The History of the Bible - Section III

1.      Apocalyptic Times

By the Roman times, the followers of Judahism must have had a number of questions that the Old Testament – the Bible to them – could not answer.  After all, Judahists had now had hundreds of years to contemplate their relationship to Yahweh.  The results of their musings must necessarily have been confusing.  For instance: 

a)     Was Yahweh omnipotent?  Were the Gods of other peoples real? 

b)     If Yahweh was the ultimate God, why wasn’t Judah/Israel a free, independent nation?  (The territory had been conquered by a series of empires, including Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome.)

c)      Didn’t Yahweh make a deal with the people to provide them with land?  Did Yahweh break the deal, or did his people break the deal?  Or was the deal still intact? 

d)     Was the covenant with an entire people, or was it with each individual amongst the people?

e)     What was there to look forward to in the future?   Would the religion fade away?  What did the future hold for the Chosen People? 

f)        Why did Yahweh require ritual sacrifice at the altar of the Temple? 

g)     Whose priests knew the correct rules of the religion: Israel or Judah?

There were so many questions, and suddenly there was a wide array of answers.  Perhaps the Messiah – prophesized by the Old Testament in a roundabout manner – was coming.  Perhaps the understanding of the religion needed modification.  Maybe they all had it wrong?

Figure 8.1: Calendar of dates:

2.      The New Testament

The New Testament was a left turn for a sleepy religion with a substantial, but still fairly limited, following. 

During the 600 years the Torah had existed, Judahism had not grown exponentially.  True, it had grown, but several factors inhibited its growth.  First, Judahism was the religion of Judah, a very small patch of land.  It had not been exported to other regions because Judah was not an independent and expanding nation.  It was currently a Roman territory, and Rome had its own state religion.  Second, by the traditions of the Old Testament, the religion frowned upon intermarriage, especially marriages in which the wife was not a Judahist (Ezra ??).  Thus it didn’t expand as a result of territorial conquest or intermarriage, and population growth in the region was not significant.  There were a few pockets of Judahists outside of Judah, but these were not so large as to account for much growth.  However, the religion otherwise had several important things going for it.  There was an established scripture, which had survived for a millennium.   It postulated one God, which had made a covenant with mankind.  This message was a powerful platform from which to expand, as we shall see.

The New Testament centers around the stories of Jesus, and the role of his followers in establishing a new religion based on a much older one.  Jesus was born “Yeshua” in the Hebrew, which has been anglicized to Jesus by way of the Greek version of his name (Iesus).  From the Hebrew to English directly, Yeshua is Joshua.  So Jesus and Joshua are really derived from the same name.  We will use the more common name Jesus here. 

The New Testament was written originally in Greek, the most popular second language of the Mediterranean at the time.  However, Jesus’ native tongue was Aramaic.  Jesus was a Judahist, and worshipped Yahweh.  He presumably knew Hebrew, as he was apparently versed in the Old Testament.  It is possible, but not likely, that Jesus spoke Greek; it would have been his third language.  Therefore, we would conclude that the words attributed to Jesus in the New Testament were translations from Aramaic to Greek of the things he actually said.

The New Testament writings used a device common to the Old Testament writers: the new message made direct reference to older writings as a way to establish their legitimacy.  Much of the message of the New Testament fits in nicely with Judahist traditions.  Again and again, it is made clear that the God of the New Testament is the God of the Old Testament (although he is no longer called Yahweh).  Initially, the newer, more expansive role of Judahism as seen by the Jesus sect was in keeping with contemporary practice, and was probably no more radical than some of the other Judahist sects. 

For example, the Pharisees were a popular Judahist sect during Jesus’ life.  The Pharisees shared many religious ideas with the Jesus sect, including the idea that a messiah – descended from the Davidic line – would soon come.  They believed the messiah had been prophesized in the Old Testament book of Daniel, as well as other writings.  The Jesus sect obviously saw that person in Jesus, while the Pharisees did not.  In fact, Jesus’ line of descent from David is given twice (differently, in Matthew 1 and Luke 3) to drive this point home. 

Ultimately, the result was a new religion with a new twist: accept (most of) the existing Old Testament, but extend it with contemporary ideas from a messiah (Jesus) even holier than Moses himself!

So this naturally raises the question: is the religion based on the Jesus sect a form of Judahism?  Did later Christians appropriate the Old Testament for the establishment of a new religion?  True enough, the Old Testament is fundamental to Christianity.  (Later attempts by some Christians to separate the Old Testament from Christianity failed.)

