Saint Saul: a skeleton key to the historical Jesus

<>hippers ",he we", well ",ad in Gree ' phi l"'_ op/Iy _ ,och 0' the great Phiko Jutraction' So. although t'" Yahweh_faith in it> mo>t comenti"".1 forms (.uch ., ombodied by the rri<''' I)" .,.. bliu,"","t ) did not o""oorago ,pecu lation .bout Y"'weh', nature, _ abedio""e W:ll the wlItch ... ortl _ the ,-or)" natu", of the "",'onant with Him and t'" m.terial contained in the earhost scripture, p<<>"ided. ,ubtorr.nean manda te to try to del, ne more accurate l), the nature of divinit)" 1be ' ey here i, to ",.Iire the .n""ing range that .peculation .. _ ,umod in lato Second Tom ple times: ranging from Hellenized theolojly that turned Y"'woh vir1ually into. Platonic form. to. dar •. weight),. demanding a""'tic f"",e wor,;h ippe< Di ..pora groop''''ho came to some ac traditional Y"'woh figure .. 20d and in thei r temple .1", Oad a fen",1e god .., coo><>tt).' And ... Sako Baron once noted. it ...., to be expected that in many Di:llp<>ra ,ituatw..,. the ~od of Judah i,m c."", to be thought of .. more or 10.. Mknti _ c.1 ... ith the ,u pre"", loc.1 deity.' Now. undeni.bl),. man)" (indeed. p
F..xciling Tim .. . " If many of tbe ,.,...iotion. of Se=nd Temple Judahi,m were determined by the , .. rying way. religio." thinkers responded to tbe d .."ic q"""ion. COrl· ceming the nature of tbe co',elW1t. the «mplate> for some tOl.lly new ide",_ re.f'OO"" to "",.. question' _ were being c." , Some of tbe", ide", were taken up lator b), Christi.n .nd Jewish .uthaitie> (sometime. by both.) I say ··ne,..·· : be ,o I me.n ide •• th.t la, far •• pr"",ntly .vailable e" ideoce indi _ c.tes) eit ...... had 001 pre,';oo,I), be we", "'"'' to Judahi,m. 001 """"ssarily to "'her coligi""" of the Near E",t. Moot of them .ppear .fter tbe ,ededication of tbe Second Temple in t6.\ "CEo and the rise of the H"mo".. n d)'"asty and the roughly ,>0 year. of Jude." iudependence, And in the early Commoo Ern the", ide., circulated .nd. li~e ccomponent< .Wwn arou"d the floor of >om< great do-it_your>e lf g .... ge . they were put togotbe , in "range and wonderfol combination, b), religion. i",,,,,_ ton. Fin.lly. in the fi"t generation 0.- two .f"" tbe Temple was vinually lev_ elled. tbe most ",,,'ice.ble of these new ide •• were fit tog«I> wo.-Id view were put together . fter ]<> n .• t j">t tbe time tbe y .. hu._faith w"" eme'l'ing to become Chri>tianity. So. jo" .t the moment tbe Chri"i." write" I<>pe< .utl-.or..,dit0C5 of the Go'pe l,) were ""'ing out for their own Christian communiti .. what they bodie"ed .bout Jesu._the_Chri>! and "here thi> fit into the boundari .. of tl>< Yahweh_f.ith. the)' were , im"I .. _ "",,",Iy ",niog do,.-n . uthait.ti,'e ,'e"ion. of wh.t y .. hu. of Nazareth believed about the ,,",ure of the Almighty .nd .bou t the uni,w..,. "",n and u",",en. One become, ,'ery """'''''' .boot the r,,,,,1 p,oduct ",be" 0,., notice • • 'im ple fact .boot tbe Gospe l" the .utl-.or~i t "'" of the Four Gospel. I~'" o,'enly di;:agree with Y",hua, So. "" the ,o ,f""" the .it uation i. thi>: tl>< Gos_ »fl • • gree with Ye.llO., Ho,.-o,.... an)' .len hi"ori .n will immediately ,ug_ g"'t .n oJk'"'"'ti..., "atoment of tlte ,ituation: Yoshu. i. made to .gr"" with the ,uthor_edito" of tl>< Gos»fl" That. ob,'iou.ly. i, • problom. Pu,h it .. ide for the mon",nt. but I.:eep in mind that it i• • n i"oo th.t """",,,-iI, owry qoo" for the man behind Chri"ianity. A. on e.. mplo of the "'.y new (0.- in this ""wi.h) ide.s could circul.te within latpr S.. of two f.i thful followe .. of Yahweh. the ooe. an eighty_nine year old >< ' iho.

c.""

"

•

TH .... OOlD 0.' H U L AND H I HU A

Eleazar. and ,he ",he" a mo,her .rId her >e>'"" """'. All in ,hi. c.", .re ki lk-p<>iler of leru.alem.rId profaner of ,he Temp le. 1he book of 4 Maccabee, i•• beau'ifully f'Oli,hed p""'" of exposi' ory p""". ,.-.; nen by a fo lk",.-er of Yahweh. "'hose fIT" I.n _ ~ua2e ..... Greek. """",ime between 6)"n arid JOICE, Whe,her hi. home "'3S in AIe,andria in E2YP' or in An,ioch in Syria h.. been" manerof schol _ ..-1)' deba", : al"",' cen.inly i, w"" not Jorusal<m or any pia« in Pab,i,",. The i. a ,urpri'ing. ledoc,i",. anful c"",'ruc,ion. It beBin. by an _ oouocin~ il>e lf as a philo>ophical "'l'urnen' . of ,he 2",cefu l son in wh",h the au,hor employ. ,he word '"1"" ", i,Ooo' ei'her embarrassmen, or being .. If_ ,-,un'in2 . Purely Greek. ooe mi~h"h i n k . Bu,. very qu"'kly. ,he .u,hoI breaks .way: Reason i. described .. be ing the foreo 'hOI m.k", <>DO cOoo.e. life of Wi>dorn .• nd ,ha'. ,0" .u,hor "'l''''''. i. e,ac,ly ",hat ,0" La", doe • . So... minimum ..... highest G"", k vinue •• re "'Iu.,ed ", i,h ,he higo"" lulioc' impr"'.;"'n 'hat <>bed",nce '0 Yah",eh', law i. a ,ubsuming yin"". encompassing. at Ie." for ,he Coo.en Poople .• 11 ,he Gre"k yinu ... and more. Thi. openin2 ""Iuence . ".bli,o"d. ,il< au,hoI "ep,; bad and. "' if we wore ,' i ewin~. ci""ma,ic ><"kl >daman,ly rejects ,he idea. Ho di.. 00rri _ bly on the rock U Macc. 6:18-)1). In 4 Macc.beo •. ,hi. acNam< hi,toric.1 momen' and same SOU"" (> ~lacc. 7:1--./l ). ,ha, of ""Yen "'others and their mother (all unnamed) ,onured by An,ioch"", 1he", "ories ore run ,ogOlo"r in 4 MacOle compelling """au", the au,hoc ere .... dio_ iD!l"" fo r ,he marty".nd 'heir '""",,n'on. Ii.... ,ha' are Bond eoough ' 0 ,ako from ,he pago ri~hl in'o • G",,* 0< Rom.n amphi,hea're. YOl. 4 Macrabees end. nOl wi,h ,he .ymmeuy of Greok o-'rository pros< (wh >rh. in ,he u,ual in,tan
,<X,

''''Y

_TO_

F..xciling Tim .. . 1J

n.e great ""h ie,'ement of 4 M>crabee. as a pi",e of J>f"ua,ion i, ,ha, it 'urns up,ide_down what. G"",k_influeoced audOe""e of time (.00 • modem audience u well) woold hav" expec,ed , no. p,uh one oxpect< i, an argumen' ,ha, would jus/if)' following ,he La", of ~I","" bee. use III., La ... w.., conOn .00 Vinue in G r", k J>hiIO>Ophie>. Instead. by >I.pping the reader "iolent l)' with histonc. 1 O\'en1>. the point i, made ,h., ""tual, 001 .I»,=t) good behav;",r. octu.1 ron,,,,1 of the I',,,,ion •. "",ual rejediting the coocepl' of Reason and \r,n",,_ not the Olher wa)' ,,",uOO. Thu,. III. book of 4 Mocc.bee, .imullan""",I), implies the compa'ibili'y of the miOO of Greece and the religion of Yah ...eh , while establi'hing the rrimacy of the latter. Within th is IOxt _ read it. it". too comJ>flling to mi,,' _ two ide .. are taken for gran,ed. 0"'" ,ha, "'" not fouOO in lIIe ori~inal c;.,oe,i._King< peoni"" of the Old Testament. but wh ich in ,he two or III"", centuries before 'he de>1llJC_ tion of the SeroOO Tempi" were taken ul' by a ,""-;ely of Judab ist reli~ i "", grooJ>'_ One of these i, II>;, ,1oc'nM Cept i. unfoclIS5ed (doe. the immortality of lIIe sou l imply the "'''''''''tion of the body'). bIlt it unmist.kably i•• ffinned. (See 4 Mace. 14 :~---6. 16 :, J. t T 13 .• ud "I"'0iall), ,8:2J-' 5.) s...'ec, 17:11). no. martyr Eleazar. ju" at th" poin' of de,lII.., hi, flesh i.boeing burned from hi, bone •. tum, hi, e),e> he,wnwaru and crie. "",- "Yoo ~no",. 0 GOO. ,hat though I coold ha,.., .. ,'ed Ol),se lf r am dying in fi",), tonnen" for 'he ••ke of the Law, Be me",iful to )'ou r peoJll. aud let our pun i'hn"'nt be • >ati. fac,i"" on the ir beh"lf. Make m)' blood thei, pu rifICation and uk< m)' lif" a, • r"lI>Om fo.theirs' (4 Mace. 6:17-19). Thi, i, nOl ,he .. me lIIing.., til< doc'nne ewn'u_ ally c",",ed by Chri.tianit), _ ,hat of. di"ine man_goo', blood being spilled for ,he .al" at"'n of iudiyKlual, _ but one "' .... , what i, in the ai, : .moog « r_ tain Judah;',. , cooce of Chri"iani'y. F..arlOer. I mentioned ,h., ,he ~o""ral treOO within Judahi.m of the Se<:ond Tem[>le era " '•• towards an ioc",a.ingly clear fOf!1l of monotheism (a ll the tim< £ranting ,ha, ,i ~nif,c.nt f"",ions of the Y.hweh_faith had gotten off the

d,,,

,he""

'4

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

historical orain at J>Oints of their OY,-n choosin~ and wore .ffrrming earl;" r form> of tile ""ity. . . fOlllld in tho boob of Gene.is_King'i. Thi. trend toword. an iocre"'ingiy ""linition of Yahwoh', c""""'ter hod its odYll"tll~' (it pl.ced Yahweh .bo.'e the ,'"Igar fray of the pagan god'i. but it ..-as Ie" ... i.fying emolionally to many (probabl)' most) Yahweh_wonhipp<" th.n tho old day • . ,,'hen Yah~ 'OTlality, So. in what can be con,KIen.>d •• tile emolional "'lu i,.,lent of Newtonian phy.ic" tile th i n~e". the religioo. in'''"t'''' of tOe lator Second Tomple era. compensated for Yahweh'. becoming incre .. in~ly remolo by in"odocing an ontire rango of ['gure, and CO"""pI' that wore. if n'" palpable. at 1005t coocei,-.ble in human term., He"" '" an example, TIOlo tile toXl of one of tile lowe>l_tomperature religiou, book. to be producod in later Sccor.d Temple time •. tile Book of lubile .. , (n.e reader acrepl>. I hope ...... the reason. J am u.ing actua l contomporary texts •• illustration. of tile J>Oin" thill I am "'guing are. first. that they .", hard e"i _ ""nee. and. "",ond. that tile "'x" or< like the photographic pl.te, u>cd by .ubatomic phy,icist" they f"",ze in a moment in time "''' of .."nts thal. 0"" time. are in frenzted interaction,) TOe Book of lubiie;,. de.,,,,,,. to be moch beltor known than it i., I""'iru larly bee.use it was wi""l)" u.ro in lator Socond Temple time".nd bee.u", it re,'eal. cenain ''''ry important J>Oints .bout the history of tile penoo, It. title refo". in the fi rst in,"""". to time that i, metc ,,>d in ··j ubi""".» that i •• peri _ ods of fort)"_nine yo." ("""en ··w«"» of """n yea"i. that are fo llowed in tile f, ft ieth yoar by " m.jor ,abbatic. l. It i •• big boo!; and appropriately enough, it i. di"ided into [,fly chapte", Liko many other .... Y' in re ligiou. in,'entio" of thi> period. it adopts the outl i"", of.n oxi"ing toXl. bot lubi""" doe. thi. TIOl >0 much to reyi", tOe con"'nt of the original toXl .. to ooooor it. n.e Book of lubilee., the refore. de.l. with hi"orical material foond in tOe ""ntateuch, bot begin. by ropairing what ha.d long been one of the ptoblem, of the so-c.11ed Book. of Mo",,, although from the mOd _fifth ",ntury BCE ""word. """" (oot oot .11) lodahill. ascribed the first f,,'o boo!;, of tOe scripture, to M""". reforen",. to ~1"",, " al loged . utboo-.hip wore mud.d)" at be" within tile toXl. n.e ko)" im'rotion of tho Book of lubi""" t.k.. care of that rroblem immediately, n.e author begin' with Mose. going up the moont.in to obt.in the stone t.blots from Yah .."h.nd then he has Mo><' . pend fony day • • nd forty ni~hts in the rre>eoce of the Almighty, God te ll, him. "Set )""' mind on o'''I),thing which I ,h.lltoll),oo on this "","nlain. "nd write it in • book " ." (Iun t ' S),> Later. the Almighty ""1"'te, an .ngel to write oo... n for ~1 0",. the hi"o!)' of the world from creation onward> (Iub. t :17 ). Thi. i • • bit ronfu,ing. but the ,urn i. d b), God to an ango l woo thon pa.sed the book on to Moses.

:>bs""':l

w""

F..xciling Tim .. . 15 1herefore the oredential, of tile Book of lubil"". _ its f)(monance. as it wore _ are moch "[(',,~or th.n """" of the Pentatouch. Put .., ox plicit ly. this implied claim sou",h ,hrill and . Iightly egomaniac.l. YOlo in tone. tbe Boo ~ of lubil"". i. rem.orhbly maller-<>f· fact and .Imost devoid of ""'t",ical exce.se •. 1he new beliefs it introdoce •• re hmilt'tl. W .... o,'er wrolo it w••• good tin korer.• minor historic. 1 re" i,ioni". btlt 001 0 grea' im-ento<. '" 1he importance of lubilee> lies in the way it force. u. to road OIher """. 1he Boo ~ of J"bil"" .... 0. <>cluded both from the Ho""'w Biblo .nd from tbe Christian de"tero-caOOlian an indicator of Jndahi>1 thou~ht in ,he la'o r Socooo Temple period the lext m ight wlian o"ro.lon of pre_Christian Jowi,h m.nu", rip" took thei r re.pon,ibi litie. very ",riooSt Je ... i>h ",hoi"" to be a Chri"ian fOljler)". YOlo it w"" foond in of the olel'en QIlmran oal'e •. which mean, that it W:ll among the """'-tributc..J of ,he <xlr.>_biblical m.nu",ripts in the OIlm.-.n col"",t;"n" " Funhe r. the ide. of the BooI; of Jubi l.." (and. therefore. ooe infers. some form of the text it..,lf) W", known to P.ul . nd to ,he .uth"" of Luke. ACl>. ]a"", •. Hobre ...... nd 1 PNer, '> [n _ deed. ,",,,ide the F'entateoch .nd the Prophets. lubilee, m.y hal'e bee n amoog the mo" wido ly_read Judahi .. le,l> in the early years of the Cornmoo Er., (Althou~ h the Book of Jubi l"". i, cited in the Dama""u, R"le of the ,hi, 00., not mean that it document of any 'poeif'" religi"'" pany,) 1he lWlIlor. i, ""'!TIS. i •• Ie.rned and roocerned member of the Judahi>! rommuni'y. who i, a' peace ... ith hi. co-religioni ... 00 """'" matter>. So. if we i U""pose the c.lm.OO " with t be fae' that tile ,'Olume wu ,'ory ... idely read. and ,herefore repre..,n" wmething more ,han. product of •• ingle ..,ct. ,hen we hal'e something unu.ual: a qui_ OIly normal pi""" of re ligioo. wri'ing. producod by • well_informed. coo_ cerned. bu, noI.~ita'od. follo..-or of Yahweh who hl'e. in the home land. Ye' nolo wha' j., i, willing to do . • 00 witl>oot he.itation or omb.rn",ment : ,..hlll ~m ,uPf'Oudiy 'N mo.' JOc,.,d, me" im'iolab/, f'O'" of Ih, Heb,.,,.. ,cn'plure •. Ho doe. noth ing I"" ,h.n c""'-"Ct ,lie lIook> of M"", •. Ju_ bilee. i •. therdoro. a Parallel_Torah. ,ul"'OOo- in au,hority (""'.use i, "'t", lly "''''' ".n.m illod. so the toxt "y'. by the haOO, of M""".) '0 tbe o lder one.

SO"""" . '"

,,,,,iI

r""

"".. ne.'·

"""i"

..-u.

,6

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' H U L AND H I HU A

Thi. C•• " • very la'E" ,hadow 0'''' tt., traditional ide. that tbe Helxew scriptu re. (at I,,"'t tbe Pent.teuch and the Propt.,tsl ... ere in,'iol.ble """red writ ...ell before tho Commoo Era, n.e BooL of Jubi~, (.rd ..,"eral of the "''- te." I h3\'e di5till rem.in within the fold. It i... if the ..,,'eral re_inv"nteft of Judahi>! historical traditioo. all IUbscribed to the OOmi"ure of old loy.lty ... d new !<>vi.ion i,rm that i...",!ted in the "I"'nin2 words of one of tt., gre.t in"'"ti,'e d.ocument5 in the English langu'2e. the Pr'yc.• nd the other ac _ com pli.hing. thcOOicy, n.e fir:st of the.., . • Parallel_Torah. i, intended to tum the old Torah only. fe ... deg"'''' .nd th i, ocronling to a restrieled poie" ly into"''' ' n.e u.ual title of the b to this mate _ ri .l, n.e refe",""" to the Jubil"". y"ar corne. from. Pentatouch.1 te" (see z...,". 'y8_to).• oo refers to a m.jor .. bbatic.1 to he tal;en e"ery fiftieth year (.fter ",,'en x ",,'en y""), Clearly. the .utoo. i. c"""emed with IituTEic. 1 time_'''''ping, n.e idle fix' that run. through Jubil"", i, the ne.,"",it), of son _ in2 OIJt tbe Judahi .. religioo. e.lendar so that tbe , .. riOll. major religiOll' f . ... ti,.. I. (I'."o""r. Ato""""'"t , Unle3\'o""d Bread. Tab<moclo •• nd W"" .. ) all f.1I 00 the .."", date.rd on the •• me day of tbe "och ),oar, Tho .utoo. he lie... , that the", festi,,,I. were created by the patri.rch. (thi. i, • new in,'ention. whiu' c.lendar (which had. J.>-I--day year and th"refore "" regu larity of day. of the ..... . ) and repi""" it with. ooIor c.l"ndar of )64. whi
w,,,,'

F..xci'ing Tim .. . 11 n"Yer would h."o dore< world by an of'he Almigh'y, '" ,hal y.hwoh would he invo l"ed in .peciflC "",i"", ,hal 'empled ' he Ch"""n People in'o infodeli'y. or ,hal Yah~'oh woold "'" in" way ,hal "'lU pre-cipi" ' o. hi8h _haOOed .• 00 calloo • . The I"im"ry Judahi" ' 0'''. ,he Genesi._King. uni'y. deal ",i,h ,hi, poIOn_ ,ial problem wi,h ,tr3igh'forw..-d case , 1h of 'hing. ,hal are unreasonablo. :uid by any "" ion.1 Slandard. un"""o,,"')". The Yahwi" Iradi,ion ... articu_ laled in Gene'is_Ki ng'. doe, not ""luire 'h'" ooe helio,'. Yah ... eh i, both all_ [>O""rful :uid all_good, Ho can. at ,ime• . he • "'1)' nas' y pi""" of work indeed. bu, he . ,ill i.ourGoo:i: ,ha, i, the m''''''go. By tl>< ,ime the Book of lubilees ;. writlk of Jubilees gots Yahweh pania lly off the I-.ook by inlrodocing • cast of charlle'e" "'00'" exi ..e"", limits the Almigh'y', direct ageoey in tl>< world. Therefore. he no longer can he charged with ""'_ ing c.pricOou>ly or callously (Iubi...,. avoid> the q","ion of who i. ulti_ malely respomible for ,he "",ion of this ne ... ca" of charae,o", the book', in,'entor i. ,,,,i, f,ed '0 ~et Him off the primary charjl.). The n,",,' ' " of in',,mMi",,· figu"" ant angel.. GOO 'heir opposiu. J,IIWill. Angol. con.in l), are found in tl>< primary 'ext of Judahi,m. Ge"".i._K ing>. bu, there. for the most 1'"". ,he Almighty run. hi, own orrand •. How"Y"r. in the Boo!; of Jubi..., •. angel. i>e of Yahweh ', wi ll . doing .."r),thing from hearing me""'g'" to control ling tl>< forces of n.ture '0 interfering on earth '0 1"00oITati,.. of the ancien' Hlic· ' By COll_ trast. in Jubi...,•. the demon. are a unifoed t),pe and the)' act in the world in a manner an'il'"t ho.~ ic '0 ,he ""y the an~e l . heh,,'e. Thi, me"". ,ha, nOl God. 00' they. are immroiat
0<'

,ha,

,8

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

lubilee. i, the earliest docu"",nk-.:i c.'" of Sawn Ncoming a .p«ific and po~'~iful illdil'itJU<Jl. one ",1>0 Oa' "" in"i,ibl< army tOat fight> .g.inst Yahwoh.nd hi. in,'i, ible army."" MoSlem. (introduced in lubile .. to:8) be_ come, tOe ~''f\eral of the ormy of evil . It i, Oe "ho plot.t"" test of Abraham . by inducing Yahweh to tell Abraham that he mu" offer up hi • ...., lsaoc (Iub. t 7: 16) . And it " .. , M."oma who hardened tOe Oean, of the Eg)'ptian, during Isr",,)', c.pti,' ity and fac ilitated tbe Enpti.n' """uit of t"" ch ildren of fsr",,) "" the)' loft their place of OOnda£o (4Temi _lheOOicy i. accompli,hed . It i, only " ",mi-- bec.u", M."em. and hi, demon. eng_g, in evil by per_ mission of Yahweh . Thi, i, .xphcitl y "ated in lubi l"" •. not "",rely, point of inference. M .... "'" recei,'ed hi, infl""noe on l), by direct l), petitioning the Almi~h t )'. A! "chief of t"" 'pi ri"" he wu concerned by tOe p"",ibility that Yahweh m i ~ht bind up all the demon. and di,pose of t""m. He petitioned. "0 Lord. C reator. I..... oom< of them ""fore me .• rId lot them 000)' my "OIce . ," (Iub. to :7---1l ), n.e Lord replied by sending nine_tenth, of tile de_ mon. to "the plac. of judgment'" .rId leavin~ tOe remainder to '''', • • Iong_ ,ide ~1astema in hi, wOIl of cOfTUpting tOe 5On. of men (Iub. 10 :9), E,.. n if thi, rovi.ion of tbe Pentatouch loa,'" Yahweh with cie"" h.nd,. in the !en"" that He no longer dire"tl)' in,.. i ~le, tOe Chosen PO<>p le to romm it ,",'iL He n.""nhel"" h .. given lic.""e fo.- o>il to exist. n.e im'< ntor of lubilee, i. no tOeologi.n: the roncept of theology'" • form of thrught det""hod from narTativ" w•• total l), aJien to him ""d to hi, readers. Therefore. ho u>e> the only tool that "" ha, in hi, workshop to try to fi. tile """,hi""ry : "" continue. to in"'"t new histoocaJ n.mili,·e. arid in tOe middle of hi. diocn,';00 of t"" life of Abraham "" briefl )' extend. hi, n>IT.,i,'e into tile fu ture. He de""ribe, • futu ", 2eneratioo that will ari>e and " .... thai • Breat jud~",,.nt will fo lio.... In the end. tOe," wi ll be "00 S.tan and no ","il one" (lub. '3:19). Th;' i. _ "" .poc.lyptic p .... go. but rather. projec of. narmti,'e of time pa.L n.e book. though of limi.. d , ucce" ... theOOic),.• tand . .... tile head of. m ighty tradition that w"" to ,ubsist for some "'" thru",nd y."". and >!ill ,ub.i", tod.y:·" .n initi .1 mi le"one in t"" introduction of tOe figure of tile de"il into l ew ish .nd Christi"" cuilure • . n.e Book of lubil"",' rewriting of cmoi. 1po<1ion< of t"" Pentateuch i. an oxample of t"" willing""" with in ",me >octo.-s of lator Second Temple luda_ hi.m to tre.t the prima!)' hi>tOf)' of the COO",n Poop"' as somoth in2 to be re,'ored. but a lso something tha t WlI> plastic .rId tran,form.b"', On. could o.. il), produce. dozen ",hd e,am ple, of thi, pfllCtice from pre--;ro n times.

