Josephus' wrote a "Discourse on Hades" or did he?
Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:55 pm
hey guys,
As you know, it is comonly stated that the 1st Century historian Josephus wrote a detailed description of the immediate state of people in the after life entitled "Discourse on Hades." This "fact" is used to show that Jesus' parable of the rich man and lazarus was indeed contemporary Jewish belief that the wicked go straight to burn, the good go straight to chill with Abraham.
However, apparently, "Josephus' Disocurse on Hades" was in reality wrriten by Hyppolytus (i.e. a third century Christian) and was entitled "Against Plato, on the Cause of the Universe." You can read it here: http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-05/anf ... 85_1161987
To read about how it got attributed to Josephus, read here: http://members.aol.com/FlJosephus2/Mail ... #discourse
So, apparently, this text is of no value is of little value in revealing Jewish conceptions of Hades in Jesus' time. If so, then we must look at what other historical evidence to suppose that Jesus was affirming the idea of an immediate conscious existence after death.
As you know, it is comonly stated that the 1st Century historian Josephus wrote a detailed description of the immediate state of people in the after life entitled "Discourse on Hades." This "fact" is used to show that Jesus' parable of the rich man and lazarus was indeed contemporary Jewish belief that the wicked go straight to burn, the good go straight to chill with Abraham.
However, apparently, "Josephus' Disocurse on Hades" was in reality wrriten by Hyppolytus (i.e. a third century Christian) and was entitled "Against Plato, on the Cause of the Universe." You can read it here: http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-05/anf ... 85_1161987
To read about how it got attributed to Josephus, read here: http://members.aol.com/FlJosephus2/Mail ... #discourse
So, apparently, this text is of no value is of little value in revealing Jewish conceptions of Hades in Jesus' time. If so, then we must look at what other historical evidence to suppose that Jesus was affirming the idea of an immediate conscious existence after death.