It is not our job here to answer this question.  In fact, it may be more a question of semantics.  But it seems that what was a sect during Jesus’ life did in fact become a distinct religion within a relatively short time, less than a hundred years.  And yet it shared perhaps 75% of its scripture with another religion, that of Judahism.

The New Testament writers use the rules of scriptural authorship brilliantly.  Again and again, the arrival of Jesus is seen as final step in a series of steps tracing back over a thousand years.  Wherever possible, reference is made to Old Testament sources.  Wherever possible, a prophecy is to be read into the Old Testament; then, the prophesized event occurs in the New Testament.  Direct quotes are even taken from the Old Testament and inserted in the New Testament.  This could not easily be accomplished without the assistance of a learned student of the Old Testament. 

The New Testament consists primarily of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and the Pauline Letters.  Other important books include Acts and Revelations.  The Gospels tell the story of the life of Jesus.  The Pauline letters, along with Acts, tell the story of the early Christians over a period of about 35 years after the death of Jesus.  Revelations is an apocalyptic vision of the future.  As with the Old Testament, we do not know who really wrote the different books (with the exception of many of the Pauline Letters, which were written by Paul).

(Note: from here on out, we will refer to Judahists as Jews, as the Judahist religion begins its transformation into Judaism.)

Figure 9.1: Calendar of dates:

The turmoil of the period during Jesus’ life and soon after his death resulted in a great upheaval in Judahist religious thought.  There was room for a new message, and Jesus had it.  Jesus must have realized that the chains holding back the growth of the worship of Yahweh was directly related to its roots as a regional religion. 

Judahism was based around an ancient temple in Jerusalem, at the north of Judah.  True, there were vibrant Judahist communities in other areas, including Turkey and Egypt.  But its roots were regional, and the strict practice of Mosaic Law (i.e. following the Torah) meant that the population could not intermarry as a means to expand.  Conversion was possible, but men were required to be circumcised to convert; this hindered expansion significantly.

In much of the rest of the Roman Empire, there was a religious vacuum at the time.  The Romans were not strong advocates of their own religion; did not insist that conquered nations convert to their religion; and in fact had stolen most of the ideas for their religion directly from the Greeks.  (In many ways, the emperor was considered a deity.)  Being expedient, the Romans tolerated the Judahists.  So the religion of the Roman Empire was effectively regional in nature as well, being strong in Italy and not really being exported to the areas subservient to Rome.  In return, the Judahists (like practitioners of religions in other conquered nations) did not rock the boat.  But the opportunity existed for someone who could see the vacuum and come up with a better idea. 

The solution was a universal religion with a universal message: love thy neighbor.  And you don’t have to be born into the religion to be a member: the religion is in your heart.  The covenant is between God and the individual, not between God and a nation of people.  What better messages for nations that had previously been at war with each other?

Jesus was the seed of a new religion: universality was its message.  The chains were now released, and the events that followed Jesus’ death were to be the catalyst for subsequent explosive growth.  (That growth would be unparalleled for another 600 years, until the arrival of another universal religion, Islam.) 

When the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the Judahists lost their anchor.  The Jesus sect grew rapidly, as it was obvious that the old-line Judahist message had lost its luster.  Jesus had gone up against the Judahist establishment and lost (having been crucified), but the Christians had the last laugh when the Temple was destroyed.  Maybe God sided with these new Christians!  Judahism – as it was – essentially ceased to exist shortly afterwards.  The religion had to evolve once again, and it did (we shall see in Chapter 13 that it became Rabbinic Judaism).  But while it was reinventing itself, Christianity – the religion of the Jesus sect – had been given a golden opportunity to become the premier religion of monotheists.

The Life of Jesus

There is really no question that a person named Jesus actually lived.  By the standards of historical documentation appropriate for the time, the New Testament meets the standards required for us to accept that Jesus was a historical figure.  (This is certainly true if we accept that Moses was an actual person, or that David was the father of Solomon, etc.  After all, we know these individuals solely through the Old Testament.)  There are many ancient historical figures that are known from a single source.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a small town in Judah about 10 miles from Jerusalem.  He was raised in Nazareth, a city to the north in Galilee.  He was born about 4 BCE.  Some question Bethlehem as the site of Jesus’ birth.

During the time of Jesus, there were a number of Judahist sects.  These included the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Essenes, and any number of other offshoots.  As mentioned previously, Judahism was in a state of flux, and there was some question as to what practices were essential to the practice of the religion.  In one such sect, baptism was practiced.  Jesus himself fell under the influence of a Jewish priest who engaged in this practice: John the Baptist.