F..xci'ing Tim .. . 19

,ha,

and ,""re.re ."y.nol dozen more .umple, are .. ye' un,ul>,;,.n,i .. oo in thei, do' ing. bu, which are potentially ... i,hin ,he ",me pe,iod of ori2in , The import.n, of ,he hi>lorica l in,'en,ion, II"" can firm l), be .. lribu,,"<1 '0 the period bef"", ,he des/roc,ion of ,be Second Temple are .. fo lio",,, 0 re _ workOO Pen'a'euch foond in ,,,-, Qum,an c..'e •. ,he ApocT)'phon of Joseph; the Gene.i. Apocryphon. a radical ""'i,ion of ,,,-, Crealion ..cry .nd '"" po_ ,riarcha l narra,i,'es; ' he Book of Enoch. di",u ... d bek...'; ,,,-, Book of Gi.n". which <1<.1, wi,h. pe,iod w"-'n impe,fed .n2d. mal,'aid '0 be the 1.>1 wo,d. of e""h of the so", of J""OO .• documen' which e.i", in • full "."ion con,ajnin2 Ialor Ch,i"i.n in' erpolalion,. bu, "hich a l", i. found in fr.2men' by ,,,-, P"'!'I><' '0 the Babylonian exile" Third Macea""" •. of app,,,,im .. ely the .. me perioo .• n in' ormin2 ling of ,1Iri",.. biblical ,radi,ion. wi,h more ",,,on' m.II., concern_ ing ,he Dia<por> people in AI«andria; Pseudo_Philo. an e.,ly Common ",.elling of primar), hi>' O<)' of ' he Chosen P''"pl •. from Adun David; the Li.,os of ,I>< Prop"-'''. Perhaps the most "",mornble ,.. " lion to 4 Macca_ bee" The "'xt cin:ulated ",ide ly in the world of So."",nd Tem ple Judahi,m ("-"..,,.1 copies wore in tl>< Qumran library. for ",.mplo). and it is cle.rI), innuential in f""" ing t"-' 1'o"ew To"a,""nt "i",,' of future _,ime. ",pecially as found in ,he Book of R",,,, I. t ion. Cruci.lly. a l'boogh Daniel i. a one--of_a_ kind product;on ",ithin '"" Tan>kh. othe , apocal)'plic ,,,,,, .wi,led throo2h the world of fudahi<m in the time of Saul and Y",hua. Sometime, '"" apocalyptic Ie,,, in'oraCled wi,h o>ch ",,,-,,. thu, indica/ing that apocalypti _ ci,m was not. """re'- m)""")'_go"",. bu, f"'r1 of ••'ory public ami)' of .pec_ ulation,. Here the most ",,-.aling o,hibit i. tl>< Book of Enoch ("",",,'ime, called "Fi"t Eooch»). which i •• rolling anthology of Second Temple .poca_ Iyptic vi.ion>: it i. di,'idOO in'o rl"e "'parate book> and contain •• dozen di._ ti"", .pocal)'!"" •." These d.1e from r002hly}00 BeE '0 7OCE. and.1I of the materi.1 wos f"'r1 of t"-' tboogh,_wo< Book of Eooch inlernet with t"-' Boo. of D.niel,

mos'

ha,'.

c"""

E,.

'0

,ha

,ha,

'0

"i.,o""

fi""'"

''''pon'''

,-..-ioo,

}O

•

TH .... OOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

Ponion, of Daniel bring to tho f"", tho c<>oc of tho Yahweh_f.ith acrepted thi, new "iow. ",'en a. 101 ••• tho mid_fi,,' centul)' of tho Common Era. i. impo"iblo to determine. A common _ place hi"oric. 1 holiof i. thai tho Ph";"",, holie,'ed in tho r,,,u,,,,,">on of ,0., dead (.nd thu •. pre.um.bly, in tho 01"",.1 judg<""'nt of each soul) . • nd that ,ho Sadducee. did 001 , One of tho interesting pon, of tho Book of Enoch i. ,hat. big "';gment of it _ tho >o-<.lIed -- Book of Simi litude,' _ trie> to oompiete • dr.oma'ic """" ,hat tho .uthor of Danie l lea"" "nfmilhed. Th i, occur. in chaple r """en of Danie l. "hore a tr:an"",nden' judiei.l _mon..-chic.1 figu re .ppear>. "whose garment ..."" while a, """". and tho hair of hi. hoad like ,ho pIlre "'001 : hi, throne ...... like the foel)" flame. and hi, whee l•• , burnin~ filo" (Dan. 7:9), Thi> i. tho "Ancient of Da),L·· 'ud ho ha. ,ho ul,imat< dominion oYer all PffiPlos. nation, and languages. f"",,'er (Dan. T (4), lhat i, final ffiOUgh. but 001 ,uff«iently detailed, Wo .... nt to knOl'>' TTlOI'e. so tho Book of Simil itude> (which romprise, ohapleTi 37-7t. ioclu,i,'e. of the Book of Enoch) proceed, to toll "" what happened hofore. during. and aftor 'hOI >Cene in D.niel ",IK-n til< Ancient of Day. appears. What ,0., deeply mystic.1 in"entol of S imilitudes doe, with the "'rnponent> Iha, Dan iol has loft '0 him '0 work with il quit< .'too ndin~ , To fill u, in aboot tho Ancient of D,)' s. tho ,c,ho.- blonds togothor motif, that ore found in Dani. l .nd in th"", othor major S<JYree. aud adds hi. own ori~i",,1 ,wi" , 0,., of tho .., """reo, i, Psalm " "horein Yahweh. on hi, 1I<.,'enly throne. I.ugh, a' tho world', rul.rs aud ",nd> hi, adopIed "'" '0 re i ~n on Zion, hi> holy hill. The Boo!; of Isaiah (specifto.II),. Fir:sl [,:,iah). dUplor . Io\'en J'TO"ide, an _ """" >Oet up "00' of the stem of Jo",," (I •. j t :1 ). Thi. natOooali"io prophecy put> forward the c... for tho pri'"""), of Judah and of Je rmaJom within the Hebrew polit)' .ft grnmmar of in_ \'ention would """'"'" the .'plo,i.-. .lchemy of the Book of Simili,ud",. Nothing could ho"""" mi,leadin~ than. dini<.1 d..""riptioo of tho work, a "', of four parablc, eoch containing ,"",ral \'i,Ooo' gTlUlted to Eooch. fillin2 in man)' of ,he I""u""" loft by D.niel. ohaplCT "'\'on ,

mo.'

>,

F..xciling Tim.. . J 1

n..t i, "",,curnte 000ll8h. but it is .kin to de""ribing James Joyc<', finn,' gmu \t~,i, .. "'ry long Iri'" , hort >tory about til< hist",), of to., world from the fall of Ad.m to to., resurrection of m.n kind. The S imilitude, has • cast of charocto... "'"' include, <",'ery higher entity. whether hum.n heing 0< an~o l 0< demon. ,,00 eYer", exi.ted. The hum.n multitoo..k>ne con.i,,, of "ten million time, ten million 5Oul,' (Enoch 40: t). They st.nd hefore the throno at joo80mont doy. They >erw . . . massi"e Gr"" k cho",,_ 0' • r."",.ting board for the prorouocemen" of the major players. and .. , pli.Me m<1lium upon which the po",.".ful choraete" ""'" their "'ill. The d i".nt Compari500 of to. Book of Similitoo.. and Finn'g<J"' \tal, is 'ppo.ito. not on ly bee,u", each >tart, before human time. but bee.use each i, cyclical comro>ition . Indeed. Joyce would ''l'uo that Finn'gtart Of end: it iu" koep' goin8 round .nd round. And that', .1"" the way tho Book of Similitude, works. Although one h.. to road .och in"'"tion, linearly (one word fo l!<w.', .nothor 00 the P'8ej. in fart the pictu,., that ome'l'< are rot li ko frame. in • cinema film_ but. in>toad are more like . de< k of photograph. that can be endle"ly re"'uffled to g i\'e a different "ory each ti .... . In tho ca .. of tl-.. Book of Similitoo., . to., characters in one ,-;,ioo ofl< n .. om to ,"",,' up in .rother. undera difforent n.me . But it may ooly seem thi, way. bee.u.., the in"entor of these "i,ion. doe. not make "'luilib.-.tioo, or >peeify identit"'. oc'"" ,i.i"" •. So we are f",eYer on tontor"""" "" we ",e oharocto!> tumble from one gyrin8 "i.ioo to anotl-..r. Or do we' And (he .. me hold. for "plot:' if thot i. (he COlT«( "ord . The "",eral ,';'ion. ascribed to E!lOCh in til< Book of S im ilitude. can neither be taken ., formin8 ""'luen(i.1 ""rie. of e'·en". oor a. happen ing cotoTIDi""",ly: and one cannot de<1.re them to he eithe r mLltu.lly illCOlTll"tible or to be c.pable of h.rmonizati",,_ At 0"" ITlOIT>fnt they are one (hin8_ then .• nother. Con.ider the characto". 1hey indoo. two fairly off_hand mentio ... of M<>5iah (Enoch 48 : to and 5':4). in which Moshiah i,. fi8ure of .uthority. but p""i\·e. The really acti"e fi~ure, are. f,,,t_ (I-.. =han ~eb: Michael. of roo"" _and Raphae l. Gabrie l .nd Phonuel (En_ 54 :6. 6o:q. 7 j :S-tOI. Amoo8 other (ash. (I-..Y"'" re.pon.iblo for throwing o"i l kings.nd poten""', into the f",ry fumace ot the end of (imo. a prototype of hell, Serond. m),riad ~cod angol. ,;erie uuder (t-.. ~onernl.h i p of th"", 'TChan~I, . Thin!. "",,·oyer. the fi8ure of s.. .. n i. exp licitly in(roducM" a primary figure of ",'il (En . 53'4)Th;, fi8ure. ,lmo5t equal in "ren~(h to Yah,..eh. i, a char""ter we •• ,,' earlior in til< Book of Jubi"-",. which .Imost ceruinl)' ,..., known to (ho in,'on(or of the Book of Similitude,. S.tan i •• ",loti""l)' '"'w in'"nt i"" .. far .. the tradi_ (ion of Yahweh i, < riptur", I-.. i•• ,ubordinate and biddable ,"",,,,ng'" of (I-.. Almigh(),. Not hore. Whom< on(ity a, ··tl-.. Evil One-- (En . "":t5) is. in tt-.. f",hion charn«eristic of the IlooL of Simi li(ude,. loft to (he reader to detonniTl<_ n.. (e" Ie" one

°

°

°

J' .

TH. WOOlD 0.' HUL AND HIH"A

ha"e it either w')'. Founh. no fewer than twonty_one ",'il .ngel, are n.med. The)' h.,'o deliciou.ly meph itic n.me>. noisome of ." Iphu" Kokb,aol. A,oz·. I. Baragel. aoe goo_name "n" Fifth. ea.ch of these chi,>f. of the fallon .ngels has • phalan, of f.l lon .ngol. at hi, command (En. 6<):1- J). Addt-d to thi •. ' ixth. i •• female monster n.med t..,,-iOlhan wOo Ii,'e. in lI>e oceon (En. 6("1-8) and. sec-enth •• rna" JlXlnster. called Behemoth woo Ii,'" in an invi,ib., de .. " located e",t of the Garden of Eden (En , 60 :8). Opposed to the force. of evi l i. an oighth.ot of characters (in oddition to Me"iah .od to the ango l•• Iread), me .ide of lI>e light; "the Righteou. 0",," (En. JS:l->l. the "Scn of M.n'" (En. 46:J). and "the Elect One" (En , 49 :2). :-;0... , "hon turning from one "i,;"n to another. it i. impo"ible to te ll whether or not the", are name, for lI>e .ame figu re or for "'"""""" enti",ly different. The .'-nee of verbal "'Iui libration ... betw""n lI>ese f'gure."",an> th.tthe na"", •.• od the "-,,,,,,i _ alioo of tOo", nam,,,. tumble from one ,';,ion to another. Momentarily. the')' j uxtapose them ",I",. so that. for examplo. "'the Righteou, One" and "the Son of Man" "",m to be ')'OOII)'moo •. but then the rhetoric.1 drum tum. :moth" rotalion . • nother vi,;"n "an" .nd the t"", n.mes come to represent >eparnte. entirely d ifferent ent it"' •. The same thing. happen with the Gotl_f'g"re> ,,110 comprl" the ninth bundle of charae te.t """ been pre.,,,,'ed in Ethiopic , Howo,w. the ro are ,".moo, fig"n" ,,110 cou ld be to., Almighty, These ioclude to., "Lord of lI>e Spi""'. who c"' ated to., distioct;"n bet..-.. n light and dar.""... · (En. 4 1:8): the "Ant"""dent of Time" (En, 47:3 and 55: t). ..-00 i. directl), deri,-.ti,'o from the "Aoc",nt of Day'" of the Book of D.n"'l.• nd the .imilar figure. lI>e ··Before_Time." woo at 0'"' point i. identified with the "Lord of the S pi,,"'" (En , 48:1). All the .. gnd_figure • ..",m c<>"""""'t..-ith ea of the Son of M.n. the Mo .. iah. the Cho>en One. and the EINt One. \Chich are ne,'er ",.11), joined , The ",ri., of ,'i.ion. in which all the .. characters pl.), lI>ei r part. i. cycli _ e.l, in the ",n", that the ,'i. ioo. circle bac •. one on tho other. Each ,'ision provide. its own distioct an ...."r to lI>e q",,"ion. ""hat ",.lIy happened in Da"", ,- chaptor .even"" For modem rende ... the n"'" d iffl .,,"mption that one can ,tart any place in the book .nd reod one'. "'ay around it: or. indeed. that ma_ jor ite"" can be reod in TOOOom order.'" a.. umption. incidentall),. that Oold. fo.- Similitude. cros._time counterpart. finn,san:; \Ihl.-, .- PI its ."u"'Ption that o,'on as one reod •• 'p'-'Cif,c "i,ion. one has 'nowledgo of.1I the other" and (3) it> ."umption that lI>e cumulati,,, eff«t of reoding a ll of to.,,,, vi _ .;"n. i, not hiooe,,'
F..xciling Tim .. . JJ between the yari.-d ,·i.ion. and lhal any coolrodi<1iollS ore 001 di'lr"'lion •. bul ore onrichment>. for lOeY are iooic"ioo. of the mu lliplicity of trulh gmn lc-d 10 those who exl"'ri". and lbe .. go PO" lbe eoo of ti ..... What i, stri king. and _ . i. tbe groooo. ba5e belief lhal lhe Almighty ("haleye r be rna)' "" coi led in the '!"",if'" yi,ion in que>lioo) 001 only ,no,',. ",·e ')· t hin~. bul ho. k""",n ""')'lhing . i""e before lbe beginning of time. (See esp. En , 39' I 1,) Funber. the ,'e')' oct of knowing "''''Y OCCUITI the 000 of lime mean, that the Almighty i, him..,lf elom.l: '"The", i. 00 such thing ... noo--exi>!o""e befo", him" (En. 39: II), Thi , i, "0')' do,", to being. tt..C>logic. 1 argument . • Ithough il i, 001 articulated ... uch. II m",,", that lOe Almighty i. (0) omni _ ",ient. (b) the ground of exi,tenee in which.1I thin~ •. good.oo o"iL exi". and (c) il impli. . . pre-l piece> of Jud.hi" wriling. of tbe lato Seeood Temple era in it> 1"""logical ><>ph i"ic"ioo , All that recognized fotgOllOe "".I),si •. Pick up acop)' of lhe texl and whirl with it unlil il take> you into tbe De",i.h_li ke nate of onlighlenment lhal it rommand •. U,l your .. lf be carried off by lhe "",ioo ,'ehicle" which 1lI1e<, you to tbe we". whe", yoo can "" oi l th< """ret lhing' of be",'en, See there the great moont";n, of copper. of ,iIYer. of leoo .• nd of colour.,.j ",,-~.I. (En. 51: l--.U. Fly"''''''' tbe "deep ,-.Iley with. wide moulh.·· w"","" all tbe hum.n race bring> g iflS .00 tribute,. but y"",y< Micm.l. R.ph""l. Gabrie l. .00 Phan",,1 seize the wic ked rul'[5 of lOe eanh and lhrow them into tbe furn""" of bell (En. 54 : l---t.). t""'" who wore oI'Pre.so.--s on eanh drown by ri.ing IIood ...-:lte,.. (En. 54: I 0). S pin around .gain and obserw. in light so bright that il ",=ely c.n be f"".-d. the righteous 01>'" pa>, i n~ before the Lord of the Spirit> ""d 00 to elomal lifo (En. 58 : '---4). Spin bark before time .00 00",,,'< lhe """,room, "here hail. mist . • 00 wioo are I;opl, Ob>e,,'. the .toreroom of lhe sun ""d lOe moon. from which, with each cyde diurnal aoo monthl)'. lhe)' "it and tben return (En. 41: '--5)' Spin again and ...., the Son of ~lan who will open . 11 tbe hidden "oreroom .. both physical and .pi ritu.I , .nd who will depose king. from tbeir th"'r><> .nd crmh tbe t""th of .i nn,,.. (En. 46:3-5 ), Spin. >pin. tbe re "' >0 mIlCh ....,.-" to " ponenee in tbe c),de. thaI nash by: So.oi being empliod with the re,ulTl"Clion of lOe dead ( En , 51 :'-n angel, 1"0paring rope' that will hoi" lhe righlO,,", 10 he ..'en (En. 6 1:1-3). aoo lOe ultimalo Ii~hl _ ref[:Kt ing >!ruelure . • mulli",,)',,",1 "rueture bui ll into lOe Oea,'en,. wilh

S,,,

J.j

.

TH .... OOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

tong"'" of livin~ fire issuing forth light from the interstice .. "here one cry.tal abuts its ""i~hbour (En. 7 t :5---6). S pin .• pin .• pin' And then. fi nally. crash to eorth, n.e apocal),ptic "'''",)' comlOT be long ,u"ained. e,'en in a ma>terpi""e mch .. the Book of Simil itude>. The "i,ion. are too demanding. o.."",n.,,, too prone to ",'erlood. We h3\'e to be pr<JIectro from an intoxicati"" from whi!ory of late Second Temple ludahi,m. It ,u£ge," that in at loa .. one ,tratum of the Yahweh_l.ith. a ",,,abulary, a .. t of ,),mbol •. pr<JIo-t)'pology. and a '"' of be),ond _time narrati,'e. w."" emerging : the", wore based 00 ""ript ural origi _ nals. but were moch riche r in their im'enti,.. ne .. than OII)'thing we ha,'e )'01 e""ountered in the lator Se=nd Tomple ern, II " .. can moment.vi l)' put the brakes on the caroosel that i. the Book 01 S imilitude •. we can see that there ore man)' components 01 the "'" that ... ill later be u>ed by Rabbinic Indai.m and b), Christianity to de\.. lop their own official "",w, of" hat hapI"'ned be_ fore time began and wlut will happen when time comes to an end , J .tlongly ,u'peet that there were other. "",alld. oow_lost apoca l),pse. in circulation prior to tbe end of the Second Tomple 1"'.-;00. It i. hard to "'" Ilow """"t hing so ",'ocative .. the Book of Sim ilitude,. so soundly ba>ed on. deep bank of opocalyptic motif,. could be • "",,--of_. _kind proooction. n.e Book of Sim il_ itude> may Iu,.. been the be" of its "'" (we n,,,.. r will kno .... ",ally). but it muot h3\', come from a rich tradition of para_bibl ical in"ention, To fi nd • olars had belie"ed k""w on l), plain _.cong. and theref"", di,mi",ing it a. aoo""Iou •. I think the Book of S imilitude. te>tif.. , that there exi>ted in the general religiou, en,'ironment of late Second Tomple Judahi,m a bank of apocalyptic ,"Q""ep" in add ition to. and differont from, the rather limitod TllI1ge of conot"",t> we find in the Tanakh. where the Book of Daniel i. the only true apocal),ptic conduit.

°

°

,

Saul and Yeshua. then . li .... d in intore"in~ re ligiou. ti""". and "" did anyono within the disparate Judahist tradition who paid an)' attention to the inc",..._ ing ".nogation of the Yahweh_faith, Ren""t on some of the IIL'W ide •• _ rom _ ponent.> that could be used in making a wide ,,.nety of belief_.)'otem . _ ",hic h ",ere being forcefully .niculated in tho e.rly Common Era. the time of Ye.hua and Saul; tho doctri ... of the immortality of the indi" id u.1 >ou1: the """"'pl of the ""uTTOCtion of tho dead and the e",mal judgment of the indi _ ,'OJual: the idea that indi"idua l human blood .acrifICo «J
F..xciling Tim .. .

