Nehemias:

When we get to the second century we do have numerous sources. Although my sentence was not clear about which important sources I was referring to in the post you responded to, I was referring to the non-Christian sources.

(What I sad was: J: You are right that Christian sources are dismissed too quickly and count as evidence. However, such sources are important, especially in a discussion that claims that Jesus did not exist at all. So there are worth raising and discussing with those who have doubts or are skeptical.) The "such sources" I meant were the non-Christian ones, even though all of them are relevant.

Put them all together, these non-Christian sources especially make it very difficult to argue that Jesus did not exist. What makes Josephus special is he is a Jew in the very region Jesus labored in from the very century Jesus lived. He also had access to the seats of governmental authority and sources. Josephus indicates what key Jews understood Jesus to be. As I noted, I discuss many of these texts that you noted in my Studying the Historical Jesus (Baker). Another good recent work on this is Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence by Robert, E. Van Voorst. F F Bruce has one as well on Jesus ousie of the Biblical texts, but it is now out of print.

dlb