Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Historicity of Jesus" in English language version.
The Gospels cannot be equated with ... biographies. ... [Their] primary purpose was not to present a detailed historical picture of the life of Jesus. And the non-Christian materials ... provide us with no essential new knowledge beyond the accounts of the Gospels. ... [Thus] the situation in regard to sources is highly unsatisfactory; legendary and historical accounts are hopelessly intertwined. The historian must recognize that the materials available to us do not enable us to reconstruct Jesus as he really was. [They have] only the Jesus the early disciples saw, the Christ who has survived in the beliefs of the Christian community.
The Synoptic Gospels, then, are the primary sources for knowledge of the historical Jesus
Later, in the 60s ce, Josephus was stationed in Galilee for several years at which time he visited many places where Jesus once ministered, such as Cana and Capernaum.".."Then, a year or so later, Josephus was appointed general of Galilee and later sent by 'the first men of Jerusalem' (τῶν Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν οἱ πρῶτοι) into Galilee itself...Upon arriving in Galilee, Josephus gathered an army of 100,000 men and began planning defenses, all while staying in communication with the 'Sanhedrin'(τῷ συνεδρίῳ) and the 'first men of Jerusalem' (τῶν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις πρώτων). He also set about becoming familiar with the geography of Galilee and its inhabitants...Josephus was further acquainted with places where early Christians are known to have had residence. He, for example, was stationed in Sepphoris for a time, where the Tosefta (third–fourth centuries ce) reports that some early Christians were ministering. Sepphoris, like Cana, was also only three or so miles down the road from Nazareth, Jesus' hometown, and it surely would have had citizens in Josephus' day who remembered Jesus...Ananus II was therefore known to Josephus directly, if not intimately..It was he, the reader will remember, who considered James, the brother of Jesus, such a threat that at enormous political risk he went to the extent of having James illegally executed in 62 ce...And of course, it was this Ananus' father and brother-in-law who personally had Jesus arrested, interrogated, and condemned to death.
The Synoptic Gospels, then, are the primary sources for knowledge of the historical Jesus