)5

good: • """'. "'" of in,.rmedi:uy fig""'" ",,~e l , and demoo .. no.... "",i,·e. un like ,he i, lorgely. pb.i,'e J>O>i'ion in ,he He""'w ""ipture>: Sat,n , unde, ,..ri""" n,me.) borum." 0 'J>"Id J>O>.ibililie. ,hat >tern from , .. primary narmti "e of the Coo.en Pe<>plo: IIIe protoan nature of y.h ... oh_ ond the i""", of halaciMn. ,he .Imo>t infin i,. num""r of w'Y' 10 in""",,' IIIe 613 rommaoomenl> of ,he Hebrew «riplur"', Rich. iOOeed. so rich Ihat we need 10 "" "01)' clear ",hal '"-', recognizing the >piritual ",cito"",nt of y .. hu •• oo s . ur . ... orld doe> fWI mean. Firsl. I . m 001 .u!!l'0sting ,hat an)'o"" in the SNood Temple era bough' in'o .11 of Ihe", new ide ... or ..-en ,II of the okl 00"'_ 1hey were a\'Oilahle_ b.1I were pu' 'oge,he, in hur>dn.' "" i n~ u",d in one .y"em. oIo),ed. the actual final piece of religioo. machinery coo ld '111)' gre.tly_ Secooo. IIIe "'xl> that 1 ha,'e cited are 001 put fo,ward .. >ou""" for late, de\- (.I'hough they well may ha,.. """tributed >omewh.,, : IIIe)' ..-. put forword "' particularly clear .. ample, of the arT3)' of hundred, of ideationally_rich 'exl> from til< Ioter SNood Temple period ... hich w. koow from ,he , u"'i"ing Dead So. Scroll •. ,he Nag Hammodi find. ,the '"'lIe Goo,," libral)' di«o,'ored in '945). IIIe P",udopigrarha'oo IIIe Apocrypha. and which. in tum. are only 0 tin)' proportion of what mu" ha,'e been an oxlK""'ntiall)' grea'e, flood of inllO.-ot i,'e religi'"-'. prOOuction. Remem"",: what we do haY< ",rvi,'ed 0 de'''''aling war (that of 66--73 eEl. ne.,I), twenty ",n,uri.. of ,.,gleet. and in """" co ... ,),"e""'tic "'1'I"""ioo by rost-']O CE Chri"i.n.oo Jewi,h ,uthco-i,i., ",he we,e ,'ory =<>corned with cle,ning up ,II< ,igh, _Ii"". fo r thei, ""pecti,'o rOint in ou, COll>p'-,<,u. of the coligiou, world of S,u l .nd of Yomu>. i, i. wi", to tum down the temperature tion.o l units that we hay. been discussing were red_hot. high_int o• .-n «rip_ 'u r", afte r IIIe great [Ie, ,,uctio. of ]0 CE. should 001 maL. II> road bar k",ord. into IIle oorl)' Common E.-. ei,", a ubiqui'), ..- a prepotency for the .. ideas, Tho hardest roocept for person, brought up in tl>< Christi"" lradi,ion to deal wi,h i, Mo .. iah. Tho term MSYH. "h",h IIle M....-et., Toxt iooioOlo. "'as pronounced. roughly ··M",t.e;,ah."· ;. often traru;l i,erated .. ··M",i.h."' (Tho", Of< war •• moog modem Jewish group •• bout which i, '"" right

36

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

English_l"nguago lran,lilx>sing - ~lo""i,h:' I am IlOl making any j ud~o""'nl" belween lllem. mere ly choosing a reasonably accuralo '"Or_ ,ion.) ~loshish appear. t hiny _ oi~hllime, in II» He"'ew Bible (lhal i •. in the Old Te"""",nl ).• nd mean, "Anoinled One .. ' Of cour:se there i, no capitaliza_ lion in II» Hebre,,' IOXl. bul il i> fair 10 read Moshiah "' "'Anointod 0".:' Also. M",hiah u,"a lly appear. W'ilhool an .n;':1e in fron t of tl» lerm. Tran!lato<> from Hebrew frequenl ly use either I"" goneIllI "an Anointod One" or ...1» Anoinled One" 10 move the It omphalically must 001 be ta ken .. meanin~ ",Iw Anoint,' to a preci .. ,ituation. IlOIlo. hi>to')'_Ir,nscond>nt t)'poiogical figure." Tile lilmu, indicator be", i. thaI thiny_, i, of tbe thiny_eighl time. Momiah appear, in tl>e King Jam<. "an,lation of lOe Tanakh. il i. U>ed correctly 10 mean "Anointod 0",,:' Ho...-",'«. in two in"aoce. _ Daniel 9:15 and 9:16 _ • new ...-"rd .uddenly aw.,,: tl>e lerm ··Mo"iah." Thi, i•• ba"ardizod form of the G"", k ··Mo"i... · "hich "'''' creatod in tl» lalo 155"" by ll>e tIll",lato" of tile Geo,,,.. Bible" Neill>er "Mossi"," nor "M""iah" fUIIClion, .. a """ _ lral tran,liteIlllion of Moshi.h, "Aooinlod One" would ru...e done quite ado-quatoly in the King Jame> rendorin~ of the BooI; of D.niol: l>ere lOe iosenion of the new term "Mossiah" perforce impl;'" the in>e origioal, It i> nothing 10" trum, rewril_ io~ of tl>e Ho"','W teXl. 10 i"",n. much lalom Christi,n, define "' Josu,_,h._Mo"iah. o r Josu._the_Gorist. Were lhi, not the King hme. Bible. one could ignore II» mi,tran, lation. or ,,'en enjoy iI, H"",.. ""r. before llOIin~ lOe m.[.... lIou, cre'li"it), in the Chri"i.n in,'enti"" of y .. hu, as ·.. he Mo>eil Eng li.h Biblo. the Mudom Reader. Bible . • ud 0". could go "", TI>e point i, that tl>e K in~ Ja ..... Bible ge>l it very w"'n~. and lator lranllat;"n,. though they get lOe tIlln,I'lion rig,hl . ..-e stili overshadowod by thaI ~[e'te" of >e,'ontoonlh_cenlury toxt>, In the Bcok of D.niel. lhe apoc.lypt;': .. ctio", cOf>Cemin~ tho "",,'enty wook'" i. IlOl aboul the coming of. Mossiah in the Chri" i.n ",n",. but

F..xciling Tim .. . J1 .boo,.o Aooio,ed 0..,. a pu rely Judahi>! idea. It i. hard l)" a r&OOdite piece of exogo,i, to DOte thai in Danie!". chap"'r ni~e. 'he Anoioted One doe, DOt oxist o.• «pt as • ronjoint entit)" with t"" Tomple. Thi. i. not to m.1ce t"" .im· plistic "a"'n>ent ,hat the ",forence i. a holder of the Hi2h Prie'''hip . • hhoogh 'hat i. p.... of the refore"" •. [n for t. the reforeoco to ao Aoointed One works only ",",,0 t""re i. a High p""" wi'hin t"" cooto" of t"" Temple. MOhiah here i. the divinoly ",octinned 'yotem ",horeby t"" Cho",n Peoplo and Yahwoh 'ouch and mu,ually .ffi nn thoir co,·oo.nt. Putting ..,Ode. thon. the · · ~[e"iah·· reforence in the '"Of,ion of Danie l. the q",-",;on remain, as to ",""'",,r o r DOt there i•• ny ",foreoco io the Old Testament to Me"i ah. in '"" ",n,;e th,t Christian. later use ,he concept. to ""'.0 a ft'de.emer 0< ,".-iour both of individual "",I. and of the ri2hteou. as • col""ti,·e group. N<>. The", are 1"""'20' that are la'or ",_invented (and quile brilli.ntly) by '"" creaton of Chri part> of the T.",,' h that ptc-date the Mace.bean revolo (th.t i. to say. almo>t .1 1 '"" Hebrew ",ri ptu",,). the term M",hiah (anointc-d """I i, u..oo in thre< ,-of)' tight context<. One of th"", apphcati ..... i. to kin2S- For oxam ple. Kiog S.ul i. referred '0 •• MosJoiah of Yah ... eh (I S.m, t1:3) and King D.vid i. d"",ribed a, Moshiah of the God of Jacob" Sam. 1}:t).'· In thi •. and "'""r royal usages. 'he monar use of Moshiah h.. "" reforence eit""r to Mo>hiah heiog. red"""",r o r '0 hi. being an apocalyptic leader of the Cho_ >en People i. indicatc' used to re_ fer to both /he holder of p';'>tly office. in general ('---"'-i,;"", 4:} '1'I' Ii<> the "'rm Anointed One '0 the ge"",ic ollie< of p';'>t) arod more import.ntly_ to the High Prie>! (., the Boot of D.nie l exomplif",.), Th irdly_ p ..lm t05' t5 "",." a w.rmng :

'0

u"

Do oot !OUch My anointed """" Do oot Iwm My PropheK

(J,wish PuI> Soc_)

Thi> rom." do« to "'luatin~ '"' ptOP"''' ",i,h the """, ral Aoointed 0"" • . One c.nnot awid the ro""lu.ion that_ altboogh the concept of Messiah i, ptl."sent in the He""--w scripture • . it i. '""re (0 1)' lU. limited and peripheral ide • . 10 eor h of it< u'"ges Mo.hiah impli.... a per'"" aooiotod either by. or 00

38 . TH. WOUD 0.' HUL

AND HIHUA

beh,1f of. Yahwoh .. a 'p""ific office hold" or a pe""" with a .pecific "'''' . • uch a, prophe'yin~, Conainly. Mo"iah i. nor a majo r I"'n of tbe Hebrew scripture,. much .,,, their ideati<m.1 .pi ... . M",hiah i, nor at "n)' point .,sociated "'ith a futu,e """",,mer o r ,,","ioo r. How",.. ,. boc ..... M.,.niah.s. concept bocame fairly significant in later Rabbinical Judai,m. and beOem • ..,n,ib., to de.1 with Mos>iah in ,be Hobrew scripture. by refu.ing to accept too.e pioce. wbere MOi.h i.h i, "",u.lly u>ed as a term to refo, to ~in2" prio,". and prophet>. and yet 1001; f", tbe ··,.,al " refe",nce. to Mo"iah only in place. "here tbe scriptu re. doo oot in'roduce tbe coocept. G,anted. 'bere are ,och thing. as .ub-,e.", and "'l'u ,ne"t>_frorn _.il"nce. but the forc ing of ~loshiah in'o place. wbere tbe write,. did oot u>o ,be term i. , urpa"ing .trange. A. Willi.m Scort G"",n has noted. ,hi. focced <<1 tha, tbe be .. wa)' to learn aboot ,o. ~lo"iah in ancient Jndai ,m is to study te,t> in which there i. none."·'1 Yet. if Mo»i.h has little to doo wi,h tbe .."n,ually--c.lIOIIic.1 Hobr<"W sc,ipto"". oo"",i,,"bly the ide. coold be cent", 1to the later doovdopmen' of Juda_ hist e"",--canonical thought. du rin2 the ye"" betweon tbe Maceabean ",,'olt and ,he ""st,"ction of the SeOCryph. and the Dead So. Scroll •. Although tbe case i. ,lightly strong« bere than in ,o. T.nakh. i, stiil i. oot "ory powerful. For in,",nce. if one ta~es a, a da'" base.1I the (» yot) k"".,-n extra_biblical Jndahi>t writing' cornpoo;ed af'er 'i>? "CE and befute 70 CEo orhe r th.n ,be Ikad Sea Scroll>. only two document> rofer '0 Messiah " Ono of those i, ,be portion of the Book of Enoch 'hat .... vie...-ed earlier. called ,lie Book of S im ilitude. (chaptOT> 37-7'). Thi •• most ""hoi,,,, be li..... . i. tbe last portK>n of 'he Enoch_onthology '0 ha,.. been written. In two pi"" .. (48:10 and 5' :4). tbe term Mossiah i. used. but in a strangely ,ubordi nato form: .. if referrin2 to an arch.ngel ",thor than to"n independen' figure. In ,he first inst.nce. a judgement i. announced '2';n" ,hose ...1Ie ··ha,.. denied ,o. lord of the Spiri" and hi, Mo .. iah." .nd in ,lie """,nd. an angel ",pl.in. to Enoch ,hat at tbe final j ndge",ent Yahweh will cast. number of judgoment>. which will "happen by "utl-.c4"it), of hi. Mo»i.h. ," Apl""ontl)'. in ,be latte r C""'. Moshiah would not be on acti..-e particif"ln, in .."n". bu, ra,her. ,he ~ u.r:an'or of their authenticity.

F..xciling Tim .. . 39 In tbe extra-<:ar.ooiOint i. that Mossiah i. a kin2 ,,110 wi ll roi2n in tbe manner of" J>Owerful aoo righteous ,nonarcll, Thi. i. not a piocular 0< redemptive fl~ure. but .n Anointed One_ in tbe ",me "'II>< that Kin2 Da\'iJ w••. llIat i. al l. M05hiah as a proper noon doe. oot appear ol"",-ho", _a lthough tho ,'erb form "to anoint" occur> <>II a fe,,' occasion<_ If Mo .. iah os " concopt w,,", contral to tbe thinkin2 of tbe fo lloy.-o" of Yahweh in tbe 1.1< Socond Tomple era. the)" foooo ,-ory offocti,.., ""y' to keep thi •• ",cr<~. The Qumran Scroll. are equall), re.'e.lin~_ aoo .bo in a ",,~a t iYe """,,_ 1he term i, d<arly loo.tod in foor of tbe Oumrllll fra~men" aoo amb i ~uoo, reference. that may be to M",hiah are foooo in two 0< three more. In the W.r Scroll (0 central exhibit among tho Dead Se. Scroll.) the term i. omplo)'ed in the plural. Victory ",-er Israel". enemi", will rome "by tho haoo. of yoor Anointed One,' (War Scroll t! '71 . In tho ··D"",.""u, Document"· 0< "Dam_ ."'u, Rule -- (lII>Otber majo.- Dead Sea toxt). Moshiah i. em plo),ed in the plu_ ral to rdor to to. prophots" (CD' : t , and S:l t---6: t I, Anoto.r usag< in the Da""""u. Document i. in the formula - Mo»iah of Aaron aoo br .. l-(CD" :1)-1 J : t. t4: t9. aoo 19:1l>-t t 1_1he ··M."iah of Aaron and Israel"' i, an .pocalyptic figure who end. the "time of wicked ... ,," (cn l' :1)).• 00 ho will ·· .. one for tbeir , ins" (CD t4: (9)- Thi, .tonement i. either for the ,in, of the wOOle Chosen People. 0< of to. membe" of tbe religion. faction that 1""'_ doced the document: tbe te" i, unclear. A ,mall fragment found in Ca,'e Four of tho Qumran oav", talh of" time when the entire hea.-e", .oo earth shall liston to Yahweh', M",hiah and he will honour tho are to Mosiliah redeoming_ not the entire Cbo>ed of those indi,'idual. woo are devOllt and ju" by f""tional 5!andanl<_ Thr.. characteri,ti<. of tOe .pparently Messiani< usage of to. crucial Dead Sea to". tbe D.ma",u. Docu"",nt. are notowonhy. Fir>! i. tho wa)' that this Moshiah _ woom ono wOllld o-'pe! "')" that. really. if. flO big de.L Thi, i. ,'ery curiou, iooeed . Secondly. thore i. the maner of the tit " "Mo " iah of Aaron and I".. L" or. mo<e ""curate l),. "Anointed 0"" of Aaroo and I,rael."· Thi. seom, to apply di""'tly to a futuro High Pri . ... for it i. to Aaron that tho romJ>
40

•

TH. WOUD 0.' H U L AND H I HU '

.ncostry, So ,be fu,ure ~lo,;hiah will be • H i ~h Prio" wi,h ,be proper creden _ ,i.I •. Thi, po>i'ion. ,ha, Mossi.h will be. prope r High Priest. i. bu"re"",d by. f ra~men' from Qumran Ca,'. No_ " (.g .in if. .od ooly if ono >crepl. ,h.,thi. documen' come. from ' Il< .arno belief .y>lem .. """.,be D.m.",u. Ru lo). Thi. fra~men' i, .n .poc.lypr;c p"",e in wh;ch Mokhizedek is pre_ ..,n,ed as ,be .c,i,', ' gon, of God. .od M""hi.h a. ,be m."sen~or of ~lekhi,,>de k . Mo»i.h i, identified •• ,be m.n "anointed of the ' piTi' abou, wh"", D.niel ,poke " (' J Q .\1<1chizedek 1: ,8). The reference .1..- cer_ tainly i. to ,he high pri"" who i. fome." in Danie l', prop/k'rael."·" Thi, i. not bod ",hoIM.hip_ but i, cenainly i. confu.ing eschatology. WhO!. indeed. d id the ,.", in the Qumran librnry _ tho be" soun,. we have on late Second Tem ple ,,,nan" of docu .... n.. _ mean when ,hey refelTl."d ~le5.iah' We must rem.in confused. bec.use tho .u,ho.. of the docume"" were confused, n.. ooncopr of Me"i.h in ,he Qumran documents i. nei,her cen_ lrnl. nor i. i, ,'ory ...e ll 'hought ou'. and ,he", judgen",n" 00" wbethe r c>oo ... i.h", to read tbe Qumran manu>uch .. tbe Book of Jubil"" •• ud ,Ile Book of Enoch. Thi, me"", th., "hoe,'" ... rote ,he four Qumran docu"",n" ) ha,'e ",ferred to abo,'e . )most cenain ly kn,,'" how f.. me complica'ed .nd imponant concepts "'ithin ,he trndi,ion of Judahist religion. in,'on,ion , YOI. de'pite ,hi. k""wledge. ,he concept of Me",iah i, left 00 ' -'gue as to be almost "v.ne"",nt. (lha, we cannot be ,ure "hether tbe belief ... "' in one Of in twO) Me" ialH i, ,'.gue inde;,d ,) Thi . lead. to • ' imple conc)",i,,". bot one that mos' biblical scholars _ .. pecially those whose baorkground i. ,he Christian tradition _ be ing dead k""n '0 find .ny Me»ianic ref"",nco. "" i,, : that Ih, cone,pi of M,,,i~h Mm onl," of p"iph,,,,1 in""SI 10 I",,, Second Tempi, Jud"hism. he" if one

'0

'0

.,iou.

'0

'0

F..xciling Tim.. . 4 ' "I""'ulate. that fu,ure ",toolarship on ,he Qumran li"'ori .. rnay pm:!"". from the remainin~ fragments as m.ny a, Iulf· .-. i, 5Iill would 001 "'ake the b.uio poin'.'> A. indio.,od by the cootompoorO!)' tex" _ the 0,,:><1 Se. Scroll .. the Apocry. J>h.>. and ,he l'seudeJ'igraph. _ M" .. iah ....... mo.'. minor OOIioo in Iud. · hism O[ound ,he ,ime of y .... ua of N""",,'h . Mos' of the O><»en Propl< wore OOI.w.iting 'he ~Io"iah . A ~ood idea Iha,. ewn,ually. the PO<'-]O Chris,ian. rei",. 10 y .. huo of N"",rell> i, 001 found ot.1I in Judahi" documen" .• llhoogh i, wa, '-ery rom_ rron in '-pagan" religioo. in the early Comrron Er.. : ,he idea ,hal, god «>a' a human ""ing. 'hroogh his gloriou. ",hie,'om"n". Nllld tran,muto himself in'o a god.) This w"" the case wi,h ", ... ral of the Romon .ml"' ro". ><>me of "hom ... ore dec lared '0 be di"ine .f.. r ,lIeir deall>. Ollie" before. Juliu, C"",ar. woo w"" killed in -l4 BeE, Wll> di" inized and hj , adopted .... Au~ust"' c.I ..>on of god'"'" 0"" ''''P''Ct> tho, "hen . in 79c E. V"'pa,ian ,he f""""r 'ax coll<<1or. "too... Rom.n general. had initiaJly comm.nded ,he .n,i-Jeru.. lem campaign of 66-]3 C E o and who. will> hi. "'" Ti,u. "'" celebrnled OIl. co in ""'ring ,he I hi, de.th by ,lie Ro-man ",",,'e. both o,ri>liam .:><1 Jew, w<>u1d Iu,'e joined in OUlmge. This is 001 '0 "'Y that the ide. of di"i"" iocam"ion cou ld 001 be borrowed wi,h gre., ef_ f"", from pag.n sourcc", merely ,ha' ,lie "'idence thai w. . . present I'''' ' ''''' indic ... , thai i, w"' 001 pan of ,he "ad i,,,,,, of Judahi<m ...·.n in the f.i,h·, ..... , arcane ,'.rsio",. N", ... as the OJ.a thot . di"ini'y (Of. Yahw. h. if one 5Iick> to monothei<m) «>Om< .... y impregnote. hu""n ""ing .ny p.n of ,he ""lier. expounded b), an)' k"o",n Judahi" SOlI"'" docu"",n' of Saul . nd Ye,hu,', ,ime, The belief ,ha' po<1 WlI< "ew '0 ,he Yahw.h fai'h ... the 'OI.lIy no,'el ""lioL" in GeL> V.rme,· ... ord'. "in .. "", of divine imp n>O/iI ron'<mp"""Y cuiture" For in".""e. one con poin' '0 the E~p! i .n ron>lruct of the gOOde" I.i, aOO her son Horn".nd ,he G"" k my II> 11> .. ,he "i'Ein D,,,,,,,. i mpre~n.'ed by Zeu'. g",'e binh '0 Peri..,,,,, aOO the", are "".., ral OIher>, Perh.p' some d.)' in 'he fu,ure. when the Chri5l i.n ,,"uiv.lent of the 0,,:><1 Se. Seroll. is u""o,'ered. i, will be po<>iblo 10 pinpoint from "hioh pagan r eli~ion "'" Vi'Ein Binh " ,n borrowed Th.:tI. Ihoogh .... ill 001 mako ,he fuoo..me",a) ,<"u.1 problem go .w.y: unlike .I"""t '"""ry OIher motif in ,he New Tes"me"L 'his ooe i. nOl an in'orp""._ ,ion of ,he Hobrew ",ri p,ur", '" of ,he diver", relisi"'" litera,u,. of the SfV_ era l ludahi<m. of ,he I..er Serond Tempi. period. M""""·. ,, •• Ulrich Luz points out. the Torah implie. thai ,he idea "th., God.nd hum.n ""ing< c.n "",ually in .. ract i< ,he pinnacle of >acrilege:'" The c... he poin" 10 i< ,he

,,,;c,

~,

•

TH. WOUD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

"",ne in t"" book of Gene.i. w""re. aflOr t"" Hood . t"" """,. of God" (UB) o r "d i"inc be ing." (IPS) had relation. with hum.n "'ome n. producing t""reby. mee of giant>. Yah",eh . ",eing tOi. wickedn", •. decided to d<stroy homan kind. hentually. "" chang'''; hi, miod. ond let Noah ,u"'i," (Gen. 6"---<1). In t"" New T""ament. t"" author_editor. of t"" BooL. of ~1atl""W and of Lu ke (both PO"-]O eE) ",ere t"" proponent> of tile ootion of to. Viljlin Binh of tile Me"iah. How do they make t""ir ca .. pal.table? M"tlhew', chicf im_ plement i•• n Old Testament proof text. He Ik",ribe. Mal)" , h"'ing been "found ""ith child of t"" Holy G ..... t·· ( ~btl, j " 8) and then explain"

,."na)

Now.1I name Ernma"ual. which be i n ~ ;",<"",ted i•. God ~ · ith ... (~btl. 1:>2-'31 Thi, i, a rc.",.. bl)' ""cumle ,'e"ion of I,aiah T t 3 and 7: '4. which ".le>: ArnJ .. [I";""I";d. Hear )', oow. 0 t.oo .. of D...·id, Is it • snuU thing fco- )'011 to ...<"')' men. but will )"< w~"'Y m)' God aI",' n.er.f"", til< Lord ~ i m",lf >hall ~i,~ )'00 •• ign' Bcl-.ol<J .• "iljli n .!Ial l OO<JC
E,cept tOa" in the Hebre", text t"" word i. ALI/H. "",.ning '"}'oong girl." In Matthew thi, term i. f'<'r1iwnru. """"'thins quite diffcrent . In the original. ")'oung girl" doe. nOl cany .n)' ron-..tioo of "i'Binity in t"" medical .. nse . • nd almo>l all of t"" recenttmllliation. of the Hcbrew scripture •. Chri"ian .nd Jewi,h .hl.ce . haye .bando""d t"" c"""epl of viljlin in the > "'ere around. circu l.ting 011 tile ""'ljIin •. and tile", "'ere later of coo,iderable use to Christi.n •. (A ~.in . ..-I>< three related roocept' of: t"" ide. of the Kingdom of God. of the Son of God. and of to. Son of M. Ii""h of the", ilk .. 1Ia. been the ,ubject of hundred. of boob and man)' of tOo"" are diSlingui.t.ed pieces of ",holar.hip. Howevcr. the bibliotlen.ity of the writin~' i, apt to ob5Cure • fundamental fact: that in nOf" of the text>

""ort.

