这一段对耶稣记载的文字，被称为弗拉维斯·约瑟夫斯的证词（英语：Testimonium Flavianum）（Testimonium Flavianum）。但是几乎所有的研究圣经的学者，都一致质疑这一段是后来基督徒更动后的结果。由于作者是为改信的犹太人，不可能直接宣称耶稣是弥赛亚并死而复活。而自从阿拉伯文版的《犹太古史》被发现后，一些学者（例如约翰·P·迈尔〔John P. Meier〕和戈柏〔Goldberg〕等）相信尽管整体上的记述是源自约瑟夫斯，但认同耶稣为“基督”这一点大概是基督徒后加，“复活”这一段则是引述，非描述。[82]
福音书记载耶稣是拿撒勒人，但“拿撒勒”这个字的意思却很模糊[125]。耶稣其实亦是法利赛人的一分子[注 6]。在耶稣时代，法利赛人的学说有两个主流，分别是：希列派及煞买派。这两派对离婚有不同的看法：希列派依照《申命记》第24章第1节的理由而认为男性在任何时候都可以要求离婚，这种观点亦是当时犹太社会的主流思想。相反的，耶稣却赞同另一派煞买派对于离婚的严格要求[129]。根据《马尔谷福音》记载，当时有法利赛人试探耶稣，要求耶稣表明对休妻的立场，试图诱使他说出违反摩西律法的言论[130]。现代的犹太拉比 Jacob Neusner亦在他的著作中指出耶稣的教导在两派立场中倾向于煞买派[131]。对于希列派有关最大的诫命[132]及推己及人的原则[133]，耶稣亦有评论过。
根据犹太拉比（古代犹太法学博士）所编纂的文献─《塔木德经》中较晚期作品《耶稣一生》的记载：耶稣又名耶稣·本·潘得拉（Yeshu Ben Pandera），他的母亲是马利亚，他的父亲是约瑟·本·潘得拉。在《塔木德经》中的耶稣是一位巫师，他在埃及学到黑魔法并有五个门徒。最后他以使用巫术的罪名被起诉，在逾越节后四十天被绞死。有学者认为Ben Pandera是扭转Ben Parthenos（童贞女子之子）而成的。然而《死海古卷》与基督教缘起的专家詹姆斯．泰伯则认为“潘得拉”是当时确实存在且常在使用的名字。在他的著作《耶稣的真实王朝》有提到相关的论述和墓碑考古资料。在此书中詹姆斯．泰伯推测耶稣的生父很可能就是一名叫做约瑟·本·潘得拉的罗马帝国士兵。[151]
Tuckett, Christopher. Sources and methods. Bockmuehl, Markus N. A. (编). Cambridge Companion to Jesus. Cambridge University Press: 123–4. 2001. ISBN 978-0-521-79678-1. All this does at least render highly implausible any far-fetched theories that even Jesus’ very existence was a Christian invention. The fact that Jesus existed, that he was crucified under Pontius Pilate (for whatever reason) and that he had a band of followers who continued to support his cause, seems to be part of the bedrock of historical tradition. If nothing else, the non-Christian evidence can provide us with certainty on that score.
James Dunn states that these "two facts in the life of Jesus command almost universal assent" and "rank so high on the 'almost impossible to doubt or deny' scale of historical facts" that they are often the starting points for the study of the historical Jesus.
Jesus Remembered by James D. G. Dunn 2003 ISBN 978-0-8028-3931-2 page 339 states of baptism and crucifixion that these "two facts in the life of Jesus command almost universal assent".
Crossan, John Dominic. Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography. HarperOne. 1995: 145. ISBN 0-06-061662-8. That he was crucified is as sure as anything historical can ever be, since both Josephus and Tacitus...agree with the Christian accounts on at least that basic fact.
Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word (Vol. II): Meditations on the Gospel According to St. Matthew – Dr Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, Ignatius Press, Introduction
The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 978-0-8054-4365-3 page 110
Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research edited by Bruce Chilton, Craig A. Evans 1998 ISBN 978-90-04-11142-4 pages 455-457
Louis Feldman (ISBN 978-90-04-08554-1 pages 55-57) states that the authenticity of the Josephus passage on James has been "almost universally acknowledged".
The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 978-0-8054-4365-3page 110
The Blackwell Companion to Jesus p220 Delbert Burkett - 2010 "That is to say, varying presuppositions as to the extent to which the ancient rabbis were preoccupied with Jesus and Christianity can easily predetermine which texts might be identified and interpreted as having him in mind."