Ultimately, Jesus founded his own sect (or perhaps took over John’s after he was killed).  As mentioned above, he added his own message to the existing Judahist thought: a universal covenant.  Like some others, he practiced and preached outside the traditional priestly structure; he was an independent.  Although he was very familiar with the Old Testament, he had not been trained officially as a Jewish priest.  His message struck a chord, and he gained adherents.  He was probably what we would call a “charismatic” speaker, for he seems to have come out of nowhere in a very short period of time.  He was able to attract attention to himself by way of his brash statements, which questioned the orthodoxy of the priests of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Others had these questions, too, but Jesus was a powerful spokesman for the cause.

At some point, his stature grew sufficiently that he posed a threat of some kind to the priests.  Had Jesus not taken the next step of opposing the religious authorities directly, he might not have been crucified.  The New Testament states Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, which was offensive to both the priestly establishment and the Romans.  This seems contrived; perhaps he committed a specific crime of some sort, a la David Koresh (Waco, Texas, 1993).  At any rate, the priests found a pretext to have him tried as a criminal under Roman authority, and he was executed at the age of 37.

The Life of Paul

It certainly appears that when Jesus was martyred, growth of the Jesus sect was not the intended result expected by the Judahist authorities.  But in the short term, they succeeded and the followers of Jesus laid low.  But additional converts came quickly, especially in outlying areas relative to Judah, areas where Jewish authority was diminished.  One of these converts was Paul.

If Jesus was a religious genius, then Paul was too.  Where Jesus had conceived the message, Paul spread the message.  He created self-sustaining congregations of believers, most of who were Gentiles.  It was Paul who turned the repressed Jesus sect into a new religion, Christianity.

Once the message left Judah, it spread like wildfire.  Within a short time, numerous writings appeared documenting Jesus and the new religion.  Greek was an international language at that time, and the writings that appeared were in Greek.  This allowed them to be passed easily from one community to another.  The budding Christian communities remained in close contact with each other.

Within 50 years of the death of Jesus, key elements of his life had taken on a new dimension.  Two critical elements appeared which seem to have no direct bearing on his universal message, and which are not in keeping with the Judahist traditions: his immaculate conception (before birth) and physical resurrection (after death).  Interestingly, Paul does not mention these.  They show up first in the Gospels, at least two generations after Jesus died.

The Church

There exists a significant amount of information about the growth and development of the early church.

-The golden rule

-The 11^th commandment

- God of everyone

3.      Pauline Letters

The Pauline Letters (the Letters of Paul) were written prior to the Gospels, and we shall review them first accordingly.  This may seem strange, as the Gospels take us into the stories of Jesus directly.  It would seem that we should start with the life of Jesus before studying what Paul wrote in his efforts to expand the reach of Jesus.  But this would be a mistake, as the Gospels were clearly influenced by Paul’s work, if indirectly.

Paul (born Saul) was a Greek-speaking Jew from Turkey.  He converted to the Jesus sect after Jesus’ death.  He was an apostle (definition??) who helped start Christian congregations in numerous cities within the Roman Empire, especially in Turkey and Greece.  He traveled widely, and his writings were crucial to the development of Christianity.  His special focus was bringing Gentiles into the new religion.

Paul spoke and wrote in Greek, the language spoken in much of the eastern portion of the Roman Empire at that time.  As mentioned previously, all of the writings of the New Testament were originally written in Greek.  Although the official language of the Roman Empire was Latin, many of the lands under Roman domination had previously been under Greek domination.  Since Greek had an alphabet, and the Greeks had dominated the Mediterranean for hundreds of years, it had become a de facto international language.  In most civilized areas outside of Greece, it was either the first or second language of a substantial portion of the populace. 

This was especially true of Jewish settlements outside of Judah, such as where Paul was raised.  The translation of the Old Testament into Greek had been performed about 200 BCE.  This translation was the Septuagint, which was available for those Jews who could not speak Hebrew.

Unlike the other books of the Bible, which are considered to be anonymous, the Pauline Letters have a known author.  Most of the Pauline Letters are actually ascribed to Paul.  Taken as a group, the letters form a comprehensive body, which describe Paul’s travels and reasonably crosscheck with extra-Biblical sources.  The letters range in time from about 50 CE to 65 CE.  These letters, also called epistles, are the earliest surviving writings of the New Testament.  The Gospels were written 25 or more years later.

How do we know this?  Shouldn’t we accept that the Gospels were written earlier, since they purport to describe Jesus in an eyewitness format?  The answer is no.  The Gospels were not considered to be eyewitness reports when they were written. 

