This is a book about the historical beginnings of Christianity and how early Christians interacted with the Jews and polytheists in their midsts. As such, the book begins well before the birth of Jesus with how Jews in Judea related with one another and with the polytheist establishment around them. The Jews were perhaps the oldest monotheistic peoples. They had already been around the Middle East for centuries when Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem around 950 B.C.. After the breakup of their kingdom into a northern and southern portion, the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. and took ten of the twelve tribes into exile. The southern kingdom, comprised of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, survived. Knapp makes the contention that, although the Jews were monotheistic, at first they only saw Yahweh as a special protector, while other, lesser gods also engaged with humans in the natural world. This conception of the divine gradually gave way to a more universal Yahweh, but, nonetheless, still within a world with other supernatural powers. In fact, to all ancient peoples, there was no “natural” sphere distinct from a “supernatural”, but the two intermingled freely on earth. For Jews, the cult center was the temple in Jerusalem, with the diaspora making regular pilgrimages for major festivals. During the second temple period, as many as 200,000 pilgrims often gathered for the biggest festivals, such as the Festival of the Unleavened Bread. These gatherings often created raucous, drunken mobs in Jerusalem, which made the city elites nervous, both Jewish and Roman alike.
As Judaism progressed through history one idea that morphed was the concept of justice. Yahweh’s promise for glorious vindication for the righteous was no longer expected in one’s own lifetime, but in an unspecified future. This “explained the contradiction between Yahweh’s promises to favour his people and his dereliction in present circumstances.” This concept of delayed justice was novel for any religion of the day. Polytheist deities affected the lives of humans in the here and now, if at all. The idea of a prophet, who spoke directly with god and without the intermediation of the priests, was also crucial to Judaism. Moses, himself, declared that the Lord said to him, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command them. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.” Practically, this direct communication with the divine was often a check on the Jewish elites of the day, calling into account their earthly vices when they contradicted the people’s conception of justice. The idea of a personal justice, as opposed to justice for all God’s people, also gained ground, particularly following the destruction of the first temple by the babylonians in 587 B.C.. Jeremiah proclaimed, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” The two conceptions of communication with God: the personal and at the community level were often in tension. “Right relationship with Yahweh relied on two things: strict community adherence to cultic practice through the priests and individual relationship to Yahweh through ethically and socially approved action. Political action was not important.” Following the Babylonian exile, the written Torah coalesced and received preeminence as an anchor of the people with the loss of the temple, its priests, and the king. The Torah, the prophets, and the psalms encouraged the people to make their own decisions about how to act righteously on earth without the need for a priesthood. Finally, the concept of resurrection of the dead as reward and punishment in the afterlife was important in the Jewish tradition. The Book of Daniel expressed, “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”
Jews were divided into many sects, which to some degree or another often incorporated some of the habits of the polytheists whom they lived among. The Jews were always in the minority and sometimes to blend in, to gain favor, or just to hedge their bets they incorporated aspects of polytheism into their spiritual routines. The Essenes, Therapeutae, Pharisees, and Sadducees were among the largest groups. These sects fought with each other, both in scriptural debates and physically. Some groups were exiled from Jerusalem, while others were stoned as blasphemers. The Essenes and Therapeutae tended to live in isolated communes and had strict vows and admission policies. The Sadducees, were descended from the priests and thus saw a preeminent role for priests in interpreting every detail of daily life, including politics. The Pharisees, on the other hand, believed in a more personal relationship with the Torah. They kept themselves separate from the impurities of the city, while remaining within the larger community. “In the political realm the Sadducees felt that the high priest representing the whole people should be the effective ruler in a theocratic, centralised nation, while the Pharisees felt that the people themselves as a whole were the essence of Yahweh’s nation.” Alone among the sects, Sadducees believed Yahweh applied justice only in the present world and did not believe in life after death or a soul that lasted beyond the body. Following the destruction of the second temple the Sadducees would effectively disappear, while the Pharisees would gradually develop into the rabbinic faith. There were also cults such as the Zealots and Sicarii that proactively assassinated those Jews they deemed to be impure, blasphemers, or those who collaborated with the Roman civil authorities.
