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'''Josephus''', known in his capacity as a Roman citizen as '''Flavius Josephus''', was a first-century Jewish historian and [[apologist ]] of priestly and royal ancestry. He survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70. His works give an important insight into Judaism of the first century, along with a glimpse of early Christianity.

The works of Josephus provide important information about the First Jewish-Roman War. The works are also an important literary source for understanding the context of the Dead Sea Scrolls and post-Second Temple Judaism. Josephan scholarship in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries became focused on Josephus' relationship to the sect of the [[Pharisee|Pharisees]]. He was consistently portrayed as a member of the sect, but nevertheless viewed as a villainous traitor to his own nation—a view which became known in Josephan studies as "the classical conception." In the mid-twentieth century, this view was challenged by a new generation of scholars, who formulated the modern conception of Josephus, still considering him a Pharisee but restoring his reputation in part as patriot and a historian of some standing. Recent scholarship since 1990 has sought to move scholarly perceptions forward by demonstrating that Josephus was not a [[Pharisee]] but an orthodox aristocrat-priest who became part of the Temple establishment as a matter of deference and not a willing association (Cf. Steve Mason, Todd Beall, and Ernst Gerlach).