F..xciling Tim .. . 4J

., pre",n' i, 'here ioo;.:.,od .n iden'i'y allhe lime of I~ /ala &cootI Temple of the coocel" of M~"i.h and of Soo of God. Soo of Man. aoo of the roming of the Kin~dom of God." Con,iden ..... distiOCl from. triumplun, "",ionali .. ic kingdom for the Coo.en Peoplo 'Oa' would exi" in r~aJ ,ime and 00 the pre .. nt eanh)' AOOlhor phrase for ' hio coo<el" is the ··K.in~dom of Ho,,'on ," The re i.. fi", of all. no me",i"" of the Kingdom of Hoa,'en in ,he Hobrew scriptu,.,,;. 001." yel. has i, o.",n foooo in an "pl;':i, form in ,he para_oibl;':al h"'m,uro of ,he I."' r Serooo Tomple e.... There i._ 00..-",-." • coocept oflhe -Kingdom of Yahweh" (lran. _ la"-"J ,hat '"[he kingdom of our God i, fore'-.r O\'e, the nation. in jLidgomen,_" Thi. i, an import"'" (albeit "n i4"") Second Temple roforence. I>e<.u", i, i, foun d in ,he ,ame psalm in wh;':h the term Meshi"" i, em pk».. d to de«ribe the descend an' of King o-."id "ho will purify 10rn.. lom.00 will place the Gen,ilo na,ion, under hi. yoLe, Thi. fu _ ture kingdom oould be ,hi._... orld l)". or otherwoildly .00 occurring aI ,he 000 of ,i"", (,he P'alm io uncle..-). bu, ceruinl)" ,he propingui' y of ,he c""cept. of Moshi"" aoo of ,he Kin£dom of God i. i n ' ri~uing_ Thai. 00...., ..". i, all 'here i. in 'erms of d ire<1 reforence, Gi,'en ,he 1"'1'0 bod)' of biblic.1 aoo par._biblic.1 ... ri' ing'. th,..,., d irec' refere""", (ooly one of wh;':h appears in .>J '0 the belief in ,he ubiquity. or", Ie"" ,he cenlrnli'y. of ,he Kinjl" .. "'ril"u .... and in ,he ·'in'er_'.";' "",,,n .. 1period:' i. to frame a lilany of inje,,,,d ",fo,.,,,,,.,,; the apocalyptic Kingdom of God_ lha, i. ",actly "'Oa' we,. ..... k in~ plare ",hen i, w.. pointed oo t 00..' r.,., the concept of Me .. iah is: infolTed ""idence repl"""" di,ec'. and modem in_ "'rpo\a'ion, we re in'orsper<ed into the aacien' The >arne 'hing happen' wi,h ,he apoc.I)'l"ic K in~dom of God, It io .aid be f""oo in ,he into'-';[ice. of 'oXl aft... toxt. just ",ajtin~ to be hbe ..,od fwm the cramped confine, of "Oa,the tox' ",,'uall)' .ay., NOI1'OaJly. 0"" w"" ld 00l obstruct the at"'mpt"o liberate the ,ub_'ex, from the primary tox" af", r a ll. cto.e aoo ,ubtle reading usually inc re""" "" r u"_ de,,'aooin~_ Bu, in ,h i. c_ one must r«i"_ for the inferen'ial roading io all tilt,'
'0

"'x,. '0

~~

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

""< .•

.pocalyptic. end-of_'ime nd. funher. if ...11 p"",ible. '0 ,ie a ll, . ,,,,, reforeoce. '0 !he """"amoce of .\I",.ioll , In other 1'"'>111.. an en,ire herme""u,ic indu"I)' "" in,'."ed i,,,,,lf with ,he ",k of destroying the following historical reali,,,,,, that. ;n S«Ofld T.",pl. I;",,,. (') 'Oe roocept of 'Oe King_ 00m of God w"," not mIlCh used, (1) when i, " '" empIO}'ed. i, w.. not clearly oniculated: and (3) it wo, _ yet bonded '0 'Oe idea of Moshiah or '0 'Oe ~enre of apocalypse, A I"'mllel set of cDOC lu,ion, ookh both fo.- the roocept of Son of God and of Son of Man. Take. for". Son of God. Un le.. one choose, '0 ."ume that evol)' time 'he king'hip of Judah 0.- of hr... 1 i, mentioned. ,he holde r of 'Oe office i, .. ... (0.- e"en "the ") Son of God _,h i, in ,he man......- of many k in~ _ of ,he A",,;"nt Near Eost _ ,hen ,he coocept i, "inu,ily absent in the Hebrew >eript""',. n.e Book of Samue l h.. ,he prophet N.. han relating the"" wo0<\" I n Sam , 7' '4). 0"" of the Psalm. ha> the "0;"0 of King D3\'id saying. "tho Loid hath said unto m<. '11>00 an my Son : ,hi, day hal'e I be~ot'en thee'" (P •. 1:7) , A_her p,.l m. of Ethan the E.... hil<. re""n, y.hweh·, wonh ,ha, King DavKl i.,Oe Almigh'y', ··/ir>t_bom:·.nd "higher ,han 'M kin!" of the earth" (r., &)=>7). Elsewhere. the prophet H..... coli. the Child",n of 1>ra00. of the lil'ing God-- (H",. , : '0). Thi, i. wi,.in the ron"''' of. proph""y coocemin~ their futu re ,la'e. where the .. ...." of God ",hall be os the .and of the > , 1:10). None of the"" rofere""e< i, apoc.lyptic and. though meaningfu l. the phnt>e "Son (Of >on.) of God» i, IX>! used . . . focol poin' oround which to ron>truC1 a nOlT"i,'e.• prop"""y. or a hymn. One mu" conclude ,ha, ei,her the concept of Son of God i. J>ping in at le .. t ooe band of y.hweh·, followers. Thi, i, .n Aramaic fragmen t foond in Qumran COl.., number foor, which ha, be one ,m.1l fmg"",nt

F..xciling Tim .. . 45 and beeau", il> socia l context and authorship are completely un~oown. we shoold not ol·erro.d it. H",,·ol.... it ..,.,m. to ,ug~e" that among ",me group. _ porhap •• ,mall band of onthu,i..... or porhap. tho idea w.., he.1 "udie. roncerning the lator Second Temp " era. tbe", i. no direct ",'idence of thi, God·._""n construet ""in~ bonded with the ide. of Mo.hiah . but ",eh • union wookl be. natural occurrence ",'ontually. and did in fact ocrur .ft.. the year 70 CL The inforrn.tioo on tho related coostruct. "Son of Man:' i. richer. NeYe r_ the.,,,. it i, barely pre""nt in the Hobrew ",riplu" , . "«pl'" general de._ ign.tioo fo.-. human being , Thi. 001<1> with two e-,coplion,. One of the", i, the Book of Ezekie l. "herein the prophet i, OOdros>ed by Yahweh ninety_ th"", time • .., "Son of .\Ian.» The term here i, .poeiflC to the prophet E",kiel and ha, no goneralizable or timo_transcond""t qua lity. In coot""'. the other import.nt ""'go. in the Book of D.niel. ch>pter "",'en. i•• refo",,,,,,, to. ,upor_human being. or>< woo "i,t> beyood hi should >orw him: hi. dominion i. an eyerlast_ ing dominion ... h"h d" (D.n , 7: t 4). Woo i. thi, po"",n "like tbe Soo of Man ?"' He i. not the Anointed One of Dani.r. chapt tho 10xt to take it>e lf ",riou .ly. for this figu re i. liu the Son of M.n (X) B). Thi> i. not. later tr"",I .. or·, interpretation. but ail >ccurato indicatioo that tho .uthor-<"cripl ure. lISu"liy 'imply me.n •• human be_ ing. tt.;, Jowish Pub!>catioo Society'. l-or,iou i," more accumto tmn,lotion than i. the Ki ng Jame. Bible; "000 li~e. hum.n bein2:' The logic that fol _ 10\1" from thi, i. th.t if tho f'gure i. "Ii ke-" human ""ing. it is oot one , Moot prob.bly. the text refer> to an angol" "",.senger who", fomo ... ",mble, that of " human ""ing,. The Arrhangd ~ hchaol. 1\'00 i, >!roogly pril'i loged on D.niel (it i, be 1\'00. in ch.pter t ",eIYe. cam •• the great ccomic battl, to

~6

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' H U L AND H I HU A

doliv", the o.o..n Poopl< m.jor opportunity to see 00-..' it w., emp loyed in t .... Second TempI< era and this ha, already be.n referred to : t .... portion of the Book of Enoch that i. Im"""n as the Book of Similitude>, l1Iere_ .. v.gu", but uodeniahly ",,,,,,t. entite. are : Moo;hi.h (En 48:10 and ~' : ~l. the "Son of Man:' (En ~6 ' }J and fi~ure. that ore rea
"'1"'''''''.

,

In "mpl=izing the "xtraordinary ide.tOoMI rich ... " of late, Second TempI< Judahi,m and in ootin~ the myriOO Judahist faction, aOO parties in E",,, 1".. 1 and the Dia<por.>. I ha.'e been implicitl y docuolenting a point that neithe, the Ch,i"ian nor the Jewi.h .uthoriti.. of (to taL" an arbitrary date). loon would h",'e acrept<>d. nor woold moot of tooi r foll"""...-, .ince t .... n: that there ..... no d iret_bilic followe .. of Y,h_ weh to t .... form of Chriltian ity that "'"" brooght into e_, iSle"", after JO CE by the wtiters of the Christian GoIpel •. l1Ie great religiou. fIgure, of the later Second Tempi" era _ Hillel. Sh.mmai. John_the_B.ptizer. Y",hua_ Saul _ 1i,'N! in .n historic.1 ero ",hen ",or", of .'e",ion, of t .... Yah",eh_faith battk-d with each othe r f.,.- prim:>ry. or at I that were lying .round the ,hop fJOO< were put togetoo, into literally

F..xciling Tim .. . 41 huoo red. of pos.iMe JLKlahi.m. , And that conclus"", i. dictated o,'on by our .. ,'ore l)'-Jt"Cim.,od "" of cOll'emporary '''' ... Th .. Chri>lianit)' and Rabbinic Jndai<m ewn,u.lly belom, from ,he mul'iplicity of JLKlahiom. wa. ,he re,ul, of. gr.md_ chance k",ory. B)' " combin.,ion of good lock and of their being pre_adapted '0 the post-JO CE world (more of ilia' in • IDOIne"'). 1II0y ,urviyeu"" of ....n", One mu" uOOe=< the fae' ,h.L.s denizen. of 'heir own 'ime. "" i,her ,he po>t-JO C E Yo,hua 00f Saul w•• pin""d down by the ideological rajl, oxponents of ,he ''1'0 f.i th. "led 10 dri,'e t hroo~h Ihe Se<:ond Temple ora, No more were 1110), cOII>!ri<1ed by ,he '''ClOpI' of ,wontieoh_cen,uf)' "'"""ul"," ",hola" who ,ned limi' ,he dimon.ion. of ,he religiou, world of the oarl)' Cornmoo Era, Two ",ample. will ,uffice. each imTIhing. >chol., of genu_ ine , if imperf""'. goniu,. Th< touch"OIIo of Ihe modem effon to reSlate in ""cul..,he hi"oricai claim' of Ihe early Rabbi, and early church f. _ Ihe" w.s ,1-.0 wor\; of Geot:go FOOl Moore. woo.. iudai,m in Ih, Fiw e,",Uri .. of th, Chri>li<1n Era (Now YorI;, Schocken. 'wo .-01 •. '911-30) was di" ingui,hed by kllOwledge nOl 0111)' of early Chri""n 'hought bu, (unusu_ .lIy. for hi. time). con.idorable "in"""i'y in posl-]o R.bbinic ",."" Moore de", loped Ihe concopt of ··normali,.. Jud.i,m·· .. ,he hi.lOne.1 engine that drew.1I OII-.or con,lrUlruc,ion of JO C E. I"" he "1'_ proa.ched ,he .. data uocri'icall)" Funda"",nlall),. hi. idea of JLKlah i,m a. i, ",isoem " did 001 ... ort .s hi>!o.)". behip operated within Ere" 1..-..,1 .nd wore anylll ing bu, marginal and (b) ignored forms of be lief .nd "'''''hip in Ihe Di_ .. pora which wore. in f"". in Ii"" ", i,h ,he --norm.,i,.. " ron"ruc" "hich Moore presented. Tho oorm.,i,.. --de" ian' dichotomy did 001 row r Ihe , i,ua_ ,ion a, .11 woll. Tho "",ond offort "''''' ,ha' of E.P, Sande", . "'00 in '977 proposed • w.y ..-oond ,1-.0 failing. of Georjle FOOl Moo.-.· ...-ort. name ly tl-.o ",iso.nee of. patl<m of be lief ,hat he denominated "co,'enanla l nomi.m." and "'hich. he

'0

,iIlI,

'0

"'no.

'0

··nom,._

Iil.,

~g

.

TH. WOOlD 0.' H U L AND H I HU A


,h.

I I ) God Iw rno.en 1.
n.,

I ,~'

i"",lie> both (3) God'. prom;'" to maintain t!-.. , I«tioo aM (4) tho r.hos tru1>g"',jon , (6) n., L.w )I!'O";do, for of """t. and. :uoo..... nt "", I" in (71 main"""""" or "....,abli./u"" .. of t!-.. c",~ _ MIl .... " Iat;"",h,p. (8) All tho« ~'ho "'" maintaine-d in "'" """,nan' by obedienc<. at""" .... " and God', mercy ""mg tJ-.. groop " 'hich "'ill "" ..sed."

"",.n, at.,..,_

'0

Thu •• 'I'P""'nlly. tho de.ire to h,,'o • ,ingl. ··J.wish·· f.ilh in I"" lat.,,- Second Tomple or. w.... Ii.fted, Not ",ally. Although S.rtde.-.·, wi hoc roading. of t.. IS a ro .mong lhe .u btl.>!.nd mosl in.ighlfu l one eOC<J<Jnle.-.. hi. hypotl><",. are no... 1><", gi,'en ",hat is u.ually c.11ed "'operational .pecificity:· Th.at i• . 110 w.y i. def,ned for .Ihird f"'!1y to ,,,rni,,,, •• peeif'c form of /uent. Thi. is not , tiny l"oOi,mo S.nde" admits that oot "'ligi"". document which i. port of "coven," _ lal nomi,m" will h,,'e evel)' CIte of II>< characteristic. Ii.ted (00. thon. which. if . ny. are n",,, ... requi,ite,") and. funl> not hayC tl>< o.,IDents menlioned. yet "ooe can see enoogh to i u"ify tho .>sumptu l.te, Ihal its "i>l'lICo. though not "i,ible. i. 10 be ."umod , And. ala>. that i. OIIly • , " " ,II po<1ion of I'" problom , Although Sanders is presic protocol. of hypot"".i. te"inS , Not only are his ,u b_h),pothe ... !lot opera_ tion.1. bul h" has 00 nu li-hYf'OIhe,i. , One of lhe .greed rul<> by whit"''''' in ,uch. "'O)" "" IMI if a given dat um .ppear>. we all'g"" Ihal tl>< hypothe.i, i, di'pro",d. A15O. this "null hypothesi.' i. 00 framed that lhe ",a", are .Iway. , lighlly ",.ighted ag.in" any ne ... idea. ",1><","';" [lOproof. oo--dat um. Of " not PfO"ed" """,,Id be laL"n .. permitlin~. ne", ide. to float into tho re.lm 01 """epted ",i«lom. (A . imp" eumplo: if ><>rne<>ne hypot .... ized Ih.. the .un rose in the WO>l . • nd. on, "''''ily c loudy da)' """ "'" unable 10 oO>e'w any meyement of sunlighl "hatsoowr. this "not prO\..d-- doe, not mean one can oay h ..'e .oown il po» iblo thar the ,un in IJ-.. .... st.»)

,-.riou.

'''''I)'

I)'

'h,"

Ii"".

"to."

F..xciling Tim" . 49 hon if 0'"'" were to work oot w')"' of making '"" --co"o""nlOl oomi<m" thesi, ",,,,,,nabl)" Ie"able _ .. y. by demanding ,he wrifiable oniculation of """"if\< beliefs or of "i,ibie li,urgic.1 pa"om •. and 001 just "presupposi'io"," on ,he pan of ~ r oop' that claimed to be part of the Yahweh_failh _ I suspe<' one wookl come up ... i,h two ",.ul,, ; f,rs'. ,ha, mos' of Ihe f.c,ion,.nd their docu"",n" wookl 001 a/f"m ,II ,be ",,"ui.ito concepu of cO\..,,,,,,,IOI nomi,m .. Sande", has li>1od ,bern .nd. second. one "'oold f,nd br.ncbe. of '"" Yah_ w ",herwi",. One pa,h around thi, uflComfort.ble ,i,ua,ion i.1O agree ,ha'. indeed. ,he", w,,", no . ingle Judahi" orthodmy, b... de'pile ,he multiple ludahi,,,,,, of ,he 'ime. ,he", oxi.1ed ··orthopraxy:· ,ha' i, •• common > >0 gen",.1 or >0 fr.g"",n t.ry .. '0 yield,," 'mor. of. ' ingl<. ,y"emalic.nd compreheru;i"e law romnlOO among Je .... :·" Althoo~h I 'hink it i •• '1""'K>w ",.",i.., '0 "y '0 define for 'he early Com_ mon Era wha, "Iowe" commoo deoomin"'''' Judahi.m" mal' hal-e been _ ,I""'i .... , be< • 5h of M"",,' _ ,,"0,. of un ique >piri,u.1 au/hori,y. Mos' Judahi", would ha"e """opled .,,,-era[ "'her ",-,,,. >ome of which ",..,n,ually be<.me pan of ,he Tanakh. bu, . 1"" o/he" Iha' did nor. (3) Israe l i. a le. either in i" ","y.ical form •• Horod', Tomple. or in a .piri,ualizcd form (a. P'" fofward by so"", of the 0,,00 So. leX,,). WlI> the central iron of the fai'h _>omclhing so ",'-ered ,hal '0 deocribe i, .. Judahi,m', aniconic idol i, jUSlified. Ac,ua ll y, o'"n "'e mp'ing to Ii .. ,be elemon" of "[ow"" common den","_ inalor" Judahi>m in the era of Yo,hu, .nd S.ul i. an "'" of hi>1oric.[ ,,,nd31 _ ism .• oo [ 00 so 001)' '0 illu"ra'e ,he "",..,ny of the approach _ and. thu •. I hop". 10 inflOCulate ,he reod", ag.in" tha, sort of 'hin~in~. Gran,ed. each of ,he four cMr3C1cri>1ic, li>1ed .bo,·e i, funda"",ntal '0 eor h of ,he m.ny

n,,"

"'jec'

'h,"

~o

. TH .... OOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

lud.hi,m. of the Socoud Tem ple e .... but those characteristic> acquire meonin~ only within the cootext of the riohno". the in"entiveno". the .pirit . ooaring. truth _... ro"ling, 2od - fearin~. heaven_tooching. eanh_'pattoring re,.. lotion which each Judahi.m capt""'" fo.- its ,,",'n.

The ond of the world', 2rto moment. thoref"",. to 'u,,'o), the nature of tho one cent ...1 iron of the myrioo Judahi,m. of the pre_De"ructiOll era. the Temple it.. l!. and it> fUllCtiooario •. prie". and their Iitu'llic.1 ""tions. e>peci.lly the ritu.1 killing of .nim.I •. The Tomple 2"'" back far into the Yahweh_faith. to the rei~n of King Solomon "" ho in th< mid-<jliol; "eE be~"" to build. permo_ ""nt sacred structure to «pl""e tho temporary edifice that the Chosen People had c.rried with them on thei r wandering •. Yahwoh cou ld be limnro only in the co,'on",,'- and. .fter Solomon'. tim<. th< roven,nt could be toocl>od only in the Temple, 111< re. in th< Holy of HoIio •. in the ",bem""le in "hioh the early I",.eli« , had " .... lied with thei r god in the Ark of the co,'onant. Yahweh ..... ph)~ic.lly pre",nt (see &oou. '9:4' and 33 :9). There. under prie"ly "U'pice,. were killed a ll man""r of beasts, their blood being a direct offering to Yahwoh. fof the propitiation of .in •• nd fOT a re.ffi rmation of the "",.. nant with him. Thi, .rrhitectural wonder "' •• de>tro)'od b), the B.b)'loni .... in ~87-~86 RC~. W'O' ",bui lt on a mere modest >ca lc in ~38 "CE (m and. then totally re_ placed by H of the Commoo Ern. oot long before it was fated to be demolished, Thi . Temple (w'hich by • convention re.pertchoI ... ly circl .. i. c.iled the "Second Temple:' .Itl>oogh actuaUy it w""' the third). loo""ed o,'er .11 the Juciahi,m. of th is. the "Iator S<"COnd Temple 0... ·· by "in"" of it> rhy.icai char""toristic. _ it pos.i_ bly was the ia'l'e" religiou. buildin~ in tho .... "om world (dep"ndin~ upon how one "",,,,sse, E2ypti.n funerary structure.) , And it ..... not cold orchitec_ ture: the Tem ple w:» the "'lui,'.lont of an indu"ri.1 . ite. full of prie.nd orol),to. ,00. at major fo,st time •. especi.lly r ...o"",- it probably ..... the I...go>< .battoir in the then_known world" But. ho..-",.. r imposin2 it wo, rh)"ic.lly. the Templo ",a. infinitely more poworfu lly s),mbolic.lly. It wo, the one aspect of Jnd.hi" rca,i. to which ",'ery adherent had to r",pond." Reformer> "rod w,oIutionarie. rou ld reject the rrie"OOod of Maccabean time ••• co.-rupt (the .uthentic h i ~h prie.ionarie. wont further .nd SOll~ht nothin2 10" th,n • new Temple. rorh.p" on o:mh. pemap" in the he.,'en •. '" n.e Temple could be rejected. de_ ",,"rlCed. ombrnrod. or oulogi,.ed. But it coold oot be i~oored. It was _ a

w.,

F..xciling Tim.. . l '

mere motif. rut the pi_ aroooo which the Yahweh· faith """,h'ed. A. Jonathan Kir",h rightly "'l'ue •. concern ing the Tabemad". the IlOd.e of the Temple : -'the ,\losaic cOOo 'l""'if",. that all >aemocle . • romm.ooment ... ith profoooo implic.ti"", in the f'lliti« of ancient I=.e l. . ioce it establi,hed Jor",.lem. the prOSUlneJ .ite of the Tabern.cle , .. tbe on l)' place" Oere Yah"'eh rou ld properly be ",,,,".n ipped."" It i. impos.ible.tberefore.to e,I"''' the horror which tbe destruction of tbe Temple in JOCE en8endered_ Fi3\'iu. Josephu. in hi. The k".-i,h IIbr gi,.." •• ",""ali,'e. oonlempo<ary >ccoont a. it i. reaSOn of Jeru. _ alem by the Rom. n. i. somehow dimini.hed by the '"pec" of the Temple as an .rchit,,,tonic .ymbol of uitimate reality, To use the word "traum.· to de>cribe "hat occurred woold b< to minialu r_ ize the ",'ent. A Krabtoo_magnitude eruption bla",>J ,too< from "one, dark_ ""'. eo,'ered tOe laoo, .00 the rich wocid of mu ltiple Judahi,"", came to an eoo. Although we today take it fo.- grantOrne _ hoY.' b< re _in,'enlt'd and would ,u"'i,'e without i" phy.ic.1 focus point and without tOe ritual, thal there pe!J>'-~uated the ooo"oct with Yahweh _ thal i, a wild l), ahistorical ..,umpl",,,,, It w.. an improb.ble ""hie,'ement bordering on tOe mir"""loo>. thai 00l one. oottwo. of too Judahi"", of the p",,[)estructK>n e[3 adapted aoo fioori,hed in tOe new world. wOerein the", ".,., no Temple. JuS! •• too Temple had 001 been a me", motif among 1"'-[)e'lnln Juda_ h;'n». the """lering of the terrif), ing problem _ how to contin"" tOe contract with Yahweh ",'en thou~h hi. house w'" de>lroyed _ ...... noltOe ""',i n~ of. mere riddle_ but the .i08 1e mo>I important pre",,!ui, i" for ,u,,'iva1. n.e f'l" -]O world - the world that saw tOe oreOlion of too Christian >crip_ tu re, and of the Rabbinic te." _ wu.., different from that of Saul aoo of Yemua •• to b< beyond mere comparison: """ "'ligi"'" uni,w>o had ended. "",,,Oer had begun , He lmut Koestor;, conain ly COfTl.'Ct when he nol." that the Ie"e" of Saul were ",ri"en ""two decade. or mote before the fi<>l e"ant Go._ pel literature."" but o\'en thi. unde rstate, the di>lance betw""n th= epistle. and the nmalive Gospels; Saur. leners """'" from one uoi,."",,: tOe Gospel, from it> What we kflO'o" today .. the Chri>lian and the J""'i>ll faith> were the t~'o form. of tOe m),riad pre -70 Judahi.m. thal ,un'i,'ed aud prospered after the

'''''«',;0{,

~,

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' H U L AND H I HU A

~"'at

di,..,ter, They did so b«,u>< of ,I\ree """od characteristic>: "ach W05 locky. each wa. pre-ad.ptod '0 post-]O ''''.''. ,nd each. afler ]0. h:>d leader_ ,hip which colle<'i,'ely "",od with ""isdom and indeed galem. man)' Christi •• , flod '0 ,b< 'o,',n of Pelia which ...... aero" ,he lorda. Riwr.'" Whe,b! f"",i"",, (,he Zealot. for ".ample). neither group ..... wiped 00' in the lewicted in hi. horn< "' a poi.". oro.ring and Ii"ing • life of ,,,iet ri,u.1 hoiiness," And "'"'" of ,he Ye,hu._fo lk""en_ mo" ""'ably. as we ,hall """ . , ...... o."",ialed with ,he Apos,1e S.... I _ h:>d ""~u" '0 ('(lOCoi," of the Temple ., an im-i,ible .nd .,em.i "rue'u", and the (01)' ."cellar), """"flCe to "" the ooce-for_aJl dealh of Ye.h u. of N.zareth. Af"'r 70 CE. each group buii, on the", foundations. The ~oniu, of .""h ca..,. Ic",'isil .nd Chri"i.n."''''' ,hal i" POS'-JO loade"hip artieu l.. ed 0 Temple reIi~ion. bot one in "h ieh a v;'ible and IO.gible Tem ple 00 Ion!!"r w"-' n""",_ ""y. 1hey " •• "".nded, 1he ... orld of ,he '''-0 fai th< ,har cry".llized .ner the [)estruc1ioo Wll> ,'ery differen, from the world of mul'iple Jud.hi""" which h:>d formed Saul.nd Yeshu.,

w..-.

