J.J. Blunt's Undesigned Scriptural Coincidences
AN ARGUMENT FOR THE VERACITY OF THE HOLY BIBLE
Introduction
Part One:
The Books of Moses
Part Two:
The Historical Scriptures
Part Three:
The Prophetical Scripture
Part Four:
The Gospels and Acts
Appendix:
The Gospels, Acts
and Josephus

Introduction

It will not be out of place, if to a work which has had for its object to establish the veracity of the Scriptures in general, and in the last Part, that of the Gospels and Acts in particular, on the evidence of undesigned coincidences found in them, when compared with themselves or one another, I subjoin as a cognate argument, some other instances of undesigned coincidence between those latter writings and Josephus. The subject has been treated, but not exhausted, by Lardner and Paley; the latter of whom, indeed, did not profess to do more than epitomise that part of the “Credibility of the Gospel history” which considers the works of the Jewish historian. Josephus was born a.d. 37, and therefore must have been long the contemporary of some of the Apostles. For my purpose it matters little, or nothing, whether we reckon him a believer in Christianity or not; whether he had, or had not, seen the records of the Evangelists; since the examples of agreement between him and them, which I shall produce, will be such as are evidently without contrivance, the result of veracity in both.

If we allow him to be a Christian, if we even allow him to have seen the writings of the Evangelists, he will nevertheless be an independent witness, as far as he goes, provided his corroborations of the Gospel be clearly unpremeditated and incidental. In short, he will then be received like St. Mark or St. John, as a partisan indeed; but yet as a partisan who, upon cross-examination, confirms both his own statements and those of his colleagues.