Customer Reviews

Josephus and the New Testament

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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As a Jew, I was not looking for a pietistic Christian work, but one that would give me insights into how Josephus was received and utilized by the Church Fathers. I found Steve Mason to be an amicable and informative guide to the Christian perspective as well as a wonderful introduction to Josephus' life, works and world in general. I have read all of Josephus in the annotated Loeb editions and found new insights throughout this excellent little survey. Further, it contains one of the most incisive and reasonable discussions of the highly controversial Testimonium Flavianum -- Josephus' alleged witness to the life and mission of Jesus. I have since have had the pleasure of reading other books by Steve Mason on Josephus and have corresponded with Dr. Mason by e-mail. He is, along with Louis Feldman (who focuses on Old Testament issues) a leading authority on Josephus. This book illustrates why he is not only a great authority but a most effective instructor. Highly recommended.

mason does an incredible job of comparing/contrasting Josephus and the New Testament. He flushes out the value of using Josephus as "The best aid for understanding the New Testament". At the end he makes a compelling case for the reliance on Josephus's writings by the author of Luke-Acts. If you are interested in understanding the historical/grammatical background of the New Testament, this book will be revolutionary to your exegesis.

Many people engaged in Bible study, whether it is a casual study or formal training in scripture, have found the writings of Flavius Josephus intriguing and helpful. The famous historian's writings were penned at the same time as many New Testament writings, and for this reason alone they are valuable. We hear Josephus talk about the major religious groups during New Testament times: those mentioned in the gospels and those not mentioned specifically but may have had an indirect influence on Christianity. We also find a detailed account of the fall of the Jerusalem Temple as well as references to John the Baptist, James "the brother of the Lord" (possibly dubious entries) and Jesus himself (most scholars, including Mason concede these brief and pious references were probably added by Christian copyists). The writings of Josephus are indispensable in studying scripture.

As important and helpful as the writings of Josephus can be, author Steve Mason points out that his writings have been misused over the centuries. Early Christian authors believed Josephus' account of the destruction of the Temple proved that God's favor had left Israel and had been transferred to Christians. His writings have supported many anti-Semitic campaigns in the past. He also contends that Josephus fell out of favor with many Jewish groups because he was considered a traitor during the battle with the Romans at the time of the Temple's destruction. While one could debate whether he was in fact a traitor, but most scholars do agree that Josephus did have a gift for self preservation. In this tract, Mason hopes to strip away Christian misinterpretations of Josephus and traditional historical biases and see Josephus as he intended to be seen: as a Jewish apologist defending the Jewish faith and people as an ancient and noble faith and worthy of respect in Ancient Rome. Mason contends that it is only by viewing Josephus in this light we can appreciate his writings.

The book gives a detailed biography of Josephus and provides a concise summary of Josephus' writings. He then reconstructs the New Testament world based on the historian's writings and looks at similarities and differences between the writings of Josephus and the New Testament. Perhaps what is Mason's greatest aide is that he does not favor Josephus' wrings as accurate and the New Testament as inaccurate, as can so often be the case. Instead he looks at the differences and points to why Josephus may have written what he did, keeping in mind Josephus did have an agenda and was not ashamed to admit it, and looking at why the New Testament recorded what it did. Readers will find that Mason's approach supports New Testament writings from a historical point of view.

JOSEPHUS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT is detailed, but it is an engaging read. This book will be helpful to any student engaged in New Testament studies. It's also accessible to any person who has an interest in scripture study. It makes a wonderful companion to the actual writings of Josephus and helps us to see the historian, as a historian and use his contributions appropriately.

Recommended!! Written by an author who is a specialist in the literary traditions and content of first century authors like Josephus. Provides useful detailed insights and commentary on the comparitive style and content of Josephus and NT writers. For most of the book the author stays on-topic, and readers will find the Luke/Acts chapter one of the best in the book. The author should have pruned some of the off-topic wandering into biblical interpretation of the NT with no real connection to Josephus; fundamentalists might find the author's comments annoying, but there are enough plain interesting quirks in the NT text that the author cites to be useful nevetheless.

