The Historical Jesus | The Matrix | John Dominic Crossan
The Matrix of Jesus | The Crucible of Christianity | When History and Theology Collide | The Gospels and The Historical Jesus
“Christianity both admits and subverts the historical Jesus”
John Dominic Crossan
"I have always thought of the historical Jesus as a homeland Jew within Judaism within the Roman Empire. For me, then, within Judaism within the Roman Empire has always been the absolutely necessary matrix rather than the annoyingly unnecessary background for any discussion of earliest Christianity."
John Dominic Crossan
The Misunderstood Jew | Misunderstood History and Prophecy |
The American Jesus vs The Gospel Jesus vs The Historical Jesus
A complex puzzle
The revelation of Flesh and Blood
"Hope is not always history, and neither is hyperbole. In this case, as so often before and after, horror is history."
John Dominic Crossan
"I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Messiah and him crucified."
The Apostle Paul
John Dominic Crossan : "Why did two populist movements, the Baptism movement of John and the Kingdom movement of Jesus, occur in the territories of Herod Antipas in the 20s of that first common-era century? Why then? Why there?"
~Pompey the Great takes Jerusalem enters the Holy of Holies 63 bce
~Herod the Great Roman-appointed King of Judaea (37–4 bce)
Jewish Messianic Resistance Leaders during the Roman Period:
• Hezekiah/Ezekias, defeated by Herod in 47 BCE
• Judas (aka Theudas) son of Ezekias, 4 BCE/death of Herod
• Simon of Perea, 4 BCE/death of Herod
• Athronges the Shepherd, 4 BCE/death of Herod
• Judas the Galilean, 6 CE/Archaelaus removed
*John the Baptist, beheaded by Herod Anitpas (c. 27 to 29 CE)
*Jesus of Nazareth, crucified by Roman ruler Pontius Pilate (c. 30 CE)
• Theudas, c. 44 CE (Jewish Antiquities 20.97; Acts 5:36?)
• James and Simon, c. 46 CE, sons of Judas the Galilean, crucified by Tiberius Alexander, nephew of Philo, who was Procurator 46-48 CE (Jewish Antiquities 20.102)
• “The Egyptian” c. 50s CE (Jewish Antiquities 20.169-171; Jewish War 2.261-263; Acts 21:38)
• Eleazar son of Dineus/Deinaeus, c. 52 CE under Felix (Jewish War 2.253; Jewish Antiquities 20:161)
• Menachem, son of Judas the Galilean, 66 CE (Jewish War 2:433-448)
• Eleazar son of Jairus (ben Yair), commander of Masada, was of the family (γένος) of Menachem (Jewish War 2.447) 73 CE
*Bar Kokhba, Jewish leader who led a revolt (132–135 ce) against Roman dominion in Judaea.
“You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law."
James the brother of Jesus (book of Acts)
Did the original intentions of the Historical Jesus die with him? Does it matter and should it matter to modern believers? Is the theological narrative the gospel writers formed so important in its impact to the point that the historical Jesus intentions/actions are insignificant and secondary to the current believers theological goals/needs? The Biblical texts are a rolling process where the writers and readers of the text have a part in the formation and meaning. Those who claim orthodoxy cannot escape that they too are part of this rolling process and may also have difficulty wrestling with the original context concerning Yeshua of Nazareth/Galilee.
Textual meaning that adapts to the environment survives. The original meaning to the people of the past may not survive but the text survives for the people who shape it to their environment.
"And they all forsook him, and fled."
Gospel of Mark
Messiahs in the Time of Jesus https://jamestabor.com/messiahs-in-th...
Early Jewish Messiahs https://www.cdamm.org/articles/early-...
The original diversity of late second Temple Judaism and Early Christianity meets the bottleneck of the great clashes between the Jewish rebellions and the Roman Empire. Out of the Anvil and the Hammer will emerge a new religion and a new Judaism forged from this dynamic explosive mix of civilizations.
There is something about the desert when it comes to prophetic and revolutionary voices.
The pen of Paul and the sword of Rome were too much for the original Messianic movement of John, Jesus, and James to be left unscathed in its original form.
Yeshua and Yaakov | Jewish Martyrs