,

In und hi"'"ical delOil •. Howe,w. ,",,~ I )' '" an hi"",i •• I am making ",'",ral "",it i"e obser.-atioos: ,ha, i,. ol)lu"",n" for which ,he~ i. strong ""idooce i. ,he hi0.., "'l'ument> a~ .pI '0 "" ~, i "ed by 'hose his'Ofi •• , and hi"oric.lly_based Iheolog i•• , who work in the hi
F..xciling Tim .. . l3 bi .. 'ow.rd, go"in~ Chri"i.ni'y OIl' of in Semi,ic PM'" .. quiclcly as f"", i. bIe remain,. Thi. harkolll bac k (I ' hink .Imos! romplelely nocoosc;oo,ly 011

"'" p.... of ""'" Je.u._Que"""1 ' 0 ,he origin' of ""'i r won in "'" I.rgely_ Tou'onic en'orpnse of "Higher Cri,ici,m:' which ",,'e ...1 ,wen,je,h--cen,ury Jowi,h ""001,,, denomin"ed ",he H i ~her An'i_Semi'im.» So. I h,ye .u~~es/ed ( ' ) ,h .. ,he pre-JOCE JOOahi" world ..... one of ,he riche>, reli~i"", c uioure, e',,, '0 o,i". Many Jud.hi,,,,,. 001 ius' a .ing le """. o,i,led . The Y",hua_fai'h wa, •• ub-",' of ,he Judah i" ..w id. and inevitably. gi,"'n ,he fecundi'y of ,h., world. '""re would he .,,,'oraJ Y",hua_fai' h •. (1) 11>ppar.. u. in /he Chris,ian fai,h ,ha, we en_ caun'cr in ,he POO'_ JO CE Chris/ian scrip' nre. (which i, ' 0 "')' ,he Kew Tos/._ mon'. wi,h d,o excoption of the Pauli ... lo"ors. which or< J>fl'-JO CE) th .. did not come from '"" >tod_room of lale Second Tomple ludahi,m. The . kilful rear!llllgomen' of ,he pi""", i. bre"t h _ ,"k i n~. but at it> coro. the religion tha , o"ontnally rule, much of the Go",i., world i. unmistak.bly a I<packaging of la'o Serond Templo Judahi.m. IJ) A. 1 ,hall documen' Ia",,- the Ye"' ua_ mo,'eme"' until JOCE was dominated by Je!1l>aJem and. indeed. by the ... ",ivin~ memhers of /he fami ly of y.sh"" of Nazaroth, It had not in any .ig_ nif,cant ",nse broLon free of the contripe/aJ pull of Mount Zion. (4) After JO n. ,he his/otic.1 evidenco i. ""erwhelmin~ ,ha' '"" "arieti", of Judahi .m detodi.... and inlerpretors of the narTatiYe of hi , m ini,try was the destruction of the ""ntropoint upon "hior..,diton of "'" New Te"ament _ call ,hem /he "w rito,," if )'00 wish _ t.ad to f ... m•• story that iocluded 001 only"'" life.nd d.ath of Jo,u. of N.",reth and the resur_ rection of J•• u. _too_Dlri". but they had to do so '0 an aud ience "ho ~ ... '" that "'" Temple t.ad be u, to a poin' that i. crocial . 11>< reaJly important ",omon' in the in"ention of the religion that herom,,, ·"Chris/i.ni'y" i, ,he e,'ent that cause, the Ctui"ian script"'... and e>pe
"""dod

~.j

.

TH. WOOlD 0.' H U L AND HIHUA

Nllra~o

to tum the mattor ."",0<1. u"''''''y '" that m.y make u" Spe<"ifioally. wo must re.lize tOat although . 11 of the sc riptural di5<"ssion, of /0'"' >=m to be depcri",ur",.nd thus to o'.-orrome the parall., th.. othe",'i.., I"""ludes oor u,in2 them os hi,..,.-ic.1 document>. I'Ilt 'imply. bee ..... the N<>w Te,o .nd thus to miss the point that the ore.tion of the text> them,.,h'e. i, of "'lual. or 2reator. importance. W. h .... to keep u,i"2 the post-70 n .i t""t"'" a•• framewor\;. or it will be im""",ible to ,'iew the >
'h,"

""pon><'

·3.

yrlloi(/iIl9 (Words tfiat :Make Us £ie

ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE' IN DHlING WITH THE EHlY

day. of ,he Jesu._f.i,h i. to .mid ,.ying 'hing' we do 001 mean. W Oe,he, we do so COIl>ciou.ly or u"thin king ly. ",in~ the wrong word. wean rut> of fallacy d""p inlo our UOCOR>0000 o r ""hofraphy) are found in .0001>l> '0 .".,,' '"" ' pir"u,1 genealogy (and thu, the le_ gilima h,,'e papered 0''' ' great hi>lorical c han~ ... Often thi. i. OC<X>/Tlpli,lled by uJece,,,,,, of human life form" but tile ,""cabul.ry of the "lud"",,_ Christi.n tr.dition-- often obscure. abru pt ""cien,ion. in the e .... lution of beliefs. by u>in~ term, that effecti,'e ly deny any ,hift ha, occurred. A .im_ ple_ p'a.rtic.1 ru le: d ifferent thing' h,,'e to be called by d ifferent name., Equall)'. wo h"" to ,,'oid "Whig word.,- Thi, i •• refere""e to the ",or. of tile distingui.hed hi"ori.n of Engl.nd. Horbert Buttorfield who. in t93 t. pointed oot that most of the polit ic.1 h istory of Engl.nd in hi. lifetime had been written u a ,n>OOth .nd ine,'itable progre"ioo toward. the ",, _ mocr:>cy of hi. o",n tim ... the Whig party of the early nin
'''>rhe"

,.,,,,,,,,hing

~6

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' H U L AND H I HU A

i. particu larly mi, leading in dealing wi,h early Chri>1i.ni'y. f<>r i, judge. ,he au,hen' ici'y and ,he impana""e of an oarly prac'ice a",ording '0 how i, fil5 in'o 'he seeming ly_inevitab le progre .. ,o ... ard. t o. form of Christianity that e,'en'ua lly triumphod. Here no! only are '"" .ub,letie. of connOlat ion. imponan'. bu, .1", ,he mere oo.ic matte" of what langu,go i. emplo}'od for . ignificant n,me. and ..'enlS, Wo.n modom >coola" systematically omploy Gl<'load of Hobrow_deri,1."d term, 'hat h,,'e an earlier hi"orical root. ,hey are implying (oow,,' .. uncon _ ""iou,ly) the existonce of .n hi>lorica l ··progre.'" toward. ,o. Je,u, _fai,h as a Gon,ilo religioo. Few historical eYo lu,ion. cou ld h3\'e i>ed ,o. c.scade of ,u'l'ri>e. ,hat produced ,he fin.1 outcome; , fai'h outside of Judai,m. And we need to ayoid "seman,ic n.. ts:· Some time< , 'orm com.. to refor '0 an o'.."arching enti'y and .• imultan"""sly. lOme of 'hat "n'i'y' . compononll , Whon 'hat happen •. me.ning .Iides ou' of con'rol. A, minimum. ,,'oiding a fa llacy_inducing ,,,,,,bulary will o.lp u. get fo...e r thing . wrong , A, be". i, will h""e a I""iti," impac'. making 'hing:> ,hat I .ug2'" clearer ond thus he lping u, get more thins. righ' , The ... e use a. an agreed ,,,,,abulary in ou r discussion _,h i. in a .mall cowean' be' ...een au,hor aod ",ader _ aro mostly o lde r word>. 0< on .. deri,'od from the oarlie" ,i'ootion of ,he Jesu,_f.ith. Two or 'hree could be c.llod "ne_ ologi,m •." bu, nOl. I think. in the nas'y >eo'" of ,hat term , "Neologi,m " i. an orademic atuck_ word for '"" proce .. of making up no ... 'orm, for their own .ake and ,,,,,,t ofton i, refor:> to the prolifera'ion of uonecellOry '",h_ nieal tern". woo.. chief re,ult i. to make 'he ",bj"'t ., h.oo seem nlOre complicatod ,han i, ",.lIy i. _ and. cOITespondioSly. the ,u,hor '0 appear .manor ,han"" or.he re.lIy i. , I hope ,hat i,"", "hat". in,'olved here. for me .. ly [ am .uggosting .implification. aoo . ..-hen p"',iblo. old ... onl>. Ii... n if ,he reader di,like. ,o. 'orms I am proposing. and ""en if ul'imately my ont ire ,ubsequen' al]!u"",n' i. fou nd unaccept.ble. at Ie." ,he ",ade r ..-ill ha,'c lOved a 101 of time and mi.understanding by our ha" ing abandoned from the ou'",' ,he ",man,ic .holl_game ,hat characte ri"" >0 much biblica l scl>o larship, Mos' of the ""," ,ha' r>eed careful use have i>e! '0 >ee where and how. piece of """abulory fits in conto" before turning to a lexiNn. M)' fair hope i. ,h.,. few 'imple word. will penni' "" '0 got clo;er '0 ,he "")' ,he peoplo of Saul and of Yeshu.·, ,ime thought aboo' religion than will '"" thoologi'od con,tructs ,hat

"",,rd.

Amidin8 Word, 1M, Ma', U. Lie . l1 u .... lly are laken for glan ted .nd ",h>ch automatic.lly fun nel u, unthinkingly do... n cen.in J><ed.o termic.ed line, of historic.1 beli.f.

Stan ... ith y •• hu • . That", hi, n.me . not ··J"u,."· It', ",hat hi. father and mother.nd hi. brotbe" and .i"." called him .nd it". how hi, follow." knew him_ Probably the name was rronoonced in tho roogh regional dial""t of Gali lee a. ··y•• hu:·' but in Jerusal.m. tho .picenlr< of hi, religio", lifo_ it wos fully anicu lated, Not J",u" y .. hua. After hi, doath. ",me of hi, follow _ ." n"wed into the pagan .,o.-kI and there they employed the H.II.nised form of hi, name but . if the Gospel •• re ""curato. Ye,hu. no,'Or in hi. adult y.... loft Erotz 1".. 1 (that i •. tho Holy Land). So. ",.. n if one ac<"< P" th at tho", w", • consider.bl. deg"" of surf""e_I",.. 1 Ho lI enacted .nc>Cnt Semit;': rituai>. and "oo.e ", hoi." "ud ied Hebrew_l.nguage «m .• de'OIIt and thooghtful religiou. leoder would h.." chang<' of tile Chri>tian toxt, mahua ', di rect orti. n."· much Ie.. ombr""ed it) .... a, IlO! intentionally im'ol,-oJ in found ing a Gentile religion. and was com_ pletoly 10)'.1to the Yahweh _faith ... hich he wished to purif)'_IlO! do"",y. So. we n .. tho nam< ho c.lled him .. lf: not J<5U,. y",hu._ Hod Ye.hua e,'Or heard .nyone refer to hi. earthly father a. ··Joseph.» he would ha"e unde"tood. fo.- that i, . reasonable G"" k Imn,literation of YSf: most :>crura«ly ... ritt.n in Engli'h a. ··Yosef."· Out if he hod h<",d hi. moIher referred to "" ",\lary:' brothe" '" ··Jame,.·· ··Jose,.·· ··Joo",,» .nd "Simon:' h< "'OIIid ha,.. thooght the 'peaker either tombl), .[[«ted 0.-. bit touched.

~8

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

Hi, ..-.other wa, ··Miriam." hi, bro,h.rs wore ··Yae cu"om,,,y English_l.ngu".'!e """,lilera,i",,, I""" M.tlhew '3 :55 and Mar\; 6:3). 001 ,he Gree ' lex"- S'ill. ,I>e resul' i, tl>e """'" a, wl>en we he .. the Gree' 'e.t "I< aboot -- I<su.:· 001 Yo,huo : tl>e 'otall)' non_Gen,i., nature of hi, " ',,,Id .nd of hi, workh-.,,,, i, ob>cured. In ail the"" i..,,,nees. "'0 .re encountering (in English_l.nguage di",ussion,).n early P""'u"", to propaganda in ,he origi _ ". 1><nso of that word , -- Pr-opajl.anda·· in origin i, a religioo, 'erm. ''''mming from the S.lCrcl COIlgreg,,'ioni() d. P"'{J<'ganda fid•. an 'goncy . ".bl i.1>ed wi'h in the Roman Catl-.olic church in tl>e latt" half of the .i"""nth cen'ury (and 1.", formaii<ed in 1611) to deai with ,he i>tJrEeoning numher of "hea_ then" n.,i"", thai wore he ing di>cove red ., Europ< "rip-mined ,he N.w World> its "'pior.rs wore encountering. 0"" of Propag.nd.·, tool, wa.s ,he CO<\trol of vocabulary 10 .. to maLe the Church', ,'o"ion of religiou> ,ruth . • nd ,he Church'. righ' to define ,ha' truth. more easil)' ... imilable by cuitu re, tha, wore not otherwi", prepan.>d to """ Chri"ianity as the natu ..1,"",'e customary anslici",tion of tl>e Semitic """",oc lalure of Yeshu.·, life i, largely rr-"ant in origin (tl>e Roman Catholic church ",a, not much gi,'en to <"","", . . ging Bible reading .mong ,he lait), until the "",ODd half of ,he ,went ieth ",ntury). but i, i, propaganda ne,'erthele". 1he cii" ini'y whom Yesilua was not >om< G"",k .b.trnction '" Roman domi _god. He (and i, wa •• male. no doubt. the .. ) wo> tl>e tribal god of the CI-.os YHWH. nov.' frequen'ly referred '0 as - ,he Tctragramma,,,,,:' Nobod), k ...." for cenain hO'lO.' thi, IWll< was pronoooced by tl>e ancien' I>",e"",'er rHWH .ppeared in the IeXl , ,he ""ribe, rioced ,he yowo l_lotto .. fOI ,he word ··Ae coosonan" for YHWH. Thu,. <'1"y ,im< ,he name of the dei'y ..... to he uttel ed aloud. i, wa.s pronounced ··Am thi, arise, ,he mi,loading En~l i ,h _ I""gu.g. tTlUl.Ii'.r.'ion ··Jehovah."· AI"",,, ""i,-e.-sall), in scholarly circlo, ,he coo",n,i"" i, to pronouoce thi •. ,he prime di" i"" ""m<. a, Yahweh.) No,,". whe'her or not ,he taboo 011 uttoring the di"ine name w., univers.lI), operati "e in Yoshuo', 'ime. i, not cloor. but the poin';' that an)'_ """ tk.'otod to the faith of tl>e Chosen People knew God', re.1 nome: Y.hwoh , So ",l>en wo road of Yoshua roforTing to ,he dei'y (and tl>e re i, ooly one deity for y.,hua). no matter wha' name ,he Now Tes""",nt '"'}" "'.,.. on hi, li[». in hi, mind thore had to 0."0 beon ,he omnipresen' di"i"" name. Yahwoh , Wl>en the New Testamen, ha, Yesh ... use ,he tono ",he Lord" (hTioJ . e ,g .• M",k 5:19J. it not only ",ru b> ,he Semi,ic backgrouad of

mo>'

.,,,,-ed

Amidin8 Word, 1M, Ma', U. Lie . 19 Yomua', 'hoogh' from ,he ""'. i, >imuh"""",,l i.,he poin' of refereoce. 1he implo.lon of "",aning. is"", acri_ dental . Significan'ly. ,he New To"a"",n, wri,.,... when qUOling ,he Old Testamen,. chango ,lie di"ino name from Yahw"h '0 ",he Lord" or '0 "God" (n.,,,,).l Since thi. doe. 001 =u r in ,he G"",k lran,lalicn, of ,he Hebrew >eriplure, which pretla'o Chri"i,," i'y. i, has ' 0 be ,akon .. an in'en,ional man_ 'gemen' of ,·"".I•.Jiary by . i'""r ,he framers C4" ,he copyi'" of ,lie 1'Ie ..... T"'la_ men" By ch,ngin~ ,he name of God. ,hey were ."empling '0 do "Olhing .. " 'han chango God', na'ure. from a Semi,ic dei'y _ who. m'O! ' im<. had come '0 he seen 00< ,he powerful of /he work!', god>. bu" fin.lly... ,he (01)" one _ to some'h ing mor< com!",'ible wi,h Holleni"ic and Roman ciyili .. ,icn. _ which domandod on ,he one hand. 0 goo who cook! lake hu_ man form and rouk! ope .. te in. ",orld whe", god, frequendy did jus"hat. and on 'he other hand. a goo who cook! be ''''al,' be,ween roughly ,600 BeE and Soo Bn ,lie 'erm ref." '0 .... "Yahweh cui,.» which "' •• one of .... man)' cuh. of a""ien' PaJesti,.,. and .... 0"" ",hich oYen,ually """a...., dominan, in ,lie lifo of 'h" Coo..,n People. Her<. ",hen doaling ",i,h ilOm. in ,he 100 years or >0 before and .flor the he_ ginning of ,he Common Era _ the I"'rioo u,.,lIy c.llod ·· I.,e Second Tomple Judai,m:' and ""arly Christianity:' .nd "earl), Rabbinic" or•• _ the term ··Yah ..."h_fai,h» i, employod ., a con'..,nien' umbrella_reference for all of 'he Yari.n' form, of Judah i,m whose follower-. w<>r>hipped Yahw.h and thi. i"" I""", the followe,-,; of Yeshua of ~' ",...,'h, ~· ow. S,ul. He i," "'"'I"'rating man .• nd no",lIe", mor,,,'o 'han on .... issue of hi. name. In none of hi. ,ulyiying I.u.rs doe, lie ref.r to him", lf other u..n .. I'"ul (paulo.) . This Hel lenic "a"", (me.ning . roughly. "",..11:' Of ··li"le··I. func'icnod in the th"",_nan>e Roman I<:p-al 'ystem .. hi. cogoo_ "",n. that i,,- •• hi. las .. '" family. name. Hi. cognome" W3S the public ox_ pre"lon of hi. proud ly_he ld Roman citi7-"n'hip. Hi, sense of being ··P.ul of T.r>u, " "' •• lik. that of, ,ucre.. ful ninet""n,h..:.n'u!), Eng li.h m,,,,,han' who "'., quito plea""; to he 5o_.nd_5o .. Esq .... ",,,n though .... feudaJ rank of ""lui," (. knight", you,hful ,hie ld_bearerl ",os ,·."ig i,l: public resl"'ct_ .bi lity has to be .... nod or it ,..,,"'" to exi .. . He .1", had a Semi,ic na"",

i""'"

mo>'

>Uc""'"

mo>'

60

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' HUL AND H'HUA

.. hich. curioo.ly. we disro,'er on ly in ,be 1"'''-')0 CE Acl< of ,be Apo>tb .nd then in a ,tacc",o. p=;ing fashion , Wi,hout any rrepara,;"n we are ,oid ,ba, Silo"!) ··S.ul"· (o>u.II)". Sa"/ruISil"ioU/Sil"io. occ •• ionally in di""" ., a )"oung man "' •• presen' at ,be "on ing ofS' erhen. ,he fi rst manyr of the je,u>-f.i,h. and ' hat ,he "ic,im', clo,he. were I.id a' Saul'. feet (Acts 11 :101. There.fter. Saul i. bad _fillod in'o ,he n.m"i,', of , .. pos' -<:ruion <"fa" • pe"""Ulor of ,he foilower-. of y.,hua , Ho ,hen uodergoe •• wodd_famoo, COflyersion 011 '"" Toad '0 D.m...,u. (Acts 9:.,""<;11 and become. an o,'angeli" fo.- ,he fai,h , S.u l i. la" heard of in a notab l)" dum.y .-di' ori.1 ba' oo_pa .. _ ··Saul. "'Oo .1", i. call.-d Paul" lAc" 13 :91 _ .nd ,he reafler e,'e r)"hing h"" '0 tle, in'rod""" th is addi,ional name. Saul , in"eoo of "ic king wi,h rau l ,hmJ2hou,. "l"-"'ia!ly .i"". ,he 'pos,1e hi""" lf "",m. ' 0 ha,'e disIi~ed ,he IU''''''> The un.,Qidable .n.wer i, ,he ol,.,.iow 0•• " in Chri>1i.n tra_ di,ion. i, was well .. tabli,hed ,hal r.ul had another n.me and the ><>cial ronte."? P"h.p' it was one of P.u)". first 'wo n."", •. li~e the for" and..-rond name in modern European n.ming ,y,"o,"" P",.ibly. but . better case ha. been made for thi. being an . ltem._

odd",,,

,i,'e "'HI"'. pan of. dou ble-naming .y"em. The ,nalogy here i. to '"" 'won""", .y"em usod in impe.iali<ed soc;"ti",. where ,here i. one ""'"'" taken fo.- public"", and an ethnic name u>ed within '"" f.m ily,nd dan. Th .... in effCC1. , Gen,i le name.nd" "jewi,h" no"",. oach to be u,od in different .itu _ " ioo. , A f.mily thereby ~ ept .Ii,'e both its poblic position .nd its cu l,ura! in"'-"ita"" .. ' And Saul i. a fine name fo< u'" by a Diaspora family that wlUltod '0 aff,"" i" religious and cultura l heritage, King S.ul had been the fir" """"""h of 1,,,,,,1, And Sau l , Sbau)"') w", '"" n.me of '"" fouode r of one of ,he cI.", of ,he tribe of Simeon (Gen. ~ ~: '0; Exod , ~: '5). Thi, S.u l ..... the >on of a Coonanite wom.n .nd an I,raolite f"her. ,nd hence the name ...... n "'f'<,<>meone of ,he Yahweh_fai'h wh"", lifo occurred at ,he inte"""t;"n of 'wo cultural world •. Hence. one ... ould Ii~e '0 know why did ,he 'pos,1e not employ this name ..'hen iden'ifying himself in hi, lelto,,> It "'"' not accidental , certainly. A re.sonablo. but not rompelling. '"ggestioo i. 'hat hi. lellers were ,I I to communi,i,. ou"ide Ere" 1."",1. Ev,n ~'hen he ..... writing 'n communiti", tha' had . ignif",an' proponion. of Yo,huo_followers who. li ~ e 'ho aro" le him«lf. hOO been brought up in ,he Yahweh_f.i th (""Christian i><'lic ph"'""'). the", communi,;." were li'"ing in a GraocoRom.n woeld .nd therefore hi . u,", of hi, leg.1 n.me. Paul. w'" .ppropriate.

Amidin8 Word, 1M, Ma', U. Lie . 6 J 1M, may be ""curate. but it lack. "-'planatory forc • . Why did .... not _ j u>t 0IK"e _ .ilow a s"m i,ic u"'go tha, woold ha,'o been fami liar and 'hu •• corn_ fon '0 man)" whe heard hi, I",,,,,. read'> I think the be" an,wer i, the elegantly uocornplic ... d one propo>ed by T.!. Leary: tha, ··Sau l",." de.pite ilS He brew orig in •. hod •• Iang meaning in deroc>tic G r""k tha, would .. ,'0 l>een impo<.ible for 'he """,t ie with_ "Sau l",," me.n' ··,Iu,_.""d" and re_ ferred to t .... ,winging g. i, of p, ,,,'i'u .. , · G i,'en hi, >daman' c<> and. more important ly. "Saul" COfI'tantiy remind, ". tha, the grea' apostle has be ,-jew'" as. f.,,'en t adIl not. twen,ieth _ or foonh_ or """",d--ccn'ul)' Chri>lian. bu, a zealoo, (if rad ic'" and rlIdically ir.r"",i"enl) bel;"'-e r in 'he Yahweh_ religion of t .... s.ecood Temple era, Here. ,be reoder , hook! under"and th .. in emphasizing thai ,he Apostle Saul make> sense on l)" within t .... leru .. l<m_ centred relig",n of hi. o..-n ,i"", _ I am runn ing coonter stream tha, domi _ """''' liberal Jewi,h >trong l)" emphaliz« hi, Jewi,h lirxloed Phari.aic) badgroorxl .. '-'" In other word •. Saul.

'0 Ii,,,

'0

_.m

'0

'0 •

,

« ,_

Sometime, hi"orie.1 ciarit)" arxl ocrur",,)" ""' "'".... by ,he .,,,,nion of tain term. _ .uch as the name. of the two conlem""""ie •. Yeshua of :-""a_ reth and Saul of T""". _ arxl at other time, b)" deletion. Two pivotal ,,-.,rd. that we ",ill not "se to refer '0 the hi>lorical situation before 7" CEo ",hen the Temple_ the cenllepi""e of the Yahweh_fai'h ""3> dellro)' .... are, "Christian_ i'y" and "Iudai,m:' and their derivative for"" ''Christian:' "Iow" and "Iew_ i.h." That i,. "01)· toogh line indeed. oot ,he reason, fo.- it are dead _simple.

