約瑟夫的記載
在新約文本以外，有無其他歷史文本記述耶穌事蹟呢？公認為正史作者的猶太史家約瑟夫(Flavis Josophus)，在 93AD. 年寫下巨著猶太古史(Antiqnities of the Jews )在 Book 18 Chapter 3, Section 3 記錄了耶穌的奇事，稱他是彌賽亞及死後復活。原文翻譯如下:

大概這個時期生活著一個智者叫耶穌，人們不知能否確實稱他為一個人。因為他做出了令人驚異的事，而且是那些很高興接受真理的人的老師。他勝過了很多猶太人和希臘人。他是救世主彌賽亞。他遭到我們之中的主要人物的控告，因此彼拉多將他定罪，並將其釘死在十字架上，那些原來熱愛他的人沒有因此停下來；因為他第三天復活後出現在他們面前，神的先知已經預言了這些和其他關於他的無數非凡事蹟，此外還有以他的名字命名的基督徒群體，直到今天仍然沒有消失。

這段記載學界稱為 Testimonium Flavianum。原文英譯如下：
About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he was one who wrought surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as accept the truth gladly. He won over many Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When Pilate, upon hearing him accused by men of the highest standing among us, had condemned him to be crucified, those who had in the first place come to love him did not cease. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life. For the prophets of God had prophesied these and myriads of other marvelous things about him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has still up to now, not disappeared .

十八世紀以後，有不少學者認為這是基督徒偽加上去的。學者如 Schurer、Nress、Norder、Zeitlin、Lewy、Eisler等均懷疑其真實性。主要他們先假設耶穌的記載不可能由目擊証人寫成，也不可能有神蹟及復活。而約瑟夫的記載與其假設矛盾，故要否定歷史記載，來維持其假設。但這觀點基本上缺乏可靠論証，純由其主觀信念來推想。

然而著名希伯來文與伊斯蘭教專家 Schlomo Pines 1972 年研究指出，十世紀的 Agapius 主教，用阿拉伯文引述過約瑟夫的記載，有相當接近的描寫，而阿伯文譯本來自非基督教掌控的地區。因此抄本不可能有基督徒偽加上去。原文如下：

At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. 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 his discipleship. They reported that he had appeared to them after his crucifixion and that he was alive; accordingly, he was perhaps the Messiah concerning whom the prophets have recounted wonders.

1995 年學者 G. J. Goldberg 在 Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, 13(1995), 用電腦尋所有希臘文資料，找出相對應的文本，竟是路加福音二十四章 19-27節。路加福音引述的目擊証人革流巴(Cleopas)，在以馬忤斯路上見到復活的耶穌，並與之談話。相信革流巴應寫了一份文本記錄此事，路加將之引入福音書，而同時Josephus 亦掌握到同一份文本，經他從歷史學家的方法考察，而確認這文本可靠，故將之綜合描述在其巨著之中。