T.C. Schmidt

Today is the US launch of Josephus and Jesus: New Evidence for the One Called Christ (Oxford). The book, however, is already SOLD OUT! Oxford is printing new copies. Due to a generous donor, you can get a free digital copy at josephusandjesus.com

@mattrcrawford Congratulations!

I have recently joined the editorial board of the journal Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum, which has just become fully open access for all future issues. If you are doing research on ancient Christianity, please consider sending submissions our way! degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/1…

@Gnosisinformant I don't think it will be streamed, and haven't heard news on if it will be recorded, but if it is recorded, I will certainly post the link!

@ProfTCSchmidt Will it be recorded or streamed?

My first debate will be at Harvard Divinity School on April 6. I’ll be in conversation with Harvard Professor Giovanni Bazzana about the authenticity of Josephus’s testimony about Jesus. Unfortunately, it’s only open to Harvard affiliates, but if you qualify please stop by! ancientstudies.harvard.edu/events?trumbaE…

@lutherasmus1517 I certainly will

@ProfTCSchmidt Please post to your twitter if it’s recorded. Thanku!

@ljohncyr I'm not sure, if it is recorded I will post it on X

@ProfTCSchmidt will it be recorded?

A great interview just dropped where I speak with Aaron Renn about my book, Josephus and Jesus, and also about faithful Christians doing high-quality work in the Academy. Many thanks to @aaron_renn youtube.com/watch?v=6uBUbv…

@henri_mourant I did not know that, though I also thought that Buddhist sects have radically different beliefs from one another

@ProfTCSchmidt Funnily enough Buddhism shrinking is expected on Buddhism since Buddhists traditionally believe that Buddhism will eventually go extinct in the future before eventually being refounded by the future Buddha Maitreya.

According to Pew, Buddhists shrank by 5.4% between 2010-20. If that continues, it will devastate Buddhist numbers. Christianity remains the largest religion, though Islam grew faster. However, there is evidence that many in the Muslim world are counted as Muslims, but in actuality have left Islam for Christianity or agnosticism/atheism. pewresearch.org/short-reads/20…

Craig Evans has written a review of a book in which he mentions my own Josephus and Jesus book, he writes that in my book "a very powerful, detailed case is made for the authenticity of the whole passage" concerning Josephus's testimony about Jesus. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

@Gnosisinformant Yes, it is of the prophet Daniel, and ironically it was added in 1942 probably by the manuscript's owner who thought it would increase the value— crazy!

@ProfTCSchmidt Is that an image of Daniel?

A lost page of the Archimedes Palimpsest has been found. It contains his On the Sphere and the Cylinder, Book I, Propositions 39 to 41. phys.org/news/2026-03-l…

The oldest rune-stones in existence have been discovered, dating from 50 BC-275 AD and found in Norway! cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Very helpful article on large language models and biblical studies. It focuses largely on pedagogy and teaching, though there are of course many issues related to the production of new research (both good and bad!)

Great question Sam, I talk about this in pages 82-87 of the book. Some highlights: there are many examples of writers in Roman churches who don't seem to be troubled by Revelation's anti-Roman content (the Latin church for example), and likewise we have examples of non-Roman writers who don't interpret Revelation as condemning Rome even though they often weren't in communion with the Roman church. Remember that Revelation never actually names Rome explicitly, but uses allusions and symbols like "Babylon". So it was easy to get around the critique of Rome if you wanted to. It's not that the anti-Roman content wasn't a factor in the decline of Revelation, I just don't think it was a major factor. I'm working on another paper that will look more at the Latin Church to see if this nuanced thesis holds up.

Thank you for this! I haven’t read your book on this yet, but I’m curious about a few things. One, why downplay the role of Rome? It seems the, or at least a, central issue, and connects to the way apocalyptic literature, like the Enochic tradition, was downplayed with the establishment of Christianity over the course of the 4th century. We know chiliasm was the dominant early eschatological view, but the establishment of Rome ended up eroding it as a viable option. I’m curious if you think I’m misguided here and please do just direct me to the whole book if you address these questions there. Thanks!

Ever been puzzled by the book of Revelation? You're not alone, many in the ancient church were as well. Today, I came across an article I wrote a while back on this topic and thought you all might like it textandcanon.org/the-fall-and-r…

Agreed, it never made sense to me that there would be Arabic speaking Christians existing for two or three centuries and making Christian inscriptions, but not have any portion of the Bible translated, especially when surrounding communities did have multiple biblical translations (Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, etc). There's is even a fragment of the psalms in Beja I believe.

@ProfTCSchmidt It sounds highly likely some parts were translated. Can you imagine not having single arabic part of the bible in himyar? Or all the christian arabs never having arabic book?

Was the Bible translated into Arabic before Islam? A pre-Islamic Arabic inscription may contain a biblical quotation, the evidence is fascinating but tentative.

@TheAcademom @alexanderh78029 @AdrianPirtea Pirtea

A new Syriac/Arabic Chronicle has been discovered, dating to 712/13 AD. It promises to shed much light on early Islamic history and perhaps other areas too. @AdrianPirtea