6,

•

TH. WOOlD 0.' H U L AND H I HU A

Christiani'y and lad.i,m are p"""n,_day ,eli~K>". >epara' o. b... sharing a i, goo, back . Imos' fo,,,,'e,. '0 Yahweh', ce." _ .ingle belief: each belio,... en",,' ",i,h ancien' 1"",,1 . One (0.- both) belief. m.y be true .piri,u.l ly. 00' III., i, ><>me'hing h;',ori,n. are not compe'"n"o judge exc.p' on ,be ba.i, of ""iden,:< in tbe vi,ible world. What i. cle., historica lly i. ,h., each of those sister_f.i th<. in ,he f""" in ",hich we re«>gni« ,hem 'oday. c."", into being a. re,pons,,, '0 the .ncient world', "'lui ....)ont of. nuei<ar explcs;on. the "i,_ tu.) I"'oll ing of the 2-'".t Tom ple during the Roman_l<wi,h war of 66-73 CEo The Templ< had been the ag"",d orien'ation point. the centre of all ,he reli _ gi""" varian" (including the Y.>hu._f. i,h) that wo"hipped Yahweh .. thei , god. Two ",ts Ol"""g the sc«es of Yahweh_w""h ipping group> "''''i,-..I. adapted ,adically and ,winl),. •fter ]DeE: '""'" "'Oo ...·entuall)' f"""'-"<,ibe pre-70 group<. because doinS .., presupp"'" • fal .. rontinuity which. in ooch c • ..,. willl"ad us to lie to """"h'''. Conside, - Christianity " . . . term. It i, not .mployed '''' far "" e".nt re<:<,,li""... " .. ct >eparate from mainline Juda_ i.m i. "el)' .ignificant in documenting the ..."n'''''1 .plit of the I""i>h and Chri,tian f.i th. after the dellruction of the Second Tem ple in 70 CE o The coo te" f", thi. I'l"ro!!nition by oullide observers of the diS1inctiw"" .. of the Christian. _.nd of thei, hOl·ing. col l"'ti ,'e name 'hat w•• Illfficiently well _ k,,",,'n to be u>eh i ppin~ communiti ... " re>li,.. """ ,h., ",'entu.lI)' ",,,,hed in wide'pread rioting in "",'eral cit;", of the Diaspor. in "~_, j 7 CE . Thi. my>-te,iow; and ill-<:hronick-d upw.lJing invoh'ed Rome. Eg)'p'. C),pru •• nd Cyrene .• nd probably thoo .. nd. of le",ish d""th •. One . hoolJ ta~e this torTid soci.1 ""nting (.nd the period of growing ten.ion "' .. preceded it) .., ,he backdrop for the r,,,, rerognition b), oot>id.-n that with in the world that hod me< beh"'Jlly di"idod groop' .• nd 0"'" of ,hem bid f.i, '0 become. "'parate re ligion. At roogh l)' the •• me time. >OTllO members of the Y"sII",,_f.i th were u. ing ,he

,Ita,

"'pori'

Amidin8 Word, 1M, Ma'. U. Lie . 63 t,,,m '"Chri>tian"' to describe tbe.,...,I ..... Saint [~n.t i u,. bishop of Arnioch. us." the word Chri>tian ,,,wn time. in iotte" that are traditiOR.:llly daled """,ad tJOn aad it is .1>0 u>ed •• ",If.-description in the ,nonymoos '"Teaching of the AJ>O>lI ..:· u,ually known •• the Di,u,ch • • nd dated '''ry va~uely: .. ywhere from JOCE '0 the end of the ""DOd cen'ury. The point i. that ,Imo>l «nain ly some of ,he Y"')"'a·fo[Io.."" had "",en up ,he name ·"Chriignalion b)" ,he early secDOd cen,ury" Bu, do IlOl jump '00 f"," i, wookl be a bi~ mi wKl"pread accepta"". by them bad into the Thi. focI i. made abundan'ly dear by anicu[atin~ •• ingle probe; "how often . IlOl in the Ilook of Ro,'e[ation. not in ,he Pauli .... kI_ te". If the followers of )"'IIS-the-Oori" were con",iou,; of ,hem",[v", .. ·"chri"ian •. ~ ,hey con.in[y did. good job of kee ping it qu iOl , Ur>doubted[y they had • name for ,hem,.,[,'" , _ ··Bolio,'ers. ·· ··[)j", iple.:· "Followers of the Wa)"" are froquent sugges'ioos _ but there clearly was 00 . ingk name.nd no ,ing'" "" .... of shared rorpornte iden'ily, Now. if thi. i. demon" .. b[y lrue in lhe later ",ntury. il follow. ine[oclab[y th.l """ can_ noIla)" • >ingle cOfPO'ale n.me on them before the great [)e'lruclion of JO CEo and. in no circum."""'e> can one em plo)". n.n .. _ '"Chri"ian" _ "hich implie. both • ..,[f--con",iously defined ohasm belw""n them .ad othe", of the Yahweh_f.ith before JOCE. and. 5Iraighl_line ron'inuity wilh the religion thaI de,'elops . fter JO CE and ",..,n'!JOlly ","'01,'' '' into ,he Ooristianit)" of our own lime. , Wh.Ie,'or lhey were. the fi r>! t ... o or tJu-ee go .. ratioo. after Yo,hu. ·, death we", not·"Christi • ..,."· 5.0. wh., wore lhey c.llod in Serond Tomple lime.' We really do not kIlO\\'. and [ doubt if ,hey had asing lo collfflive nam< for themselv",. nor • se"", of «><Jl""ate ident ily that ombrllCod ,hom,.,h'os all as a 'ing[e re[igiou. family. distinct from other Yahwoh _wo.-.hil'P""" [n ,lie lato founh cen'ury. Epiph._ nus. bi,hop of S.[ami, (c , ]'5-4031 . ug,gosted in an hi,loric.1 di",,,,,,,ion of the e.rly Ye,hu._foll"",,,,, thaI before 'hey "'.." ..-ore c.lled ·"Christian.:· the)" were cal[od (in Engli'h 'rnn,litof31ionl ··Ie";.n • ."· Th i. he ,t..:>ught may ha"e been in honour of I ..",. the father of King D"'id; in later gospel >c_ «>unl>. lesu. of N.zareth i. from Da\'id ', roy.1 line , Altom.'e ly. Epiphanu, suggosled. tho name came from lhe G"",k - Icsu,:'" and w•• a name .." woold troay interpr<' '" ligh' ,lang: ··I",u...,,,:' EpiJ>hanu,.1>o ,uggo"od that before an)'on< called th<m "Christian.:' the Y",hua_follo.,er, were known as ··N.zare ... .-' (Il0l Nazi"",.", .nd rot Nazarit«. each of which i• ..,,,,,,, hinS ,'e r)' different). in ol",i"". reference to Yeshua', being from the t"",'n of Nazareth, S ign ifican'ly. that name came to be applied 10 al l followe .. of Y",hua. both Gentile •• nd 'Oose of ["""I ile origin. 'J

f,,,',

f,'"

6,

•

TH. WOUD 0.' HUL AND HIHUA

La'er. rough ly in'~ middl. of the fir>t eontury. tho 'orm '"Chri"ian" wa. applied _ aJrnost cortainly by outside" _ to Ye,hua_followe ... wOo li,-ed in An'ioch-<m-'~ _ Oron'o, in Syria (Acts l ' :16), Th i. mu" have been a some_ who, de rog>tory term. meanin~_ ro\J2hly_ "Christ<" ," Clearly. the name w., "'" occeJ>led for quite alon~ ,ime thereafter: i, "''''' omployed by onl)' ',,"0 of the Now T."a"",nt wri'er> , None of,~ Pau li"" epi"l.,,; omplo)','~ term. from which 0 .. info ... that i, w,,", alien 'o'~ gre., mission"')' a •• de",riplor of hi> own artivi,i .., And ,he Am of ,he Apo5!l", points 00' t '" when he "'.,.. ..,.ai~ried bef"", the Roman official F.li,_ probably in'~ .arly 60s CE. Saul ... .., c.lled "a ringleador of th< >e<1 of the Namro""," (Ao" 14 : ~). and thi •. manifostly. w•• I-.ow'~ Yo,hu. _fo ll"",'." were know'n in Jorn",,)om , what I.m "'" .ug~e" i ng . 1.m 001 ",ying Hr am J ""gge"in~ ,hat beca"", """ide ob;er",,, do 001 ..... a 'ingle 'orm fOf a 2i,'on body of individu.I •. , .., i, cou ld 001 be • ' in2 10 .n'i'y_ 1'\r>r. ""n. am [ ,ug~e"ing the COlI".,," _ that if a di'paIlIte ~roup of indi"iduab employed . 'ingle umbre ll a_name to "",,,r ,l><m> we "",ually ... an' '0 knew abou,. 11>. or "Jeon5.followe,,:',~ "Yeshuo_f.i,h:· or ,he "Jesn._f.i th·· refor '" the periro before '~T<mple i. dellTO)'ed and ,he phy.ic. of ,he rol i2ioo, world chan~.d u".rl)" And. after 'hat ocrun. the w""d .. Christi ..... gradually become. appropriate, When. exac,ly. i. a j udgomen, cal l. bu, by ,he be~ i nnin~ of the "",ond cen'ury n.,.. heliof, had been artictll.ted. new s.criplu"" had been ",ri"en , .nd Gen,ile dominatioo had become o'",iou,. and ,hu, • dear ron'inui'y wi,h ,he """ eigh'''''n ""n,une. of o.risti.ni'y had be~un ,

.bou,

"Jud.i.m" ,nd "Jowish" pre>
y.,hua in'era one unde"'aud nOl oo ly ,he d",'ek>pmo" ' of the modem l ewi,h faith (which i, not «ally our focu, in thi. bool). bu, of Chri>tian i'y (,,' hich i,,) The "",ual word, here ar. ''Ofy tric ky, The prd oned ",If.de.ig",,'ion of the Coo.en Peop" w"" t ..... amoo~ ,he de,'oo'. >lill .. ) "[,,,,,,r· ..... its deri,.. · ti,.. " not "Iud"" " aud it> deri,-.,i,'o,. n.at i, ~ oOO . q"a l i t y propa~anda . in the ."''''' [ refem."Inf' '0 an eoo with hr...,r. destruction b), Assyria in 7,117" IIC~ , Yet it> ri, .. [ludah ..... Benjom in (,he ",",hem kingdom . known ro lle<:ti,.. ly '" "the kingdom of ludah·") d id not repudi ate the religiou. heritage of [,,...,1. bu, in>tead em· braced it The ""i ptur'" produced by the scri be, of Jud"" ,ub,ume into the h .. tO<)· of ludah .11 ,he de,irabl. aspects of ,he h .. tory of it5 ancien' ri,'al ["",,[, It i•• bri[hant feat of cultura l imperiali,m. for i, appropri.,,,, to ludah the onti", heritag~ of the Yahwoh·faith a nd a ll ,he hi"oric.1 and m),thok>g ical tape'try associated with Ismel. aoo Ie..'e, behioo onl), ,he ,ali,m."nK- ",ord "["""[:·.00 that word·, u5a£< i, con'roHed en'ire l)' by ,he ",ribe. of Iud"". Judah win. big. yet we ha,'o 00 word for it< pmicul", ''Of';OO of the y.hweh·faith. As • term of <"<'"",ni""",. [ haY< 'U!!!!O"ed ol sewhe", (soe Sur· fJ<ming WotrJa) tha, ... " recOjl.nize Iud""·, victot)· and use the term "Judo· h;'m:· Th i. i, ,'ef)' di/f.",n, from later. post·7<>CE "Iud.:ti,m··, "nd the", "Iudah"" lived in • wry diffo",nt r to come aflOr, Jn tha, period: (,) ludah ~xi"ed in one form or another '" a "",osni,..b., 2t'O-p"'h,ic.[ unit. """"time... a roontry. """". ti""" os a roloo)·, (1) The reli2ioo, and poli'ical hfo of thi, entit), centred on l eru",lem. 131 [n loru",lem w'" the w-c.11«l "Se=nd Tempi"· (the Fir>' Tomple. K i n~ Solomon' •. had been de"royed in ~g71tJ BeE) .... hich actually

66 . TH. WOUD

0.' H U L AND HIHUA

,ho,

..... 'WO ma>ler and i, w"" ,'inually impossible fo.- an)' Judahied. en,i .. "e", beds "we ",ri llen and occepl,>d .. being in >OIr"oe . . n ... u,oon""iy" (moa,ly ,Iles< are in ,he "Wri,_ ing.:· ,he I." f""ion of ,he Tanakh J, (6) Aoo an amazin2 .... Y of ""'" idea •. now !iCC", ne", vWon' "pp<ared. in • graud ,woll of rehgi"'" fecundi')" mrely if "'-." "",'chod in human hi"ory, AlI ,ha, di •• ppeared after JOCL The Temple w.. """royed. Jorusalem w.. mos,ly rut>ble, ludah .. a poli'ical en' i'y disappeared from ,he face of 'Oo earth. mo" of ,he religiou. leade" "",,_ed '0 ,he coonupi"" and. uhimalely, to Diaspera land. , The fecundi'y of "'ligi"'" ,oou2 "' of ,he pre_Destruc' ion .... "'.. replaced by ronsolidatioo and b), ,ho rigour of ,he men woo created firs,the ~1ishnah and ,hen the ' ... 0 T.lmnd" the great rule boob of ,,,,,,,,quon' J"..-i,h lif• . Aoo. mos' imf""an,Jy. the R.bbin" religioo, leade" . .. ayed the Illm. t:llk the Ye>hua_follow.r> faced: to i",-en' "Temple religion for" ",orld in which ,ho ph)'lical Temple 00 longer e-,i"ed. They. like 'Ooi r Chriltian counlerpart>. ,ucceeded. brilliantly, Bu, one can see ....· mi, lending i, i. to use a .in2le tem'o 'I"'n ,he ye"" and ,he religiou, ,hal run from ancien' 1".., I ,hrough ,he high years of Indah', rule. 'hrough pc<"'-doy reader>. and ,hi. i. the ca", ",'en if one accep<. ,he ac,u.1 word. employed .. being precise ly ref""ed, l.elaoo J, Wh ile. edi,or of ,ho Bibl;c~/ n.<%gr Bul/nin. ,u mmarize, ,he ~n'i .. . ituatioo .uccinc,ly: ··In" • .,ed., ,he)' are with 'Oo cu l,ural ",-erlay of the contemporary world. 'Oo 'onn. [Chri"ian j Church arid J.d,,;,m .ign ify ~n'i t i", non_exi"en' in the fi rst_century M,>di'land 'Oose 'em" ." " " Thus. without offe""" '0 an),one. I 001'" we can use -- Yahweh_f.i,h:· the lenn ,ha, I ,ul'<'ested earlior. "Oon we require an umbrell. 'em '0 co,'e r the ca",ade of spiri,ual , .. rianl> ,h" ,umble from ,he original ",,-enon' of Yahweh

,ho,

PO""'"''

ho,,,

.00 .,..,ient 1"..,1, "Iudahi.m" eo,'o ... the era from tOe return lrom Bob)'l"" until 70eL In tlut reriod thore ",ore .,""'" of JudahiS! fac, i"". (..,me of "hich we will 1ruc,ioo and the ",,,,h2n,,,,,nt of ,ho reli21ou, "'0110. we c.n begin to tal k .boot Chri>tia ..... nd . boot Jow" By limi'ing """" I,'" that ""y. we c.n <2"'Sat;oo impo>ed upon ,hem by I,,,,r be lief-'l"om" W. o,n I.. tbe rn ta lk ' 0 ooch

''''''1'''

OIlier,

This page is intentionally left blank. Please scroll down.

«fic 'Frol1t~'Ed9c QIICSt

This page is intentionally left blank. Please scroll down.

·4

'Tfie Scardl f or II 'Distant 'D olllilliol1

'AUL

AN D n'HUA,

TilE".

LIVED IN ONE

wonD.

fifE

VHIlANT

re. lm of the molti ple_lodahi'ru< of ,he la .. &'<000 Tomple ern. 11>< writ.", of ,he Chrided, it> relisioo. con"e, .... Templo. de"rol'ed . As S.G.F Brarodoo pot it. in. <1.,,;< formu l.,ioo. the <"'''''",phe of ')OCE w.. "probably ,he no" most cruci.1 own' fo.- Christi.njly.• fter the R.,UrTff,ion expe""""":" n.e follo..-"" of the y",hu._fai'h waoo"roo 'pi rj'ually. Ii~e ,e., Coo..n P''Of'ie had w.oo"rro in ,he d""'rt. Eventually. they com< to rest in Gent il. land" both emotion.lI)' 'J"'Uing.• 0<1. f<>r .... mos' pan. in li .. ral 2""l'rap/1ic 'orm, a, well. In the C<JU"" of thi, inlen .. period of conf",ion. ",-orienlation. and c""solidation ([<>nderful >mlY of documents 'Ware-lhe_OJri", ror mosl perwrl' of fai lh lhi, is .noo~h. Howe,'er. some beli<,....... nd " f.ir number of "udent> of hi"ory. would lik< to knOl'>' more .bou l lhe hi,toric.1 Yeshua. what hi< m.in ch.,:>rlori of lhe New Te"._ menl documen" in 0 100.lIy different one, Later hi>!"';,al ob5e".." . Ii,'" in

""itller: wo inhabit . 'hird wOf Id. bIl, 001 0 .. , .... , h.., clear . i~h'_h"". on oi,hor of ,ho oarlior t... o. Here. ~'e need '0 00"''''' for a ,im< ,00 participant> in "hat i. u,ually calbed ",ho quo>! for ,ho hi"oricallesu •. " 1hey ...., .. <X>IJK" in all denomina_ ,ional stripe •. and ha". carried """'" "ery ho"''Y intollec,ual aoo t"""k>gica l ba!!.!'.~e , Ou r p""!",,'i.,. i•• imply that of tho I""fe .. io",,1 histocian. Wo .re commi'ted '0 a=yin~ evideoce "",ording to ,ho ru'" d",'.-n by tho histor_ ica l profe"ion. "h ich mostly im pli .. tho rombinalioo of h i~h o" iden'iary ,,,,odaroh wi,h • , liSh'ly di"ant. """"''' hat bemu<ed ,'i",,' of how tho human rxe opera"-,,. 001 10." who" i,,';'. '0 '011 its hi>!Of)"o i,«IL If ,00 pra.r'ical gool of the Yeshu'-n. A wry larse group of Christi.." belio,'e , .... , ,ho >criplure. wore directly dicto.ted by God '0 ",ribe .. 00 thattllere i. 00 dilfo reoce bet ...".n Yeshu'-IJ> "ariely of ...... ngelic.l"· ",hoi"", who. whi le 001 t a~ins all the Now Testamen, detai ls • • literal. ."ume them '0 be in ....... son ... "",urate, 1110.. >l>Ont>, ("liberal"" in "1Ul _ go lica l cirel", ha. the .arne ring tho, "=mmunist"" did in tho h.lI. of mid_ ",.stom "ate I.~i, l .'ure. in tho '9~). Honce. be<",,>< of 'Ooir '.",ping , baloful sIKh .. m),,,,If. 1 hoye a good deal of re.pect for thorn ,' Thi, ""!""t 'urns to admiratioo whon """ ..-atcho, e,'.ngel ic.1 ",hoi." do what i. ,",c."ic.lI)" ~,l l od "harmon iza_ tion" b), thoir "liberal"' critic> _that is. trying to sand awa)" the roogll edge. of tile often-<"l.mcriplure. are full of contradic,ion> and thi . i. one of 'Ooir mos' i n t o","in~ pIlin". fo r i"oll. u, wha, Oori"i.n, were "'l'uing .bout in the la'e f,,,t centul)" of the Common Era). ,t-", ",'an[><,lical.

,;e,

uode"tand sornethin~ oxtreme ly imJ>O! try to come to temu with oow it wort. u a coo., i,'o entity. (A bit more of that I.ter,) That .. id. the d;",ic ",-ange licaJ approach to the hi,torical yo,hu. i• • imply to deny the problom .. I ha,.. def,ned it .bove_ n.e .uthorshi p of the boob of tbe No ... Te"ament i. talcon to be that ,,'hieh the church .. some I"'riOO placed on tbeir . pine. _ Matthew. Marl. Lu~ e, lohn. name> of autoor_ ity _ and it i, assened that. being, 11>OOtly apo>tolic in oo~ i n_ the boob of the Chri"ian « riptur", .... re ..'ritten in the JO> and 4'" of the Common E"" Th ... den ial ",I,'' '' the problem: the world of Ye>hua and the world of the scripture ~ Ti to" become one. by fiat , Thi. d.oe. DOt work and it i. DOt. matter on ..-hich the hi"""cal ",'idence i, ambigoou._ For oxample_ wo do DOt ~now woo wroto any of t"" four Go.pe l._ n.e name, were not a"i~ned unti l roog.hly the middle of the secoOO century of the Common En. Putting"" authoritati ... John and Matthew we", two of Ye,hua', disci ple •. Mar~ 'I'll>, followor of Saul , and lu~e ..... one of s,ur. coo","" _ modo the anonymous work> moto autooritoti,'o in an era. the mid_second century. "he". miasma of trlOdition, .bout I",u._t""_ Chri" wore .float. and these names ""Iped to pri,'ilege one .. t of ""," out of an arr.y of a dozen Of ... ri,..1 "goopeb'"" Thi. naming proces> ("psoudopi~raphy H in tho t.,., hnical l a n~ua~e of the tr.:odel w'" DOt mendacity on t"" patt of the «
"OJn." _

M ~_

~lore<>, 'er_

de'pite their reforence to o,'on" behe the bitth of Ye,h .... the boob of the :-"ow Testament in ,~fomr i" »'hien ~., aI P"""' p,m", ,hem we", aJl written ... ith the de""""i"" of 'he JenIS3lem Temple.., thoir mium d'" ,.. (The one .. t of eXc that a ,,,,t c .....trophe had "pponed and that . OL'W re ligion "'.., . _borning. C""sid< r. for example. the Synoptic Gospel._ Matthew. Mar\; and Luke , >0 named for their -- >eein~ togother"' on many mai_ t". , Eoch i•• re,pc.,.". in , .. ri(.,,, ~"'" of ful""". to the proolem 'hat ronfronted all Judahi,,,", (including Christiani'y): namel),. oow to kn i' to_ gether the fragment.< of the lato Second Temple Yahwoh_fai'h. oow blo..-n

apart by the relisioo. equi>,.knt of. dill."Ct hi' by a meteor. No"", of ,hem ma~", full >< i, recogniLed. Moroo>..". each of !he Synoptic, con,ain, wi'hin it .pecifl< a.r~no",led~e_ ments ,hal ,0. TempI< has be!myed. """,en into ,0. ind i"idual ",i'hin ,he .. me grammar of biblic.1 in,'entioo 'hat On< obse,,'es in ,0. Old To'lan",n'. Mostly ,hi, i. do"" in ,he fo.-m of. "predic,joo""th., i, made .her an o,·ont.• ,echniquo foond e l..,where in ,0. <eri",u",. and which i, IIDst ,,,,,oo,,fully omployed in ,0. Iloo~ of Daniol. For o-,ample. in Lu~e. ah
,h.o,

'0'"

For !he da)~ ..... 11 """""1'00 tt.... thot thine o""m;.s ..... 11 ",' .,,,,",",, >boot tt.... ond rom F"'" tt... roond. and ~"'P ttl« in on 'my .ide. AM ..... 11 I.)' <> ... "'ith to. groo nd. ond thy rhild"'n "'ith in tt..., and they .nail nolle.", in thee one stoo< IIjlOII """,he" bee... ", Ihoo ~""w"'t noI the ti"",

u.,,,

(luI;< '9:~ 3--+1 )

of th), , ';";t.>1"""

That i, • ''01)" good prori> of" hat happer>erd" two towers and. >!"'toh of ,0. western ",.11 ..-ore I
"on."

