Theos-Talk Archives (May 2002 Message tt00122)

--- Bart Lidofsky <bartl@sprynet.com> wrote:
> From a Roman point of view, the Jews and the Jewish
> cult of the Failed
> Messiah (later to become Christianity) were
> terrorists
> Nero was not
> the monster that he has been painted as by history.
> His targeting of the
> Jews/Christians was not due to irrational hatred or
> calculating
> scapegoating, but due to his attempts to protect his
> empire.

That's an interesting take on it. Titus "protected"
Jerusalem the same way Ariel Sharon is trying to
"protect" the West Bank. I think what Nero was trying
to protect was his own narrow self interest, and not
the Empire. Egypt was in no danger from Jews (even
though there was a massive persecution of Jews at
Alexandria during the tenure of Gaius.) Gaul was in
no danger from Jews.

It is true that Jesus had an idea of turning Palestine
into a socialist commune after the Essene model, but
this could have been done under the vassalage of the
emperor. He had some idea that a miracle was going to
happen and the Romans would leave peacefully, but I
think he was pragmatic enough to cut a deal if he
could have amassed enough power to make it sensible
for the Romans to parley. It did not happen that way
so we will never know. It would have been a big
compromise for him, since his theology was that the
mysterious power behind all the thrones of the world,
especially Rome, was Satan. His followers had no
scruples about cutting a deal with Constantine, so
pragmatism did tend to emerge when idealism confronted
opportunity.

His main aim as an Essene was to bring down the Temple
cult in Jerusalem, which the Essenes had considered
illegitimate since the time of Antiochus V. To that
end he went around the country offering to forgive
sins more cheaply than the priests in Jerusalem and
telling people prayers for rain were a waste of money.
("He maketh his rain to fall on the wicked and the
just.") That is what he meant by "my yoke is easy." 
He wanted to be paid, but whereas the Temple was out
to bleed people dry, all Jesus wanted was a loaf of
bread, a jug of wine, and lodging for a single night. 
Come morning he was ready to hit the trail.

Had he left it at that, he would have died of old age.
Instead he started an ancient version of multi level
marketing. He taught others to do what he was doing
and encouraged them to start a downline. The Romans
had troops to seize taxes for them, but the Temple had
only belief. (Or superstition, depending on your
viewpoint.) A few thousand persuasive characters
could fan out across the countryside and bring the
Temple down without flashing a sword. That is why he
was arrested by soldiers of the high priest (not Roman
soldiers) and tried by the local sanhedrin. He was
not seriously threatening Roman interests, only Temple
interests. As it happened, the Temple was destroyed
by Titus in 70 C.E. and the cult of the Sadducees,
which had owned and operated the thing as a family
business for centuries, disappeared. That cleared the
way for the rise of the Pharisees, who are the
ancestors of modern rabbinic Judaism. They were in a
one down position before 70 even though they were more
popular with the peasants than the Sadducees. Even
though the Temple was destroyed by the Romans, the
early Christians took full credit for it as if it were
an act of divine intervention, for which see Origen's
CONTRA CELSUM and other documents. If Eastern legends
are true and he high tailed it for Srinagar after his
crucifixion, he was still alive when the Temple was
destroyed, and would have died a happy man, his
mission fulfilled. I don't think he died considering
himself a failure, although his own admirers say he
had a moment of despair when he was bring crucified
and it finally dawned on him the miracle he expected
was not forthcoming.

This anti Temple program was the reason for the
furious persecutions against his followers by the
Pharisees and Sadducees in the 40s and 50s. If the
Romans had not brought the Temple down, the Christians
would have for sure. But the early Christians were
not terrorists from what I have read. The whole point
of the thing was to get out of working for a living. 
If Peter had remained a fisherman, he could have
expected to live maybe 25 years tops. He was older
than any of the others when recruited, but probably
none of them were past 13 when they were first called,
since Peter was the only one married. If Matthew had
gone back to tax collecting, he might have seen 35. 
When the bishop of Antioch was burned alive by the
Romans, he was 82. That is what praying instead of
working did for them. Expecting an afterlife, they
nonetheless wanted to avoid it as long as possible. 
The writer of the Acts document frankly admitted that
this was true. He has a scene in which there was a
meal to be served and some of the priests were asked
to help out. They said in effect that they did not
get into this to wait on tables, and that they would
pray if anyone wanted any praying done, but that
someone else could do the work. That is why the
movement did not die out with the crucifixion. Peter
was looking at fishing for the rest of his life and he
said No way, Jose. Ditto with the others. That is
also why they jumped Judas from behind and murdered
him (while at the same time preaching forgiveness.) 
He got 30 pieces of silver out of it, and bought
himself some land, whereas all they got was the loss
of an easy livelihood. The fact that after Judas was
knocked down and disemboweled he was hanged implies
that he was also stoned, since that was the ancient
practice. So much for forgiving your neighbor seventy
times seventy times.

All of that is documented in ancient books, but since
it does not serve the interests of popes, homosexual
pedophiles, and televangelists, has been skillfully
obfuscated since those documents were written. The
truth is far more interesting than the myth. It is
also more respectful to ancient authors to not try to
distort what they said.

As for Tacitus' statement that the Christians were an
"abomination," he also said the Pythagoreans were "a
filthy herd" and used similar epithets on everyone
else who did not worship Jupiter, Juno, and Ceres. 
Tacitus was a bigot.

Steve


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