Josephus and James, Brother of Jesus

[Graybeard]

Although many have reasoned this to be so, it is not often that such things appear in peer reviewed journals:

http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/journal_of_early_christian_studies/v020/20.4.carrier.html

Origen, Eusebius, and the Accidental Interpolation in Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.200 Richard Carrier

From: Journal of Early Christian Studies Volume 20, Number 4, Winter 2012 pp. 489-514 | 10.1353/earl.2012.0029

Abstract:

Analysis of the evidence from the works of Origen, Eusebius, and Hegesippus concludes that the reference to "Christ" in Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.200 is probably an accidental interpolation or scribal emendation and that the passage was never originally about Christ or Christians. It referred not to James the brother of Jesus Christ, but probably to James the brother of the Jewish high priest Jesus ben Damneus.

See http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-20.htm

Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned: but as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king [Agrippa], desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrim without his consent.

[Nick]

How many brothers and sisters did Jesus have?  It's starting to sound like the Brady Bunch.  I can see it now...James, "mom, Jesus won't take a bath.  He's just walking on water".

But then again, if he hits one of his sisters in the face with a football right before the big dance He could cure it pretty quickly.

[Lazarus]

Christians would be making a mistake to use this as historical evidence of Jesus. This would be nothing more than evidence that someone named Jesus lived and was stoned to death. Not evidence that it is the Jesus of the Bible, since there's no reference in the Bible to a brother James and the Bible Jesus was crucified, not stoned. Still to this day zero evidence that the Jesus of the Bible ever existed.

[wheels5894]

This is another of the passages that are claimed to support the historical Jesus but of course, even if it was true, it is written much later and describes what has happened, rather like Pliny the Younger. passages like this report what Christians of the time say they believed and are not historical evidence of more that the fact that these believers believed what they said.

Claims for supporting history of Jesus needs to come from eye witnesses of the events and, sadly, even the bible doesn't have that.