? Mind you, women, having very limited rights at that time, couldn't divorce their husbands. It had to be the other way around. Philip was a powerful man himself and his share of Judea was actually larger than Antipas'.

3. A Jesus that started his ministry circa 30 CE would have been too young to be "about 30". Luke places his birth during the reign of Quirinius, governor of Syria, which didn't start until 6 CE.

Since when is Josephus a Christian apologist?