"on<>

AOO os some .pal, of !he temple. t.o... it ,..., odorned ~ ith goodly .00 ~ih he .. Hi A5. for the« thi ng> ~hi
"1'00

And tl-.. outhor-ed i,o.- of Lu ke. unable '0 >hake tl-.. tra~ic ' ie:Ee of Jeruworn of txr7" from !he forefront of hi, con",joo,"",,,,,. retum> i, ),et a ~ain :

'0

t"'"

Aoo "'h. know ,nat the desolation thereof i, ni~h . Then let them "'hirh 1[e in J"dae. n.., '0 the IDOUolain> , and I... ttlem "'hkh are in ,he midst of i, ""part 001: ond le t noI them that ar, in the rotlOtrie. en'er the" in'o. IL"~e 11 :1<>-11 )

Yes. fl",, ' n.., rem<mbr.oce of the .;'ge. the Temple", de,lru,ins,

n.e

traum •. the >ame m• .,i,.e .. anentioo ....,"" '0 be focused 00 Dlhe, mal ..", r"" .. ampbe, in the mOddbe of ,he Parablo of the Marria8e Fe." (",hich in Lul.ce 14 :,6-14 i, • c.lm. oo'Hioien' ay zo.lOI) elve> destroyed: :<arne

Aoo the ",m....,' ""'" his ",,'''''''.'00 ... " ..«1 them spi,e(ully. ond ,)e..' them , 81M "'hen the kiflll beard thereof. he ..... w.oth ,.nd be "'" forth hi. ""' ;. ~ and ""'Iroj'.o _ mord<",,,, ond bulJl<'d up their city. IM.n. " ,6-11 Matthe", "'P"'" JesWl' prod i"'",n, .bou, ,he Tomple in e,,;en'i.lly the ,ame word. used in Luke. q"",,>d .oo,'e: And bu, ..'e" ", L ond depan«l from the temple: .00 hi. diseipie> came to rnm for lO .... w him tbe bui Jrji "~, of the "mple. Aoo Je,", ..iJ unto them. See )" 001.11 these thing" ,'erily I "'Y unto you. Th"" oIoaIl 001 be Ie~ here """ "one upOll lIIlOther, tha, ohaJl 001 be u.-o.. " 00-. n, (M.tt. 24 ; '_1 )

Oe..-Iy. the outhor..,dit"", of M."hew.nd of Luke k""", of the .ieg< of Jerusalem.nd of the de.ltU'royed (John 1:19). When employed in ,he Synoptic Go>pel', thi, i, the ba,i. of. "prediction" by Jo,u, ,hal ,he Jerusalem Tomple wQUld be ,",'''llyed, Her<. ho",,,'o •. the .uthor-edi,or of John u"", hi. knowledgo of the Tempbe', de"ru:1'), JohlL therefore. 1= J"us-the_Chri" repl:><"",e l)" would ha,'e propouooed unlo .. he wore w,itinB ar'e, the Tomple had been demolitrueture of the Gospel of John, which i. _hinB 10.. ,han the descriprion of. 'em ple religion ",i,hoot ,he Tomple , II h.. be
,ha,

,ha,

the ,opl""e"",n' of the Judahi,m of ,he Sorond Tem ple) ",ere engagod in the same proc." of ",_im'en,ion . Of rour"" their kno·... b1ge of the de>'roc,ion of ,he Tomple bec.me ",n'ral to ,he 'hinking of all of the Golom 'ran, _ formed from. d i,.Sler_report in'o. predic'ion u""red by J.,u, .• n inuplica _ ble 'ra~edy w'" ,um<"p/1e bec.me con,rollabl., for lo,u, hod predic','<1 i, . • nd the",fore ,he ",'en' w.., pan of. 'igh'ly con,roIl<"l ar~ument _ th., J"", ",id what",.. , i. foon r! on hi. lip. in ,he Gospel. _ .nd ,hat ..",,,ioo c.nOOl be an,werod. Of inde<"toric. 1scrutiny. aOO though i, m.y ",arm the human hean. i, 00.. no! illu mi_ nate the m iOO, If 0 . . canOOl whal i. one of ,he hi>lorio.lIy rm. ",ere ... ,i, _ llop ",adin~ at ,hi. point. Thu, far. I hal'o 001 di",u.sood Mark, lhat Gospel i> best .pproo.ched tan _ ~en' i .lIy. 'hrough Matthew. Josu' prediction ,hao ,he Temple would oot he left one "0"" 00 ""orher, ci,<"
mos'

'0 mc;;'

'rue '0

".«...

""'''pi

mo.'

And ... he ,",'en! oot of ,he tempi<, """ of hi, di.dpl<. >aith unto him, M","r. "'" ..... , man ... , 0( Slone, .rn ~ tIad buikli0l" "'" here ! And Ie"" ....... 'ri nE >aid unto him. See" tIIOIIlhe .. 2reat building.' Tbet< >haJ 1 not be lef, one >loo< upon """'her. lhat oha), not be thro.,n 00"", (M"', ):1-') "''''her. Mallhew. in ,he story of Jos"" before the Sanhedrin. h .. him being occusood by II", f.be ",i,,,,,.,,, •. ",ho >aid: ... Thi. fe l"'" wr!. I am able to 0."'0), ,he temple of God. and '0 bu ild it in u.-e. da)'.. (Mott. 1606 , ) Thi. i, fooOO in duplicate in Mark: " here the fal se wi,"""", claim

W. heard him .. y. I ~' i ll doo
~'ith Oand~

aM ~'ithin (Mart q:~gl

A Temple made "..itho", hondo ",a. e-,octl)" ",hat the former Judahi,m. tried to b<Jild .her JOu , So imponant is this to M:rl' •• uthoc-<>ditor that he "'pe.t> it. with ~"'"t ironic effect. whi le Jesu, i. 00 the CI'O>O: Aoo they thai pH"'" by railed OIl him. ~"l4' i n£ their he:>ds,.nd .. )'in~. All. Ihoo that destro)"'" the 1<m~~. nd mildest it in th"", do)'"

Thi, i, }'ot .nother example of what might he c. lled the judo-technigLle of the Goopel writers, they turn the force of their m i'fortune. in thi, c.", the de_ structioo of the hean of the Judahi« . ymbolic ')'>1em_and u>< it for thei r own od,'a ntage. n.. 'pecific literary form i, irony: by "inue of the ir hi1ro)"ed. Matthew ond Marl here are .Me to produce. text" herein the reader "'perie"".. the fact"' fore _ ~oowled~ e: """ read. it and >a}' •• ye •. Jesus wa, ri2hL the Temple ..... doomed _ and tllen_ triwnphantl)" _ and it ",a. re plaored by le,u, him",l[ It i, "hat. in profe ..;"""1 .port •. i. c.l led a great in,idoo_"K""'_ quick_ .ubtle. effi _ cie nt. Had the con-espondeoce occulTe earher than the Roman_Jew-i,h W>r.OO the T<mple', destruction. f", they l>eh,,-e M:orl wa, the r"" Goopel to be completed 000. ol",i"".ly. if the fir!ian toxt that provide. direct acre" to tile historical e,'ents of the period before the trauma of JOn , Thu,. 0"" i. forced to contemp late the stiH _ ,~ 'irlin~ dust of Joru .. lem that obscure-< the horizon_ forever intO'ing bet",een the Chrl>tian Gospel, and the hi>1oric.1 y.,hu.,

0, OO'"PI''' U') .. ~, ".,,",,,'1' >UO 'OS'W'P"~ I.U" ~".J-"n~"'),. 'P'" "'I' JO ~"H""'N JO ""~"'),. "U'W."",,, 'uW-I'lI~1 JOj ",....., j l

''''1''.

",,,.pt,,

-"'IoN" OUIiUoj JOj

•.,']OW 00 •.'''~ ''''I' ''''I -OLlOJ.~ 'I"'''''' ,.0 I~"'W ",uod", ~,., " ",,uodtu' I.~III" " 11".' 100 ' '''I 'ou",,,,,,u, "' • .~ ,.~, 'j.'I"'! , 10j P"" "UO<Jod " WOI"'" p.1_ "O::~ "PP I I~ .~I u, " II .,'"'' ""'"""~'U""'U'U ".\o.~ "'II ''''1101 W"'II p.>.'"'''1''' Olj." '00 n 10j "U'lO"! .,. .,.. "<><Jod jO P"'~ "'l1 -",n., JL.~I "U,~, .(U. 'u"",,I1'1"j u, ".J>lU, 00 P"'l '8,r "'jm IIq • "'_""1I0j ,,~ 1"'•• n'!'.),. "U'pu~ ~ono'l1 -Olj." ,",UOl"~ u.w0'll JO v"'a' JO 101"''''U'W -P"I' "" u.wo'll " "0""". ". ,u"""od'pu' lOll .... "",]:,ru' '''(1 "'I' IO'j" U.""," "'._" ''''Il UOO.' "",,'U4:::l "'I' u,~"_,, WOIj , uod'lI 'd'i' --'P" 1""'"<>iOU'OUO'" uo P"''''! "'11'""" "I"j jO "'"OS" '1'1 "" I"U '''~IO 4"" ~"_,, I'"'''' u, ."'0" ."nb 100 "I' A>~I """""'I '" '1"'0<1.1"" .. p.111"'1"1 AI"U""." "lUI"....... OJ" (~".J-""~,.),. "'I' 0, "",,,tuWO, " Id""" 100 j' .U,~_ "'._" ·.Idw"'.'"j -'Iods,,!) "'I' jO ".,UM "'ll) "ill,..,. ,uW-PUO"" AI>I'U!!"" • .re ~ "~ ." 1''''' ',u""''''0.1 '''''N "'I' '>OJ""" 'I"U" "'II U L~"," puooJ .'" ~, zo.-.: jO '"~"),. JO .j [1 "'I' JO nIOru, p.11 1"" S\ ,,,.d-I'l"U '1>01""-' I""JO"'~ oy,>od, "'I' "" "u'puod"" ·"UlP".I"W "'I u", ~"". 1"'" '."1"-' 'n "'I 4'0::1 "1"'1 IO U"'l' >I"''''''''' >.lOW 'Iill""''''''' " >OlI"PI.' . JO S]JO< ""-'4' "'I' JO """ AU" ,.~, ""'''''' 00 "01"'1' PUV ,,,,,,,duos,,,, ~oOOJ " 1"'''"' JO .UU'I .Ilt ;so""iI."" I~O'""O," 100 OJ" ""'U '.'uoo I"!! "'I' UIOJj AII"OOllOW. ,om --<11''' "'I," ouo.>W"" UJOIj .'woo Allon"" ."'''PI.''' ..AuW -P"~I .. POV " 1"",,.. '.~IO u, '"",10<1 p.1-'IO,'U' :'uW '''~ "'I' JO IU...oooo U. '0." OW"" "' ,.... o~ ." _ " WOJj ·AI.,OUJ'II' 'JO AI100 '''~ .... JO "',.,"" •• "'I' UJOIj 'O>UJO.) ~"4·" .:'uW 1"'''''''' .. :JI"'''UJ'~ I.np'."po, U. Aq p.1pl.'rud " 4"'~'" .:".red '''~ .. 'P"'I'In.U""p ,J< ,"""""" JO 'UO< ."'4' ·.':)l)"'-Jd I"">O"'~ uow -w"" ul ·"'''P!.Y ,iIJOO_I"'¥1 JO ]doouo, I.'oru, .~, """P'lIlU' 0,,, "'il .-..,.,ou • .\rud ""'II u, ""']>ru ""<1 -.'" " IG""'''OUl''l' ~"~ ." lOG ''I1'''j-''''~'''),. "'ll Ul ' "'ouo ""'II ""''I 4"4·" ·(p.,n ''''''Il>UJ<>< .UU.I '~ I • .re .. 1""000"'-"''''.. 10 .'-I""'IGlq-u" ....:I""'lq'q -".red .. ) ' .:lJ!lO< "PI""" .'oldw. 0,,, "'il 'PlIO." o[-OJd .~, 0] A"_" 'Iquood " " "'0Ij1 ·I.·"·\\OH "0""",,1." I'ouo",,~ jO '.1'" "'ll 'u'pnl""' ·... 'U", "'I' jO "' ~uoq ,,"u Lw'I.'" " ~JO_" '. uo." 1"'l1 '0[-.", " p.1opu L'Iod'na "'I' JO ""'0 .. ~, ,uu'P"" " ldUl" ." ~'''' '''OUJOO oUlun, ''''''Ill'''' OIIop "'I 01 '''I 11 ''''I'n oL OJOj"'! ~ ""l l" 0, .m"" "'I' 'pu."".I"m ... " "'II",n'''N

'ooq.

,.OJ"

00"",,.,,"

.·uo"."..."

''''l' ....

.>w",,","" "",u"",,• .

,ore

''''I'

('''''''"'' .uo) ....

''''''1''_''

,

umb ~')"' - LNO'.' 'H' .

SL

,000.'

Saul. for "hom .... Oa,'e d irect first_pany e"ide"". ). of the people .... f",m the Chri .. ian ",riptu re •. only foo r players are confirn>ed, lOne exclude. he r. figu", •• och a< Herod the G""L ,he ,'.nou. Roman emperor> and civil gO\"rnors; people within the Chri>tian narm,i,'e are our inte"," ,) Thi. i,. >mall numher. bu,. I 'hink heartening. bec.use ,he four f'gure, foooo in first _ pany and in indepeoorot SOlJrces are exactly the on .. that. shrewd reading of the ",riptu r.. woukl lead u. to pred;':t w""kl I.,," f_prin" , .00 ,hi, im_ pl ie. 'hat the ondoske loton of the c.non;.:.1 scriptu r•• i< .. ructurall)' >0000). And these ore the fOIl, f'gure. ""00. ,,'hen cooside red:ll vectors in the earher ",'olu,ioo of the Yeshua_faith. provide the structural basi. for. reading of hi . _ to,)' which i< ronsonant with our k""" ledge of the mu ltiple_lndahi.m. that .wirled arou nd in I.,. Second T.mple tim.., The first ,wo ac,i,'. panicipant> in the N.... T.stament trnd i,ion for whom there "ist. 'hird_pany . ... st",ion are John _,he_B'ptizer ,nd Ye.hoo of ~' 3Za _ reth. and for ,he", att""ation, ""e h" '0 be immens paid to a good de.1 of tiresome V;':tooan edition. mob,. Publ;': opinion W:ll .., enamoored of him 'hat .... hen later. Herod Antip .. I"" • batt le and a large pan of hi, """y. it "'" in'.rpreted as Yahw.h'. taking ... ng.ance on H.rod for hi, killing of ,he ooly man. While we mtn' gran' tha, lo",ph", has hi, failings a. an historian.' he pmvide. an independent .".... _ tion of lohn_tlle-Baptizer", "' .. "'''''. and botru own birth i. talon a. 37 n_ the Baptizer """.. "1e. one of the ref.re""", J"",phu, mal<", to y.shua i. clearly .u,hent;':, The pa'_ sage (in J'~",h Anriq",'ie> ' 0:100) rder> in pa .. ing to the execut ion of Yace,' _ . ']a"",,"" in nlOdem Engli .h _ ",ho wa, killed. probably in 6'_f12 CE _.nd iden,ifies him .... the brOlhe r of lesu, ",'ho ..... c.lled the ClYist ," A >e<:ond refere""" in the book (' 8,63---6.t) clearly h.. ..,"'" Christian interpola_ tion< .nd. at minimum. i, ,trongly tainted,' Sti ll. one sohd confirma'ioo by. th ird pany of Yeshu.", .. i"enc. h:ll considerable pr"""'i,'e po",.r.

.,m<

80 . TM. '-'''NT·'[)(;" ,,"UT Thi. i • .., bee.u", ,hi rd.f"'!1y ."e".'ion of ,he e,i.",,,,,, of yo,hu • ..,f· Nazar",h and of J<>hn .,he. O'prizor 2i,-0. u. lice"", ' 0 use ,e,,,.>d·f"'!1Y >OYrc .. _ ,he Chri"i.n ",ripru re. _ ' 0 defooe ,he J>O<.ible re l.. ionship be_ 'w«n ,he f,"'.cen' ury ",li2ioo. leade!"S. Hore i, is imJ>OfUn, '0 ",alize ,hal Lhe >«:<>nd ·I""'Y >OY rce. all tilt one way: they ...e re writt"" by POSt-70 CIYi,.. tian •. oot by J>Ohn-the. Oap'izer to y.,hua of N. """,h.oo yel (b). if Lhey ioclude refere"",. to Lhe OapliL and ,hei, deseeooan" to be orased .nd thu. ,e) if these refore"" .. are foooo to be I.udatory. ,hi. c.n only be beeaus< in Lhe ""lIeeti.-e memory of 'oo oIDe'l'in2 Christi.n f.i th. Joon.the. Baptizer w.. 00 too same ...... Y",hua in Lhe baltic fo.- 200d (if not holding quiLe Lhe sa".., r>Ilk in Yah ...eh·, ..-my). Heoc•. I think we can le2itimalely meld Lhe Iieilloo· and third. patt), ",'KIene< to gi,-e the fo lkw.'ing picture of the b.a>ic soci.1 ph),.ic, of the earliest Yeshu.·faith: Joon ·Lhe Oaptizer wa,. prophet who !""cti>ed b.pri.m. 1 Yo.hu. of Nazareth J>O<,ibly wa. hi, kin.m.n. """" likely. coo,in, Thi. ,ugg",'ion i. u,ually derided by most bib lical ",holar>, beeause i, i. b=d OTt the famoo" and .ligh' l)' romic intra·utori"" .. lute by which Lhe pre .noLa I Bapri"' r rec"!,ni,,,. the , ureriority of the pre.n.LaI Yeshu. (Luke t :4t). Wo .hould keep an open miud on ,hi. maLter(i' i, reripheral in .ny case). bee.u", it fi" woll with what wo laIer learn the po'" crucifIXion Yeshu.· f.i th. that Yeshua', fam il), ran the Jerusalem church as a f.mil), franchi,., ] In any casc. tho moment of Yeshua', ",lig'"m an'mation ca".., when he w.. baptized by Joon (>ee hbTl j :<;-t t: M.tI ] : l_t 7: Luke. J:2 1-1>' .ud. probabl)'Joon 1']1 ). ~ Thi •• , ,he "atl of Y",hua ', c.reor a •• profess'on. 1 religioo" [ think. ho,'.-o,w. wo should r",;,;t calling this moment. ronversion. The d .... c defin'tion of coo,-,,,ion i. Arthur Darby Nod's: "Oy rom'er>iOTt we me.n ,be reorientation of the """I of.n iudividual. h., de libe.-.te turn ing from ind./feronce or from . n e..-lier form of piely to another•• tum'ng which im pli.. a coosciotl.n",. that. greal chan~c i, in""I",,ome new one ri~ht J : but ralher bee.u," new. better w.y. were per· ce i",>d of . ffirm'n2 more clearly, more truly. mOT< purely the ri2Mne .. of ,he old ·.nd·f"",,-.. f.i,h. [ do oot think tha, y .. hua (Of S.ul. or hardly

.boo,

new.,

It.,

·nyooo in the pre_De,tructioo e.... ) w•• "tem that w.. the ... orld of multiple ludahi,nu. Yeahua. un0"" • """" and better .... y to embrace it . 5 By "in"" of hi, being baptized b)" loon (the ritual mih~h being. ,tandard form of clean.ing in the mu ltiple ludahi.m, of tbe time). Yeshu. became • disciple of the Baptizer. Tbe Gospel. do _ dwoll 00 this circu"","""e. but it 'f>P<"I'fI (from loon J:16) that Yoshua >pent >Om< ti .... with loon. beyond tbe lordan Ri",r. "" a disciplo aud remap> a •• fiekl curote in tbe Baptizer'. mo,·en",nt. 6 Crucially. Y",hua mo,'ed .w.y from the Baptizer (it appear. that thi> occurred am icably). and t<>e>l< ""me of the Baptizer', foHo.... " with him . In <>lie v""ion this happen' within three day. of tbe baptism of Ie>u. (Joon t:35-}91. but in anoIbe r y .. hu. begins to preach 00 hi. own on l)" after 10hn_the_Baptizer i. rut in pri"'n (Mar\; t : 14; Matt 4:! 7). Both the indebt_ edne .. of Yo,hua to lohn_tbe_Baptizer and the .mic.bility of the split _m. coofirmed by Now Te"."",nt ",," in which y .. hua . "oogly prai",. the Baptizer ( Matt t t; t t : Luke 7:17). 7 In the manner of tile world of multiple ludahi."". the mo>omen" of Ye,hua of Naz..-eth and of lohn _tlle_Baptizer continued to p along_ ,ide ooe onotber. ri,-.I. to be ,ure. but sympathetic """., T... o intriguing refero"",. ocrur in the Acts of the Apo>tles (t 8:14-t9:7). In the fi"t of these. ooe ApoIk> •. on Alexandrian of the Yahweh_fa ith. preoched in Ephe_ ,u •. and Corinth and con,'ened many to the Yeshu. _f.ith . He taught fer_ ,..,ntl)".ud faithfully the thing. of YO.)IU •. but know "only tbe bapti,m of lohn" (t8:1~), In the.ec<>nd i""ident. Saul di.c",,",, in Ephe.". «ruin indi"idual, _ twel"e of thorn. 00 roincide""e in biblical writing _ woo had not beard of the Holy Ghost. yot had been baptized _ probably b), Apellos . • !thrugh this i. uncenain (t9 :1-3), Sau l rebaptiz .. tbem in tbe name of I",u , OJ ri51 and im"",diatoly they prophe. ied and 'poke in toog""' .• • ure .isn of the pr""''''''' of the Holy SJ>i rit, N"",'. wbether ApoIlos him .. lf "'lIS • d i>ciple of loon_the_Bapti«r. Of. discipl. of Ye"'ua woo a lso behe,'oo in the nece .. ity of bapti.m .. oone by lohn _tlle_B.ptizer. i> a question that i. rot '''''y . ignificant: what doe. OO<Jnt i. th,.. dearl)' ... least one form of the behef. of the Yo,hua_faith and tOOse of tile cootinuins di"'iple. of lohn_tho_Baptizer wo .... in the m i d_~os . "iii coml"'tible""" with another. That fits with the goneral ront~" in which the e.fl)" Yeshu. _fa ith "I"'ratoo: in the lat~ Second Tomple era ,"";oos ludahi.m, not onl)" separatoo them_ ..,h'", from each other. but some acted ,),nc retio.li)" "'ith otllef>. and this dearly i, one , ueh in.""",,,

8 Ultimately.• fter 7OCf.. most of tho followe" of John _tlle_B,pti"'r were ,ubsu",,->d into newly_emergent. somewhat agg",,,i"e Christianity. How_ oyer. tho Baptize" faith did 001 enti rely di"'ppear arid. indeed. h., ""Olin_ ued ali>" in • ,'ery atlenuat,>d form into oor own ""ntury, in the Morld..,an religion foond in ,maJl ondaYe> in I"", and Iran . Such. tllen, are the basic physic> that relate t... o of the tm-ee mojo.- charae _ "'" in the pre-70 wocld of Joo.hi.m. irldiyiduai> whoso ",i"ence arid ,,",ie religioo. oharaclOr "'" .llO>led by third_party ",.""e" The thi rd indi" id ual of .imilar documentory ",Ii.bility i. Ya.ro>.. brohor of Ye,hu., Ho i, reponed by J.... phu, to h,,'e be-en an odherent of the "", .. age of hi. I... "''''hor .rId, [.,.- thot fai th. h"'ing be-en brought up before the high priest An.nu, II and the Sanhedrin in the early 60s CE. He was rondemn,>d to be ,toned to de,th (J~~'i,h Am'q"irie>. W:100-<>3), Thi. manifest injustice '" offended the >en", of til< ordinary citi zen, of Joru>aJem that, according to Josephu" King Agrippo reme>'ed Ananu, from the high pri"'''hip. What counts most.boot Yocov i. that. whon ""''l'0d with til< lim_pony ",'ideoce (the 10llO" of S.int Saul) arid tile "",cod_party (the re" of the Ne ... T.,tament). the follow ing ,truetu",1 re lalion>hip< bec<>me olea" Soon arlOr hi> broiler died y"""", having seen tho >'i,ion. of the r",ur_ giyen tho authority of an """,tle,.nd this reeted Yeshu. ( J Cor. t5:71. despito the Go.pel of lohn', daim, that while aJiye "neitho r did hi. bMh_ ren beli ....'e in him [Y.. hu. [~ (Iohn 1'51. (Thi. "",m, hard to fi t with the ,uthor..,ditOf of Ac15 repor1ing that Yeshu.-, f.mi ly wailed in the upper_ room .fter tlle crucifixion _ Act> ':q _ but oach writer doarly thinL. that he has the "ory right.) 1 Yoco>- became the leader of tho Y",huo_foll"",w. in Jorusalem, Thi, w.. the 'ingle moo t . ignif"'''"t positK>n in the work! of y .. hu._fo llowo", for it was althe «nlrepoint of the ludahi .. world. Zion and it> great Tomple, 3 Soul (as ...e "'all ",.) chafed against the hcgem.:>ny of the Family Firm in Jeru",lom. but he agreed to ",rid tribole money to tho Joru,;alem church. This was labelled money for the poor of the Joru.aJom churoh. but it W35 • rugnate of the Temple "'" owed annually by . 11 odhorenl< of til< Yahwoh_ f.i th. and now payable by beli ....·e" from the hinterland. to the Leeper> of the key. to Y",hua' , hori .. ~e . (~tore of th.t in ch.pter ,eyen,) 4 Despite Sau]", f""e _>a"ing """"ur", that label Yaco> mere l), one of the "pillar,' of the Jorusa.,m hoadqu.nor> of tho Y",hua faith (Galatian. 1 '91, the", was no dou'" who "'.., the main pl.yer. Yarov', authority O\'or rOl" and B.mab.a>. for e,'"mple. i. doar ("-" Gal . 1:t l1 arld.o too was hi. pri _ macy at tho Coooci l of Joru<0 Am ohaptert5),"

w.'