Robert E. Van Voorst. Jesus outside the New Testament. 2000 ISBN 978-0-8028-4368-5. p. 124. "This is likely an inference from the Talmud and other Jewish usage, where Jesus is called Yeshu, and other Jews with the same name are called by the fuller name Yehoshua, "Joshua""
Meier, John P.The Roots of the Problem and the Person (Convenience link). A marginal Jew: rethinking the historical Jesus 1. Anchor Bible Series. 1991: 98 [August 3, 2011]. ISBN 978-0-385-26425-9. LCCN 91010538. OCLC 316164636. （原始内容存档于2021-10-13）. While not accepting the full, radical approach of Maier, I think we can agree with him on one basic point: in the earliest rabbinic sources, there is no clear or even probable reference to Jesus of Nazareth. Furthermore, I favor the view that, when we do finally find such references in later rabbinic literature, they are most probably reactions to Christian claims, oral or written.
Van Voorst 2000 - see also Thiessen and Merz mention Gustaf Dalman (1893), Johann Maier (1978), and Thoma (1990) in favour of this conclusion.* Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition). p. 74-76. *See also Jeffrey Rubenstein, Rabbinic Stories (The Classics of Western Spirituality) New York: The Paulist Press, 2002 & Daniel Boyarin, Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism, Stanford University Press, 1999.
Theissen p 75: "[some authors conclude that the Talmud's passages] have no independent historical value. In contrast to this, other authors, e.g. Klausner, believe that they can discover at least some old and historically reliable traditions in the Talmud". Theissen cites Klausner, Jesus of Nazareth, pp 18–46
Kostenberger, Andreas J.; Kellum, L. Scott; Quarles, Charles L. (2009). The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New TestamentISBN 978-0-8054-4365-3. pages 107-109
In a 2011 review of the state of modern scholarship, Bart Ehrman (now a secular agnostic who was formerly Evangelical) wrote: "He certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees" B. Ehrman, 2011 Forged : writing in the name of GodISBN 978-0-06-207863-6. page 285
Robert M. Price (a Christian atheist who denies the existence of Jesus) agrees that this perspective runs against the views of the majority of scholars: Robert M. Price "Jesus at the Vanishing Point" in The Historical Jesus: Five Views edited by James K. Beilby & Paul Rhodes Eddy, 2009 InterVarsity, ISBN 978-0-281-06329-1 page 61
Michael Grant (a classicist) states that "In recent years, 'no serious scholar has ventured to postulate the non historicity of Jesus' or at any rate very few, and they have not succeeded in disposing of the much stronger, indeed very abundant, evidence to the contrary." in Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels by Micjhael Grant 2004 ISBN 978-1-898799-88-7 page 200
Richard A. Burridge states: "There are those who argue that Jesus is a figment of the Church’s imagination, that there never was a Jesus at all. I have to say that I do not know any respectable critical scholar who says that any more." in Jesus Now and Then by Richard A. Burridge and Graham Gould (Apr 1, 2004) ISBN 978-0-8028-0977-3 page 34
Robert E. Van VoorstJesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence Eerdmans Publishing, 2000. ISBN 978-0-8028-4368-5 page 16 states: "biblical scholars and classical historians regard theories of non-existence of Jesus as effectively refuted"
Amy-Jill Levine in The Historical Jesus in Context edited by Amy-Jill Levine et al. Princeton Univ Press ISBN 978-0-691-00992-6 page 4: ""There is a consensus of sorts on a basic outline of Jesus' life. Most scholars agree that Jesus was baptized by John, debated with fellow Jews on how best to live according to God's will, engaged in healings and exorcisms, taught in parables, gathered male and female followers in Galilee, went to Jerusalem, and was crucified by Roman soldiers during the governorship of Pontius Pilate"
Bargil Pixner, Wege des Messias und Stätten der Urkirche, Giessen/Basel 1991, p. 275. English edition (2010): Paths of the Messaiah. Ignatius Press: San Francisco, p.
For a comparison of the Jesus movement to the Zealots, see S.G.F Brandon, Jesus and the Zealots: a study of the political factor in primitive Christianity, Manchester University Press (1967) ISBN 978-0-684-31010-7
For a general comparison of Jesus' teachings to other schools of first century Judaism, see John P. Meier, Companions and Competitors (A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Volume 3) Anchor Bible, 2001. ISBN 978-0-385-46993-7.
Eisenman, RobertJames the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls, Penguin (Non-Classics), 1998. ISBN 978-0-14-025773-1
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