As they say on CSI, he had both motive and opportunity to change Josephus' writings. Motive because of all his quotes about lying being perfectly OK to advance Xianity. Opportunity because he was an official custodian of ancient documents.
The "Testimonium Flavinium" is an odd piece of writing, however it got there:
1. It's weirdly out of context. The Testimonium is jammed in between a very long account of Pontius Pilate sparking a riot over a water pipe.* And some gossip about the Jews in Rome visiting the (pagan) Temple of Isis.
2. The words about JC sound like they were written by an awestruck groupie and even include the words, "if he be a man." All implying JC was the son of god etc. But Flavius Josephus was a Pharisee - one of the most conservative branches of Judaism, which earned them frequent tongue-lashings from Alleged Jesus in the New Testament. If Josephus had written that Jesus was the Messiah, I don't think he could even be considered a Jew anymore. Let alone a Pharisee.
We know Josephus was a Pharisee because he said so, many times. He claimed that he had mastered ALL the branches of Judaism by a very young age, and the Pharasaic branch appealed to him the most.
OTOH, sometimes it's hard to tell WTF Josephus is up to. He often comes across like that noisy drunk in your favorite bar who was riding with a biker gang but at the same time winning the Medal of Honor in Afghanistan and investigating the truth about Area 51.
His "Autobiography" sometimes contradicts "The Jewish Wars." e.g., sometimes he was a civilian mediator between the Romans and Judeans. But at other times he was a General in the insurgent forces. What's undeniable, according to his own writings, is that he went with Rome in the end and became a sort of First Century Benedict Arnold.
*That water pipe, or aqueduct, has bugged me for years. According to some historians, the Jerusalem Temple usually ran a financial surplus and the extra money was spent on public works projects to benefit the whole community.
These projects were selected by the High Priests and submitted to the Roman governor for approval. I'm guessing a project like "Museum of the Unknown Zealot Insurgents" would be a non-starter.
In this case, the High Priests decided to extend an existing aqueduct, thereby providing clean water to more people. For some reason I've never figured out, this sparked a huge riot among the Jewish population. Clean water? Better health? The hell with that, let's riot! The whole thing sounds very Monty Pythonish. Even granted that, according to Josephus, by this time the local Jews were rioting at the drop of a halibut.
Some Xian websites claim that Pontius Pilate was embezzling Temple money and that's what caused the riot. But since Xians blame everything on Pilate except the Jerusalem Alien Invasion of 29 CE, this is probably just one more unfounded allegation.
= new reply since forum marked as read
