I disagree. there are those that speak up, but they are often demoted or banned from their church or community for doing so. I have met many who do speak up and I admire them for staying true to their beliefs in the face of repression. And, I am saying this from the vantage point of coming from a Jewish heritage. One of my mentors, a pro…
I disagree. there are those that speak up, but they are often demoted or banned from their church or community for doing so. I have met many who do speak up and I admire them for staying true to their beliefs in the face of repression. And, I am saying this from the vantage point of coming from a Jewish heritage. One of my mentors, a progressive rabbi had the following quote on his business card: “A rabbi ain’t a rabbi until he's run out of town.” I believe that may apply to Jesus, who was a rabbi, also.
Actually Jesus was a radical of his time and stood up against the corrupt Jewish priests who themselves were not following the “laws of Judaism.” It was the corrupt Jewish priests who asked the Romans to do something about Jesus the troublemaker. The romans actually built a guard tower next to the temple wall that was taller than the temple so they could keep an eye on the Jews and the priests cooperated with the Romans to “keep order."
Actually, all of these stories are without evidence, and were verbally repeated and written down hundreds of years after the events they were describing. So who knows what did happen. That so many people still hold them as truth, rather than parables. is problematic.
From what I can tell, even his works are open to interpretation, and were rewritten by others in places. History is always written by human beings with their biases and blind spots. Not to say that Jews weren't persecuted, and apparently Josephus helped with this, but there is no way of knowing what is truth and what is fiction with such an old document.
Zealot by Reza Anslan is an excellent historical account of Roman-occupied Judea, the Jews, including Jesus, who fought against that occupation, and how Jesus eventually became “Christ”.
He was against the people who ran the Temple and were greedy hypocrites. He also was for the poor, the outcasts, and outsiders. I would suggest people read Zealot (yes, by a Muslim scholar) which tells a lot about what was going on in first century Palestine and also about the fight between the brothers of Jesus in Jerusalem and Paul, who, unfortunately, in my opinion, prevailed.
Actually, this is open to interpretation. No one wrote about Jesus during his lifetime except for a Roman historian who lived in Rome named Josephus. The disciples did not write about him until decades later after the crucifixion and they did not always agree with each other. PBS Frontline has a good discussion on whether Jesus was a rabbi or not. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/rabbi.html It is not definitive but is a good discussion.
I disagree. there are those that speak up, but they are often demoted or banned from their church or community for doing so. I have met many who do speak up and I admire them for staying true to their beliefs in the face of repression. And, I am saying this from the vantage point of coming from a Jewish heritage. One of my mentors, a progressive rabbi had the following quote on his business card: “A rabbi ain’t a rabbi until he's run out of town.” I believe that may apply to Jesus, who was a rabbi, also.
I believe Jesus was a liberal of his time, standing against the old laws of Judaism.
Actually Jesus was a radical of his time and stood up against the corrupt Jewish priests who themselves were not following the “laws of Judaism.” It was the corrupt Jewish priests who asked the Romans to do something about Jesus the troublemaker. The romans actually built a guard tower next to the temple wall that was taller than the temple so they could keep an eye on the Jews and the priests cooperated with the Romans to “keep order."
Actually, all of these stories are without evidence, and were verbally repeated and written down hundreds of years after the events they were describing. So who knows what did happen. That so many people still hold them as truth, rather than parables. is problematic.
We have the historical writings of Josephus to substantiate the persecutions. That's just one source.
From what I can tell, even his works are open to interpretation, and were rewritten by others in places. History is always written by human beings with their biases and blind spots. Not to say that Jews weren't persecuted, and apparently Josephus helped with this, but there is no way of knowing what is truth and what is fiction with such an old document.
Zealot by Reza Anslan is an excellent historical account of Roman-occupied Judea, the Jews, including Jesus, who fought against that occupation, and how Jesus eventually became “Christ”.
He was against the people who ran the Temple and were greedy hypocrites. He also was for the poor, the outcasts, and outsiders. I would suggest people read Zealot (yes, by a Muslim scholar) which tells a lot about what was going on in first century Palestine and also about the fight between the brothers of Jesus in Jerusalem and Paul, who, unfortunately, in my opinion, prevailed.
And on Jesus' business card: “A rabbi ain’t a rabbi until he's crucified.”
"Jesus, who was a rabbi"
Although the Gospels sometimes call Jesus a rabbi, the term did not exist during his time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbi
Either did the term Christianity if I'm not mistaken. All the anti-semites who pray to a Jew named Jesus might want to give some thought to the irony.
Actually, this is open to interpretation. No one wrote about Jesus during his lifetime except for a Roman historian who lived in Rome named Josephus. The disciples did not write about him until decades later after the crucifixion and they did not always agree with each other. PBS Frontline has a good discussion on whether Jesus was a rabbi or not. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/rabbi.html It is not definitive but is a good discussion.