Great book that tells the affect that the Jewish revolt in A.D. 70 had on the Roman Empire and the writers of the time. Talks about the different groups within the Jewish Community. Gives a comparison between Luke and Josephus in treatment of events and N.T. characters. It describes how Josephus contradicts himself and sometimes seems to change his view on an event. So reading a single one of Josephus' books may not give a clear picture. This book does. I have never read Josephus, but I feel that I know what to expect.

I'm no scholar, just a layperson. But I enjoy learning and facts. I was familiar with Josephus in a vague type of way and knew his writings gave us much background and history for understanding New Testament life and times. And I wanted to learn more about Josephus and his writings. This book seemed the best option. It was somewhat "hard" reading for me, but I feel it was worth my efforts. The author, in my opinion, is somewhat on the theological liberal side. (I'm very conservative...) But I felt the book gave me a good overview of Josephus. It was what I was looking for...

I have read most of Josephus' works but have never before read an interpretive study by a Josephus' scholar. It really helped and also helped to straighten out some of my thinking on this fascinating man. I must admit that my previous readings led me to conclude that Josephus was, at the same time, a cynic and opportunist but Mason's work has expanded my outlook.

Mason believes that Josephus was walking a remarkable tightrope between his personal distain for a number of Jewish groups--make that Sadducees, Phariasees, and rebels--and deep respect for Jewish tradition as upheld by his own aristocratic and priestly class. While writing for the benefit of a primarily gentile audience, he attempts to promote the status of ancient Jewish belief and Mosaic Law directly in the face of--even then--widespread antisemitism. This was, as Josephus surely knew a 'hard sell' given the circumstances of the recent Jewish rebellion--an antiRoman rebellion concluding with the destruction of the Temple and crucifixion/enslavement of thousands.

A difficult needle to thread but Josephus makes quite an argument for his point of view which leads us to the conclusion that Judaism--at least some forms of Judaism--in Josephus' day, differed from the Conservative and Hasidic forms of Judaism of today. It seems that gentile converts to Judaism were more-or-less welcomed during the time of Josephus with the all important proviso that converts followed Mosaic Law.

Mason's entire exposition gives us insights as to the power struggles between Jewish factions and the relationship between the same factions with the overweening reality of Roman power and governance. Josephus has little good to say about the various Roman governors, including Pontius Pilate, an attitude that he seems to share with his gentile audience. Pilate is an interesting study. In the NT Pilate is the victim of circumstances--even a sympathetic figure. Josephus paints an entirely 'other' man, given to corruption and unnecessary violence. No doubt Josephus' portrait is correct.

Mason's direct opinions about Josephus' mentioning of John the Baptist, Jesus and his brother James are also fascinating especially in that they are but bit players in Josephus' largely Jewish tale. On the other hand--if these people need 'proof' beyond their appearance in the NT, Josephus definitely provides it.

As a student of the Classics with little prior knowledge of Josephus I fully agree with the above reviews. The book is fascinating and detailed, without missing to give a broader perspective of Josephus' writings and his time. I can fully recommend it to people who wish to learn about a fascinating historian and his turbulent times.

This is an amazing book. I only wish I would have had it earlier. It sure would have saved me a lot of time. Mainly, it helps put everything in place and time. When studying Josephus, there are no dates and many of the people have the same names which gets very confusing and frustrating after a while, but this book gives you and outline and a guide.

The book is insightful and give lots of information, but unfortunately it is a boring read. The author states in the book that reading the original work is tedious, if that is the case it does not seem that he made reading his book any less tedious. So my approach to reading the book is a little at a time. I believe that this book is helpful depending on the type of research you are doing. Maybe you want to just get information - it is good for that as well. Just know that it will be a laborius task.