is the book of Josephus a reliable text?

josephus will be your historical authority, whereas the bible will be your spiritual authority.

Try reading Josephus's own works; The Jewish War also known as The War of the Jews. This one is very important in finding that Christianity, the NT and Jesus are all fiction. Josephus wrote the history of that war 66CE ~ 73CE, and much of it became comic parodies in the NT. Then there is Antiquities of the Jews. Josephus most certainly had a major role in writing the NT which is at least 99% total lies.

Reliable regarding what?

The history of the Jews of his time period?

I would say for that, generally yes.

Though I have my doubts whether his portrayal of what happened at Masada was accurate.

The disciples of Jesus were first-hand witnesses. Josephus is not an eye-witness. He merely gathers information from different sources.

One guy named Celsus, appeared to take liberties in telling tall tales... saying: Jesus, on account of his poverty, was hired out to go to Egypt. While there he acquired certain powers which Egyptians pride themselves on possessing. He returned home highly elated at possessing these powers, and on the strength of them gave himself out to be a god.(3)

Josephus delivered some straight facts:

Josephus wrote:

And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon discipleship.(8)

Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die.(6)

So he assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned. (2)

[Jesus' disciples] reported that He had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion; and that he was alive.... (10)

​

Josephus is a historian, while the Bible is the Word of God.

For spiritual matters, the Bible is the authority.

Josephus did give some interesting accounts as a historian of early Christianity.

Josephus' accounts most probably had been edited by others.

Josephus is very upright and reliable .

His autobiography is especially very

interesting. I consider him as a

believer in Christ.

He had access to older manuscripts.

Nô,

It was writn 25+ years aftr the historic

Jesus was said to have livd & it's text

contradict itself time & time again as it is

all bs.

He is pretty thorough and compared to his contemporaries' versions of the events, his are generally the more tame and likelier version.

His chronology of biblical history certainly used the Bible as a source, so he wouldn't be more reliable for that.

It's similar to how the Book of Chronicles (written c. 4th century BC) recaps everything that happened in the Bible thus far in about 10 chapters.