Self-described prophets, charismatics, and messiahs (anointed ones) were relatively common during this time. They roamed from town to town, speaking, arguing, debating, challenging, and performing miracles in order to attract a following. John “the Baptist” was one such man. He did not claim to be a “Son of God” but a prophet intermediating between Yahweh and his people. Andrew, one of Jesus’ disciples, was a follower and, most probably, even Jesus himself. “Once a pious life was achieved, then baptism followed, not as a means of gaining pardon for past transgressions, but as an affirmation of the start of a new life of right behaviour.” John was executed by Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee, around 30 A.D.. Many prophets were executed by the authorities not because of their particular messages, but because they were attracting too big of a following, which would be hard to control, corral, or put down. Jesus was unique in that he did not claim to be a prophet, but “one with Yahweh.” He claimed his “pronouncements were authoritative and of themselves.” The major break with all past Jewish tradition was for “Jesus [to] claim not to speak for Yahweh, but to be Yahweh’s son.”
Early Christians were still enmeshed in Jewish life. They would regularly visit established synagogues and try to convince their fellows that Jesus was the Messiah. Early Christianity presented itself as the correct interpretation of the Torah and would exclusively use Jewish scripture in debates. All of Jesus’ message was fully in line with the Pharisee practice of using oral traditions and the spirit rather than the letter of the law. Jesus kept entirely to Jewish law throughout his own life. Most Christians both kept the Sabbath and celebrated Sunday as the Day of Resurrection, where they would gather together, have a scriptural discussion, followed by a common meal, and, finally, take the Eucharist. The ideas of personal resurrection, the apocalyptic tradition, and the return to life of a martyred prophet were all in the mainstream for Judaic sects of the time.
Polytheists, unlike Jews, worshipped idols, whether a “family Lar (protective deity), an altar at a crossroads, a statue in a temple, or the home of a spirit such as a grove or stream.” There was always a physical point of devotion. This world of myth was completely shattered by the new cult of Christianity. While the Jews mainly kept to themselves and avoided proselytizing, Christians tried to spread their message. Paul commanded, “flee from idolatry. Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of polytheists are offered to demons.” For polytheists, Christianity struck them as a confusing Manichean world, with no nuance. It was an apocalyptic fight between good and evil. There were only two sides. One could no longer pick their god based on the particular situation and needs that suited one best. Christians were also accused of “activities such as cannibalism (reference to the easily misunderstood Eucharist of the body and blood of Christ) incest (all called each other ‘brother’ and ‘sister’) and sexual promiscuity (the kiss of peace).” Furthermore, Christians threatened the entire social fabric by refusing to pray to the Emperor. Thus, early Christians became a threat to the civil as well as spiritual sphere.
With the destruction of the second temple in 70 A.D., Christianity had to transform a difficult pivot. Most early Christians had fully expected Jesus to return in their lifetimes. Certainly with an apocalyptic event like the temple’s destruction, most expected the arrival of the Kingdom of God on earth immediately. In fact, for most early Christians this expectation was their foundational belief. As time passed, the End of Days went from the prime focus of Christianity to an event receding ever further into the future. Following 70 A.D., Christianity became a movement that focused on proselytizing to polytheists more than to other Jews and “god-fearers” (uncircumcised polytheist Jewish-“converts”). Christianity began to downplay its Jewish origins and took a more philosophical turn. It also became a more hierarchical sect, with designated leaders and followers, preparing for the long haul, instead of an imminent apocalypse. Whereas most of its early adherents were converted to Christianity through witnessing miracles, now the shift was towards reason and philosophical persuasion. Christians made appeals to the Platonic concept of the “daemon” or spark connected to the divine essence and even to the Stoic concept of the Spirit, “diffused through all things, and containing all things within himself.” The bishopric structure of the Church was also rigidly enforced. “A bishop was not only chosen by a congregation but also explicitly authorised by other bishops, who had, in turn, been authorised by previous bishops going back to the eyewitness disciples and apostles. This line of authority reaching back in theory to Jesus himself was intended to guarantee legitimacy and force of a bishop’s actions and words.” Christianity became more regimented and doctrinaire. There was less room for personal interpretation and dissent as the Church asserted its prerogative. The final pivot for the Christian religion occurred in 325 A.D. when Emperor Constantine, having converted, officially codified the Christian faith and proclaimed it as the official religion of the empire.
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