Most people today believe the Gospels are eyewitness reports because of the names of the four Gospels, which coincide with names of four of the disciples who were actual eyewitnesses to the story of Jesus.  But these were not the authors of those Gospels.  The names were attached 50-100 years after they were written.  The actual authors of the Gospels are unknown.

As will be seen in the next chapter, there are a number of additional reasons to conclude that the Gospels were written after 70 CE.  On the other hand, Paul’s undated letters fit within the time span before the destruction of the Temple (in 70 CE).  So they must have preceded the Gospels.

Figure 10.1: Calendar of dates:

Early congregations had been established outside of Judah in cities in Greece (Corinth, Thesselonia), Turkey (Ephesus, Galatia), and even Rome.  Paul and others traveled from congregation to congregation, sharing experiences, assisting as possible, providing moral support, and helping to define the religious theory of the young and growing cult.  There was a lot of work to do.  Boundaries had to be drawn around the ideas that would become Christianity.

For example, did converts need to follow the Torah?  Practices such as circumcision and observance of the Sabbath were required of Judahists.  After significant debate, it was decided that the practices of the Torah were not essential to the practice of Christianity.  This was determined at a council held in Jerusalem in 49 CE, in which a compromise was achieved.  This was a crucial decision, because it affected the ability of the apostles (especially Paul) to attract new converts.

Fortune (some would call in divine intervention) smiled on Paul, and his work on behalf of the budding religion paid off handsomely.  His impact was threefold: 1) he helped establish the Greek-speaking branches, well outside the area of Judah; 2) his writings helped in the recruitment of new members, especially Greek-speaking Gentiles; and 3) when the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE, the Christian congregations outside Judah were in a position to continue their growth, while the Jews themselves were nearly destroyed (eliminating the competition, so to speak). 

The third point is doubly important, because to many within the religion, the destruction of the Temple was considered to be the fulfillment of prophecy (or at a minimum, “just desserts” for the Jews who had opposed Jesus and his followers).  Even so, the war between the Romans and the Jews (which the Romans won) was no great boon to the Christians.  After all, there was guilt by association, and the Jews and the Christians were associated.  However, the Christians had no trouble swallowing the destruction of the Temple, since it was a source of embarrassment to them.  Who needs a temple anyway?  The Judahists would have to learn how to get around this, but the Christians were steps ahead.

Paul’s Travels

Paul traveled extensively within the Roman Empire.

-The importance of Paul to Christianity

-What Paul wrote about Jesus

Paul’s Ideas

It is fascinating to realize that many of the ideas for which Christianity is known today were brought forth in a very short period of time – maybe twenty years – and that Paul brought them to us.  These ideas shaped a new religion, and are still familiar to us today.  Some of these ideas are:

-          Church

-          Holy spirit

Some of these ideas may not have been original to Paul personally.  However, he is responsible – at a minimum – for recognizing their significance, assembling the ideas into a coherent document, and putting that document into the hands of the early congregations.

Religious Ideas Introduced Around This Time Period

4.      The Gospels

There is one overriding reason that the Gospels are dated after 70 CE: they refer to the destruction of the Temple in one manner or another.  This information could not have been anticipated before 66 CE at the earliest (when the war between Judah and Rome began).  For example, there are references in the Gospels seemingly predicting the fall of the Temple (Matthew ??, Mark ??, Luke ??).  The only reasonable explanation for this is that the Temple had already been destroyed.

Figure 11.1: Calendar of dates:

What difference does it make? (From New American Bible)

What difference does it make?

Religious Ideas Introduced Around This Time Period

5.      Christian Canon

By 100 CE, the Pauline Letters, the Gospels, and Acts had been written.  But so had dozens, if not hundreds, of other works documenting the life and teachings of Jesus and the apostles of the early church.  It was now necessary to determine the actual lineup that would become the Bible.  There was still new works being written, and some of them were unofficial candidates for inclusion in the Bible.  These include the so-called catholic, or general letters, and Revelations, which were later determined to be canonical.

The early congregations did not initially think of the New Testament writings as the New Testament, a specific set of books of the Bible.  For one thing, each congregation had its own definition of which writings were considered sacred scripture. 

This left open the possibility that each congregation would develop independently, and that the Christian messages would become distorted and diluted.  Soon, representatives from the larger congregations were debating the pros and cons of different writings, hoping to reach a consensus as to which works were scriptural.  This was a debate that would last over two hundred years before being settled.

During this time, the early Catholic Church came into existence.

Figure 12.1: Calendar of dates:

-           

Religious Ideas Introduced Around This Time Period