The new testament
From Jesus to the Apocalypse
There is one thing that has to be established before considering the ministry of Jesus and the apostles, and that is that both ministries are based on the old testament. Many prophecies are used to establish Christ's credentials, many other prophecies guide the development of his ministry.
If you were to state that Paul based his theology on Jesus's ministry, you would have to explain how he acquired texts that were yet to be written. Instead, his only option is to base his theology on the old testament.
The case of Apollos is a situation where the knowledge of Jesus' ministry is both recent and detailed, making it possible to bring him up to date in a very short time.
Paul's theology, contrary to that of others, is really a question of meeting the needs of far-flung church communities. That is, to provide needed indoctrination tailored to the gentile church and the development of leaders.
Josephus
The importance of Josephus is that of providing many otherwise unobtainable details of events between the return of the exiles and the destruction of Judea to include the sources he used to create his work.
The first account of how Alexander the Great was greeted by a small commitee that told him that his arrival was prophesied.
His account of Herod is very revealing. Starting with his origin as an Idumean prince that became associated with the romans, his rise to the throne of Judea and his bloodworthy reputation. The death of many of the members of his family in part was due to the behavior and threat that some of them represented to the throne.
Josephus provides the description of sons against fathers... as being that of a civil war and not of any other situation.
