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ticateB it which authenticates all the works tff Joseph us , no manuscript , no t ^ ersioii , no copy being ever known to exist ' without this celebrated testimony to the character of Jesus Christ . £ . The style of the passage is in exact unison with the style ( vt
Josephus : the same conciseness and comprehension , the same dry and unvarnished recital of facts distinguish it , which distinguish all his other works . Daubuz , in a learned work , annexed
to the second volume of Havercamp ' s edition , has shewn that one egg is not more like to another , than this paragraph is in composition to the other writings of Josephus .
9 . Josephus has dedicated his x 4 intiquities and his books against Apion , t <> art eminent Christian , the friend attd coadjutor of the apostle Paul ; and signifies that his object in publishing them was to gratify the wishes of those Who believed in Christ ; and with such an object it was morally iinpos * sible that he should leave the
character and claims of Jesus unnoticed , 4 . Josephus considered the religion of Jesus as the religion of Moses , improved and spiritualized ; he is the historian of its progress and the apologist of its votaries among the Jews at * d Gentiles . He was , therefore , a disciple of Jesus as well as of Mosres ; and the testimony which he bears of
the former , is in perfect unison with his faith and with his writings . Here he s £ ys that Jesus was the Christ , and that he appeared to his disciples the third day , alive , after his crucifixion . This explains his meaning , when in
his work against Apion he asserts , that God bas given a mighty proof of a future stafte ; nor can any one rea * soaably doubt , that by this mighty proof Josephus means the resurrection of Christ . For he mentions this under
crrcumsUnces peculiarly characteristic bf the gospel . From the New Testament it appears evident that , though tjae doctrine of a future state might b $ suggested to the Jews by their propheta , no proo& much less a mighty prvaf of this awiraating doctrine ,, was
given by God but the resurrection of hi » Sdfi . This resurfeetkm is justly dh&racterizetl . by Josephtrs as a ixrighty ^ dof , fce ^ ause , wtrile it was attended i ^ itti a mighty display of the tWvine power , it affojrclea im 0 most cJicttmstantial and uiieauivoca } evidence of
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its truth . The resdrrection of Chlist is explicitly held forth by the apd&ttes as a proof , as a pledge from God , of the resurrection of all mankind : and the consequence was , that the
doctrine spread throughout the world , so that at the time in which Josephus published his works , thfere was scarcely a place among the Gentiles where his gospel had not been embraced .
And to its extraordinary prevalence Josephus thus bears his testimony : " And as God pervades the world , so his law has at length pervaded all mankind . ¦ ' This is true of the gospel , and
of the gospel only . Josephus , there fore , must , by the law of God , have meant the gospel , which indeed was the last and most perfect law of God to mankind . The future state held forth
in the gospel , has for its foundation , not the supposed immortality of the human soul , but the resurrection of Christ $ and is to commence not in its separation from the body by d £ ath , but in the resurrection of the body , after the example of Christ , at some future period .
This is the notion of a life to come , which the Gentile converts received from the mouths of the apostles , and for which multitudes among them cheerfully submitted to a cruel d «* ath . The account which Josephm gives of this interesting fact * precisely accords with the inference he thus draws front
the evangelical records : ' * The reward of those , says he , tvho eoriform to our laws * is not silver or gold or a crown of olive , or same such honour : bat each one believes , having in himself the testimony of his conscience , ( L e . entertainiwg a firm and conscientious convfcfloTv ) that as ora < r
Lawgiver foretold , and God has * afforded a mighty proo £ if tbey keep our Jaws , and when necessary cheerfully die for them , God appoirited them to live again , and ntite * a period to receive a better Iftfe . " Ag ^ inat Apion , II . See . xxx .
Otnr Lord and his apotette * uncju ^ gstionably understood thre prophets as predtetmg a future state . In which way vraa tftis prediction made ? There are , ^ otibtftess , expressions in Motfes and fcihe proptaetg tvhicliiy when considered «* etapht 6 rically , noiay be taken as intimations of a future life : but do such- intimations warrant the usseitiou tinat fhev ^ a < ig | it md pre-
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S 5 B The Testimony which Josephus bears to Jesus Christ
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1818, page 258, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2477/page/14/
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