Why does Josephus account resemble a statement of Christian faith, in particular, the Lukan kerygma (gospel message)?
Because the source Josephus used was a Christian explanatory document. It therefore contained the same material as was used in the earliest Christian proselytizing, such as we find in the gospel speeches of Acts. As these speeches were a telling of the story for the benefit of non-Christians it is reasonable to think that Josephus’ written source was of the same genre — that is, he used a document that was composed for just such people as himself and his audience. The difference between Josephus recounting a story versus stating he believed the story rests on the presence of absence of a few words, as discussed previously. Upon reflection, any scholar must ask him or her self: “If Josephus wanted to explain who the Christians were, what would he do?” And receive the answer: “As always in his work, unless he was recounting his own direct experience he would employ some reliable, prior source. The proselytizing of Christians would have been more readily available than Roman or Judean re
