Page "Josephus on Jesus" Paragraph 100

Robert Van Voorst states that most modern scholars believe that the Testimonium is partially authentic, and has a reference to Jesus.

However, he states that scholars are divided on the tone of the original reference and while some scholars believe that it had a negative tone which was softened by Christian interpolators, others believe that it had a neutral tone, in keeping with the style and approach of Josephus regarding the issue.

According to Van Voorst, scholars who support the negative reconstruction contend that the reference read something like " source of further trouble in Jesus a wise man " and that it stated " he was the so-called Christ ".

Van Voorst states that most scholars support a neutral reconstruction which states " Around this time lived Jesus, a wise man " and includes no reference to " he was the Christ ".

Van Voorst states that if the original references to Jesus had had a negative tone, the Christian scribes would have likely deleted it entirely.

Van Voorst also states that the neutral reconstruction fits better with the Arabic Testimonium discovered by Pines in the 1970s.

Van Voorst states that the neutral reconstruction is supported by the majority of scholars because it involves far less conjectural wording and fits better with the style of Josephus.