So my professor said I should look at Josephus and the New Testament in order to clarify and integrate my study to see it interdisciplinary. I do not see the importance of this in studying Jesus' death. Does anyone have thoughts on where to begin other than the text of Antiquities?
Edit:: Here is the message from my professor
Christian,
Your thesis analytics is good so far but you will benefit from analyzing Josephus. I believe contra modern research that Josephus was born in 27 AD and saw the crucifixion in 33 AD. Josephus claimed the Jewish Messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. Josephus's works are the chief source next to the Bible for the history and antiquity of ancient Israel, and provide a significant and independent extra-Biblical account of such figures as Pontius Pilate, Herod the Great, John the Baptist, James the Just, and Jesus of Nazareth. This may not be something you would like to do because of the depth of unknown possibility. Mary Smallwood said, [Josephus] "was conceited, not only about his own learning, but also about the opinions held of him as commander both by the Galileans and by the Romans; he was guilty of shocking duplicity at Jotapata, saving himself by sacrifice of his companions; he was too naive to see how he stood condemned out of his own mouth for his conduct, and yet no words were too harsh when he was blackening his opponents; and after landing, however involuntarily, in the Roman camp, he turned his captivity to his own advantage, and benefited for the rest of his days from his change of side." I do not think you need to focus singularly on the intertextual impact. You need to focus someway on extra biblical accounts to strengthen your argument.
