Chapters

Papyrology and other Sources of Evidence.
Dating Manuscripts.
Textual Criticism.
Myth versus History.
Rome and the Messianic Movement.
The Burning of Rome.
The War with Rome and How Religions Form.
On the Validity of Prophecy.
The Different Views of Jesus.
Paul verses the Synoptic Gospels.
Mark and Midrashim and Homer.
Audience Consideration in the Evolution of Texts.
Minimal Facts and Church Father Traditions.
Josephus, Tacitus, et al.
The Gnostic Tradition.
Competing Views and Nicea.
Marcion and the Establishing of Canon.

The Revisited Messiah

When we are driving around and notice all of these churches, synagogues, mosques, and shrines is: Where did this start? Religions are not created ex nihilo. They come from pre-existing material and they serve a purpose. The are a reaction to a problem. They're seen as the solution to a problem. Without the problem, they continue on as they were. It's when some followers of that explanation aren't satisfied with its answers that alternative explanations are sought. From the emotional ashes of a prior religion the egg of a phoenix is born. The growing phoenix is the new religion. As more people find its explanations more personally pertinent, and are convinced of its arguments, they slowly move into the direction of the new religion and it grows. This occurs through social interaction and argument. Religions, then, are the creation of social reactions that arise out of conflict.

It is my contention that the roots of Christianity are formed and grow as a reaction to problems Judaism was not able to answer in the wake of Rome's reaction in the period 66-70 AD. The Messianic tradition began after the Maccabees and as a result of their successes against their oppressors. However, it did not gain traction until the Romans themselves took over control of Palestine. There were several messiah claimants after Rome took control but it was not the result of a messiah claimant that the 66-70 was took place. The result is that Jews were looking for answers in the wake of seeing Jerusalem destroyed and the sight of thousands of Jews hung outside the walls of the city. The time was ripe for an explanation that did not blame the oppressors (the Romans, in this case), and that suggested an alternative explanation for the purpose of a messiah than military leader. 

Let's go back a and understand the situation a little more. Roman Procurators were in charge of collecting taxes. They could collect more than due and pocket the difference. This privilege would be abused often. With the power of Rome behind them, Roman administrators could (and sometimes did), abuse their powers. One example was Pontius Pilate, who because of his inflexibility and brutality towards Jews would be recalled by Rome and later die under suspicious circumstances. In 39 AD Caligula proclaimed that he was a god and decreed that his statue be erected throughout the empire in every temple. Between this and the periodic desecration by Roman soldiers in Jewish holy places (including a burning of a copy of the Torah), hate towards Rome grew. In 64 AD a great fire ravaged Rome. With Rome showing signs of weakness at home, Jurusalem was ripe for an event to touch off widespread revolt. This happened in 66 AD when the Roman Procurator Florus went into the Jewish temple and stole a large quantity of silver. A Jewish revolt resulted, led by a militant faction of Jews known as the Zealots, and the Roman garrison in Jerusalem was destroyed. The result was the Roman-Jewish War of 66-70 AD. 

In the end, many historians estimate that as many as a million Jews died as a result of the Roman Jewish War. Sixty years later another revolt occurred and between the two of them, the Jews lost all control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land until 1948. It was the result of the Jewish military revolts, then, that destroyed the Jewish homeland and self-government. It is within this context, with Jewish military disasters and the theological vacuum that resulted that opened a hole large enough for an alternative explanation to gain traction and find support. This would be a change in the Jewish understanding in which a minority of Jews would find satisfactory explanation in the rising of the Jesus legend and the explanations provided there.

The Jesus Legend would start as a Jewish branch, but it wasn't until it evolved into an explanation that included Gentiles that it would take off. It is through the work of Paul and his followers that this would happen. Eventually, it would evolve far enough that it would be taken over by the Gentiles and shortly after turn back in and start to cast the Jews themselves as anti-Christian. It is an outsiders view that recognizes Jesus as a Jew that dies and then blames his fellow Jews for letting that happen. More than letting it happen, instrumental in making sure it happens. That the texts were all in Greek, that Gentiles were included (and take over), and that the Romans are not ever shown as a negative force in the stories lends support to the theory that the books written to tell the stories are not Jews themselves but rather Christians from outside the Holy Land.

Christianity, started out as a Jewish branch (like the Pharisees and Sadduccees), that was taken over by Greek-speaking Gentiles, who then dictated the direction the stories took and the meanings implied. In a few years the center of Christianity would not be in Jerusalem or anywhere in the Holy Land. It would be in Rome.

Now, there are really only three things that make a post-70 AD origin for Christianity problematic. One is the Christian tradition that suggests Jesus was born within a few years of what is now known as 1 AD. A second are claims by Paul to have personally met and spoken with James and Peter. The third is the Roman Catholic tradition that places Peter as the first Pope, and then proceeds to list subsequent Pope's. There are problems with all three, and I will address those. 

Knowledge

The earliest human structures found were from 380,000 years ago in France... seasonal branch and stone huts. Ice age huts made of mammoth bones were found in many places, including the Ukraine, dating from 15,000 years ago. As the climate warmed, man began settling down more and started harvesting crops. This ushered in the Neolithic era (10,000-12,000 years ago).

Civilization began about 7,500 years ago, around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, with more complex societies and larger settlements, creating the first cities.

Organized religion gave inspiration for the construction of religious structures. One of the earliest was the Ziggurat of Ur, around 4,000 years ago (2,000 BC). By 2680 BC Egypt had likewise developed into a large, sophisticated society with the building of tombs and pyramids, the first of which was the pyramid of Cheops, built in step-like fashion.