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Louis Feldman, Josephus’s Interpretation of the Bible (page 219): Inasmuch as the Jews had been accused by their detractors of undue credulity in accepting the decrees of G-d without question, Josephus goes out of his way on a number of occasions to show courtesy to his readers by suggesting that it is up to them to decide how to understand the biblical miracles. But ultimately miracles were not too great a problem for Josephus, because the Stoics did allow for divine intervention in the world. Nevertheless, Josephus tends to tone down the miracles[,] rationalizing them or pointing out contemporary parallels.
By “decrees,” I think Feldman means the Bible stories about miracles. There were people in Josephus’ audience who were skeptical about miracles, so Josephus does a lot of rationalizing. In my opinion, his rationalization is sometimes harder to accept than simply going with the “God did it” view. For example, Josephus says that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived the fiery furnace because they were healthy, as a result of their vegetarian diet. Huh? Can you be that healthy?
Also, I wonder if Josephus is like Lessing in his approach to miracles. Lessing was an eighteenth century German writer, who believed that the miracles were not as important as the self-evident truths of the Christian religion. At least that’s what I learned about him in an undergrad course on Christianity! Would Josephus say that one can reject the miracles in the Bible, yet still submit to a moral life, which has its highest expression in the discipline of the Torah? The Greeks and Romans placed a high value on self-discipline—restraining the passions. Moreover, John Locke (the philosopher) said that miracles are proof of the Christian religion. They are not the religion itself, but the proof of it.
At the same time, I’m not willing to say that miracles don’t matter, for I believe in a God who can heal and disrupt the nature of things, anytime he so chooses.