5 1he life of oach man. Y",o,' 000 Pau L ..... detenni".d b)" their odherence to a faith in Ye,hua of 1'I""oret h each m:lil acqu ired only oftor tOe death of Yo,hua. Aoo. until 'heir o... n re'pecti,.. death. (in 'Oe .an", hi-mid--605. before the Destruc,i",,). ~ wore IUtural ri,'al>.the hea.l< of two ""F,anito. bot allied form. of the JOOahipIiz.". aoo not 'hink of Yo,hua of N",...,th. ,h.n one can ' hink of y",o .... i,hou, re ferrin~ to Saul. Each;' a natural dial""tical relationsh ip, Saul. wOo i. not referred to in third_ pany "'" "'" b.o>«l on pre-']O information (at 10... not ""ith a degree of ocru_ racy that give, me conflde""e). h•• to be counted .. one of the foor pla)'or> exi,teoce and char",,"'r i. bed_rock solid: in hi, co", beeau« of hi, fir:st _p<,son lot"''' ... hich m.a\;e him in JU'l'0n Becker', >pi , ummary ,.. he only figure in oarly Christianit), aoou, "hom. beeau", of direct ", If_tostimonio •. we can learn biogmphiio", aoo authen,icit)" of the canon of Sau l', ",,,.,,. see chop"'r .iq In struc,ural tOrm>. "hot the Now Tostament tell, II> aboot the rel>lioo> hip of its four mo< and that y.>hU" .... , hi. di> .•• • lI i", : ,hose of S.uL of Yacov. and of the fo llo ... er> of their .piritual cou.in. Yo,hua", beti"",. mento<. John _the_ Baptizer. Doubtl",.ly. there ... ere ..-.ore form. of the Ye>hua_faith ... i, hin the on,'o lope of multiple loo.hi,,", of th. pre_Destruction era. bot these .re woll documented , The pi"u" fi lS comfon.bl)" ... ith tho koo... le
,,00'"

lhat i, good solid history.• joining of thi ,d_pan)" ,00 fi "t_p""Y """eft "'ith those "",ood_pany ..... rces which ( ... hen "'00 with, . keptical e)'e) morry with them , If we wore do.ling with topic. it ... 00" be ,uff",ient to ""P he ,e. Boc,use of the '''''' in,'. "n",nt ...",tom culture (aoo. iocrea.ing ly. a ro<>,idorable ""g""'"' of indu.trializing u._the-Christ. scholm "'" imp< lled to p",h onw.rd. pemaps I"'" the point of ~ood ..,ns<. Our problom i. that a description of the phy,ic. of p,e -70S ' .. ,_ . ion. of the Yo.hua-faith ., f"""" of ,he multiple ludahi>m. of the tim<. i. omotionally un ..ti , fying, The ne<essary dep<"""alization that c har.>ele ,iz.e. "",ia l phy,ic. i. . . ""til' " hat the Y",hua-<juestcn aod the faithfu l long to oseap<, heryone wan" proci>ioo ; "'''''J''''o wan" I"",ion , What did Yo,hua

mo<'

",.lIy "')" "hat did he ",.lIy 00' Th" thir" i, eas)' '0 uOOor>Iand. bu, hord '0 ."uage. Consider how much mo<e we couk! inf..- .boo,1he life of ,he hi,ror_ ic. 1 Ye,hu. if we had confiden' kno.,ledge of these t",o 'imple f""'" could Ihe historica l y .. hu. COI"'~rse eff.,"i,'e l)' in Aram.ic' And C<>Yk! he reodor write in on)' lan~u.~e') So. it i. nal" ml'M' ",hoIa" should at«mpt to outfl.nk til<" ",nlml <'Viden _ ti.1)' problem : the need for "",reo. that toke u. oot of Ihe arid world of ,he I"'t-70 lear-..nd gi,.. u, :>roe" '0 Yesilu", fo lloweB, and m.yl>< e\'on '0 y .. hu. in the rich d.)', of multiple Judahi,m •. Here we entor the ",orld of the bi~ ri,k, We encounter. p.nio"I..-ly .~g",,,i,.. end", ",ithin Ihe hall. lion of 00",'"" fco- ,he hi"oric.1 Ye,hua. n..,y ha,'e 00 tribal nam•. but "hl><,,1 biblical ",hoIar,' i. close '0 being an .~reed. if ini'atingly "ndefl ll<"d.nce in ,he di rect histe>ric.1 :>rcurac)' of the c.nonic. 1 Christi.n .,,,il"u,,,,;; y.t. in.n attoml" to j ump bac k in'o the "'<>rId prior to ,he great o.,"ruction. ,hey of"'n embrnce • biz.arre 13n~. of pos. ible-pre -70 "gO&1"-" 1. ... In doing'" many Im""t in ml "iow) 00 so wi,h . ,'el',e of .ffirmation for th •• uthenticit), of J"l13_bibho.1 'e'" th., h., its .o.m:e in emotion, .nd "" lief. ",hich.re . nterior to the evider.ce .nd opera'e. indep"nden'ly of it, Thi. ,i,u.tion i. di'piriting to • profe"ion.1 (SKular) hi.rori.n. bee."", one re.lly wi,he, to fi nd pre-7oc>- "8oo p"I,' ,h., ... ill take us back in'o Ihe ... orld of y .. hua and S.ul. .nd thu, 101 u, beco"", ""'Iu.inted with Ihe f.i th of "'''''' of y .. hu.·, followor> I>. lha, 00000. '""8uo . .., be", "" .book! examine a """,if", It i•• motonym f<>r. larger i>5uec how cOolal chureh father of ,he late second centul)", This in i"" lf w"" ""nsation. !. for no leiter> of Clement of Aloxandri. h,,'e be"n pre""'''';] in origin.1 form, But there W", more . In ,he ne", ly-aid. w", p"'_ "'''-..] "'pam'ol), from tbe public version and ...as ,,"Oilabl. only '0. ",Ifft circle of ... Iy Christi... ,

"'''''pi

c.,..

llJere w",. 00..'"''0<. no .ncien' ",,,,,u,,,rip' 0< any ' hin~ d been c... I,,!,uinS ,he libr.ry of ,he Marsab. mona._ 'ery. loe.,ed oigh'''''n kik>m admirable .nd unu,u,1 .mon~ biblic.1 ",hoi"", be_ came r",icen', He did _ pubhsh ,he ,." un,il '973 and ,hen'" produced 'wo m,jo< min me •. ,.., one high l)" >coolarl)". ,he "'he r 0 headhne gO'llbber: CI"n~nJ of AI~xa",ln'a aM a S.cm Go.pd of Marl: IC.mbridge: H"n-ard Uni\'."i'y Pn-s., '973),nd Th. Sl'<"r" Go.~I: nu, Di.eo\·"T "M /mupreof'~ s,crt!' Go.~1 Acconling '" Marl: (1'1'0'" York: H.rper and Row. '973), AI'hough contro,'o"y follo,.-0<1 ,he", poblicalion,. it i, fair ,,, ")" that most New T. "amen' hi"",i,n. who .re _ in religiou'_right in .. itutioo. accepted the au,hen'ici'y of the Clementi"" leu".oo (with duo allow.""". for Clement', c'pa1o<1 and ,h .. ,II< fragment immer>ed in the ... wly_found .00 un ique Clemen,ine I"'ter "'. . .1", lW,hen'ic, Se.wal of ,he "Iiheral"" bibhc.1 >cool • .-. who, .. I men,iOllt"d earher. tond '0 be ,'ery k""n OIl para_bibl;.;.1 maleri aL h"" argu "f the four c.non;';al Gospel" lnde<-d. ,he . ffi rm_ .rs of ,.., .u,hen'ici'y and imp«I,,,,,,e of Secret M..-k focm a .mall Who", Who of one win~ of ,.., /.,u.-<]",,,,,,,,, To take (11 1)" in>lanc<s: perhap> the . ing"' moot infl"onti.1 ""holar I" di.'e un""",,'edly inl" Secret_M..-k 1iC001.",h ip wos Helmut Ko."er, Hi. infl""oce h:u been immense. hi, >cool_ ..-1)" pwduClion prodigi"u., A .'eleran of what hi. ace l)'tes termed ",i,h I,pidary tac,ful""" in " Fe"",hrifl "''''ice "the Gennan ..-mod fore .. bo_ tween J 943 to j 94~,"" he studied in lhe ros, -war yoan wilh Rudolf Bultmlll\n .1 the Uniw!>it), of Marbuljl., Aftor. ti "", "' a Lutho,"n pa>lor. he 1<>Ok • doct"'" .. in IheoI"!'y and in 1959 "'0' appoinled an •• sociat" profe"", at H.ryard. where he c.me I" occupy ,,," endowed ch.i" . imuh""'-'QU, ly, A prolific ..-ri le L he . lso t.-.int-d dozon. of graduale .. udonl>, He "' •• oyen

.boo,

"'1'0

""'Oil

,itre.

86

•

1M. "."NI · '[)(;" QUUI

more infl"" ntial or~.ni'"tionali )', Ho bec.me tile ed itor of the Han'am 1MoIogirol Raim'. and al", the effecti,'e ~oof.ther of the i nternationa l Q ProjeTor not oniy judged Secret Mart to be authentic. oot ",,,,Led it into a >-Mark " which thon became Sec"'t Mart and tllen "'.,.. made in to. 'pecial \'e,-,ion of Mark by the Carpocr.tian Chri"i.n,. An · othe r ,-e"ion . he ,")". became 1"''' of. lar~e Go>pel of Mark of ",hich tOe canon",.1 "e"ion i •• n .bbre.iation,·' A ."""nd. highly.visible «001 .. ", lohn Dominic Cro.san. ro-foonde r of the Ie,"" Semin..-. and the t<)9O<' mo.t prolifIc ",ritor on tOe - hi..oric. 1 le,u,."· In hi, ",""iYe 1M I/i"on'cal )esu •. 1M '--'/' of II M,dil"""'''''' Jewi,h P,,,,,,nl (t99I). he authent",ato, Secret Mark.• nd infen; that canoni · cal Mark i. aoe n...-ed , .. "ioo of Secret Marie He funller that tile", ...,.. an additional book. "Erot'" ,\ Iart."·'· Ho has recently (t<)981 affi rmed Secret Mar\; ., one of "four o,,,,,,,anon,,,.1 go'pel that I j ud ~ed to be crucially imponant fo.- u""",-,;t.nding the lesu, tTlldition. "'r And thirdly. ",e ,hould note that tile lesu, Seminar. wh",h include< ,'i"u · ally every player in the "liheral camp" _ 'olin S , Klopp found in two venion" thu,. tile Seminar ,uSgest> that other Go>peb may ha"e dooo so as woll ," (For a general di«u»ion of tbe intriguin~ metbOO. of tile lesu, Seminar. see Appendi' A,) So. tbe anoooocement made by Morton Smith in 1958 had led to fony ye"" of «rutiny of the text of Secret Mart. a gcod deal of ii,.. ly debate about .. Ilere it fit into Chri .. i"" tTlldition. and an .ffirmation of its autllenticity by many of the leadi ng ",hol.., ... Oo examine and f'>ll judgment on para.bibli . cal to, .. , Thu,. Secret Mart may _ j u.. may _ be authentically pre-70 CE .nd thu, the ronduit we >0 de.perately de,ire to got us d irectly into to" w",ld of y .. hu. and Saul. I, that why"''' are look ing at Secret Mart. to ~ot u, into to" world of multiple l udahi,m, and perh.ps I.. m something directly about tile historic. 1 y .. hu.? AI ... if only that were the ca",. In"ead. " .. o-'Om ine tile S""ret .\lark i""" be
"'!!l'''''

te,,,

"as!

Ii"" 00 iL "helhe, lhey Ioayo al as moch oomnlOn 5 [(.ren,ic method,.nd high ma~nifioat ion to del«I , Anyone wOo Nllid OOI'pol il" 0 fo'go,y f,om 0 he i ~hl of ].(0') f,,'" shoo .. n'" be allO\\'od to make ' UlOOrit. _ Ii,.. pronounco"",n" 00 lOe . uthenlicily of to," tha, ,olate 10 Y"shu. of Naz_ areth, The d"",,, Ihing 10 5.e in 1<)83 .• 00 those docum< n'" c",denli.t. ..-ere a good deal 'lrOngOf than those of 5.e: (oJ the only per>Oll ~ye , known to ha,'e "",n lOe doc-umenl in que._ lion w'" Profoss", .\Ionon Smith; (b) lOere .re no kn"""n "tl~" of C)omenl of A)exandri. pre..,,,,ed in thei, ,u,vi,'o. the natu", .nd are known on ly Ihrough lhei, being ciled in "'Oe' men', wriling>: (C) the ""t in quo"",n w» produced 001 00 a f'''I_ or sec<>nd--c>o< Monoo Smilh): (eJ though. in tile .ct",,1 o",nl. 00 OIl< bul Sm ith e"" ..... lOe document. lOe inks woo". of course. loa", been ei~hl ,"'nlh-a nlu ry ink>. oOemica!> readily obt.inab." One could go "" with m.jor i.. "." of au thonlicat ion , 001 tile poinl i, doar: ""Y""" wilh o,'en the mosl mode>! rompele!K"e in de.ling with .... pro.... _ Mnce.nd ,'e,if1 of .ny ern ..-oo ld immediatoly '«"I'nize tloal ..-e h.... here • ' imple '«ipe for f",ud. Any Nllnlry_r<»! of lOe compete"'" of tile .Ilegedly leading_edge Nonh Amer_ i<.n ><001..-., what maL", thi> ,imult""eoulill wou ld immediatoly rerognize il not on ly .. inaulOentic, 001 as pan of. w'y nasI)'. 001 ,'ory funny. knife_,h.rp joke. Ir.deed. unlil on< get> the joke. the " " ""I te" of In. "f,~n"'n"" of Sec,,,, M.r\; seem di>appoinling. The le>I con.i,,,, of 1"'0 ,m.1I poniOll'. OIIe of thinoon ,'e""". the othe, of only IWO. (I am Oere u.ing lhe tran,lati"" by He imul Koe.te , found in Th, Compl"~ G01pt"h. compiled by and published by the /o,u, Semin..-,)'" The finl fmgmlory lhat ",riPIU'" reade" Ioa"e heard befo! , The wriler of thi. new ",Ie "'pi",,,, the foul_,melling and "",u.1 lozarm with a yoong man ""00. ,,'hen ",,·i,"t"d. " looked al/""''' lo,'ed him. ""d began 10 beg him to be wilh him"" (Se
88

•

1M. "."NI·'[)(;" QUUI

boo",:' Thi, i, reJ>O<'<"d with ,traight f.ce .• nd then ... a wry footnote. tile ""t cootin ..... ··Iocidentally. he ... '" rich" ISec ret Mar\; "9), So. /e.u, a2""" to baptize the yoong m.n .nd... e,'enin~. he come. to le,u, fo r bapti,m. dre,S«l only in a Ii""n cloth , Th .. detail i, a give .aw.y to to. ,ubto" of tile f m~n .. nt: in New Te'ta"",nt "ndie>. from the I.. e t9~'" onward. a koowled~eable roterie made • sort of e""eric secret of the he lief that baf'" ti,m in tho early church ... as conducted with the candidato in the noo. ," H"'in2 •• fto of all of to. lieJf.imJ>O<1.nt >chol"" ... ho not only mi .. the irony. but beli"" that this .1I0~ed pieco of 2"'1"'1 come. to u. in tile fi"t·l,nown lettor of tile g ..... Clem.nt of Alexandria, 1he", i. more. In tile shon. two-,w... ,"c back so th .. we can w.tch the "",001"" bang themse l, ... "" , 1he ",t·up he re i. a"",her h.lf·dre.,.d ),oon2 m.... ,,00 long has puz· zled ",,00 1.,. : • yoon~ man who in the Gospel of Mark , with ooly. "linen cloth cast aboot hi. naked body" folio,"" I"", •• fte r 0. i ••"'''ted , When to. .... sting. patty tum, on to. young m.n. some of tIlem 2mb hi. li ... n garment . nd he run, ,w'y naked (Mark t 4 :~t-51), In the "",,<,w ,," this .killed and amu,in~ bit of JK",. mndem scoolarly ,heatre in train must ha,'e beon immen",ly di,'ened b), 'he wa), it pl.yed. Once one understand. tile burle"'lue of ",hoi." ,nd schol..-ship that i, tile b.,i. of ,lie joke. it', highly amusing '0 watch the hubris of Han,.rd Uni,'e"it), Pt.ss. os it promote. Morton Smith·, bi2 treati", 00 ,0. topic. o,'er 4 ~ pa2" of ewtoric commentary. which conclude, ... ith two ,'ery fuzzy pl>otograph' of the onl)' k"""'n , i~h t ing of the great disco,'ery: dearer pielur", of ,0. Loch Ne .. mon"or are .vai lable. And ..... chin2 fmnt-edgo ", hoi ... build Secret Mark into 'hoi r throri .. of the life of Ye,hua and of the earl)' hi"o')' of New Tost."",nt tox". mu" h"" ""'n di,'en in2 to the author of ,lie burle"'l"'" who<"er tha, m.), h,Y< been , Altoou2h no one ha. stopped forward to c l.im

.u,ho<>;hi p. Mort"" Smi,h (woo died in ,he early '990'1 ha, '0 be IIIc most likely pranh'er, .00 he cook! only ha,'e enjo),ed ..-.t chin~ "'" nlOS' powerful f,~ur.. in ,he liberal wing of the Que" e"abli,hmen' _ H",,-.rd. the Projec'. ,he lesu. S<minar ""ins 'heir intel l""u.1 base. _ take the bait." Why i. thi. enti", "ein of e"en" >0 coo""l""n'i.I' In f""l. bec.use it empow." ordinal)' litemte reade" and. poniOme of the mo>t J>Ow.rfu l. ""'" influential person. in 'he """,.11ed "Ii""ml" wing of the fo.ld. the)' are f..- from bein~ omni",i! of too.. woo inhale 'oo n.rrotic fume> of Secret Mart '0 include probabl)' ,wo-,hird, of the North Americ.n_based lesu._que""", 'oo point i. more smerai. A, pre",n' 'oo "4uest for the hi"or_ i<.l J.. u," i. in. remarkably produc'i,'e phase , E.och ye.r. one CO" two major histooo.1 "ooi., of Yeshu. 'pp<ar .nd ""me of ,he .. arc by ",hol..-. of real .bi lity aOO high 'ffhnic.1 qu.lif"'ation" Thi. waw of materi.1 i, ..id '0 rompri'" ,Ite "third Oues'" for Y..... "a. the forst h ... in~ ,ermin.ted wi,h ,he monumen,aI wort. of AI""" Schwei"er. the >«000 being. "",,_Work! War II pheoo"",ooo. aOO 'o. 'hird. taking ploce in I.'e ' 9800 .nd the '990'." l1Ie "third Qu.,," i. di"ing"i,1o. oot. in North Arne!i< .. by a meg._project mental it)' (,he I .. u, Seminar .nd ,he Q projec' ""ing the "",, _known e.ample'l and by . gonerally h i ~h Ie,'el of .. If--confodenc.:. pe"",i,'•. 'hared. bu'l ..gely """"iou l.ted be lief ,h., we c.n indeed know . k>t .boo, 'o. Ye .... u. of history and ,h., 'o. foroy. of profession.1 biblical ",hoi"", are ju" the t hin~ to brin~ k...,w ledge back. Here bew"",. Although there exi« many "'1)' ""li d ""oolars woo are not be_,ed with ,he ~imcrad f.I;e _ontiquitie. of ,he >Crt <xcmplifoed by Sec"" Mar\; (fot in".""". 'wo of ,he any of ,ho>< woo .. arch foc the hi>toocal Yesltua make me une.sy aoo. >Ornetimes. dowruighl 4"""'y, This i. f""li<" larly true of too.. ,,00 k", p declarin~ 'hat ,hi.-<>f_,ha, pre" ..... ,I)'-u""pp'c"'i.k'e<:ond_ 0< lIIird_ccntul)' --gospel" i. pre-JO and ,hu,. unlike ,he New Te>!."",nt. pro.. ide •• dire00" the naturnl >en", of optimism that anyORe woo h .. poid .ttentioo '0 the I... foft)' }'''''' of wort 00 pre.......
°

,ha,

,ha,

""reI> only more r"""n,ly. lh< Bar Kochba lOll.". ,he Qumrllll Library. ,he M... da 'o.,,,.nd .II, Oe OlOer Dead Se. Scroll., Thi> 're",ure 'ro,'e of origi _ nal ma",ri.1 d i;ro>'ered in ,he I"" f'fly ),ean i. grea' or ,han 'Oe .um 'Olal of lh< rrevioo. 500 years of ""w biblically_re la' ed ma'erial , My fai' h (and i, i, fai' hl i. ,ha' a Christian lode .imi lar '0 ' hat of ,he Dead Sea Scroll. will ",'en _ lUally be di.i n,erred: ,hi. bee.u", ,II bmnd"" of late s"cond Tomple Judo_ hi,m had 'he same ,_i,'o. '0 hide. ,nd thoreby p"""'''''. 'Oei r 'piri,ual pa'rimony from ,he 'pp"'Oended t.orror tha' bee""", o,-or), day RlCO"e palpablo. '" tho Roman_Jewi,h War of 66-73 .Iouched '0 its 'orrible conclu,ion. Bu, my proleptic optim i,m .bout 'Oe fu ture di,;ro",r)' of tru ly new 'ex" from bef"", ,he T.m ple car.,trophe doe. not eXlond to lh< re'ro-dating of itom, "'0 already F",,,e,., Here. we .bould 'urn '0 .nother of the exhibits that i. a' pre",n' being PU' fo<w.rd as a pre-70 '0." compiled by follow.rs of y .. hua of Na:l"""h. namely th-e Goopel of 11ooma>. (Th at 'ho eo,oo.i .... lot thi . "'Xl at< gonerally ,he .anle 000 .... .., eno other documeot> 'har are claimt"d to be pre-70 CE (>uch •• the fugi ti,'e "Epistlo of Barnaba. ")." One of 'he ,.in"". of lh< ..,,,,,,I led Gospel of Thom., i. that no ""nd.l-<>f_OOgin i> attached to it and. further. by "in"" of i" contont. ,he .trong." moe can be made lot i" pre-70 CE sta'u. of any of the 'Xlra-canon ic.) writing •. Indeed. in '993 lh< Josu. Seminar publi,hed. big_.plash book enti,led The Fil'e Grupei • .', 11>0 0,."" agond. of ,hi. volume (... hich p.-.",en,ed an ."o"mon' of the .. yinS' ,,,,ribed '0 Yeshu. in.1I "fi,,, gospel"') "' .... li r.;t. that the Goopel of Thoma. ha.s •• much claim '0 be • >criptu", .., do ,he four c.nonic.1 Go.pel. and. second. th.t i, h.d independently ",.oh'ed from eatl)' sources and wa. noither deri,-.,i,'e from. nor intorac,i,'e ... ith. M.tthew. Mark. Lu ke or Joon, 11>0 (",,"on 'gond. wa. e""n more ambi,iOlU: "'Oen read within the cooto" of the scholarly Ii'era,ure of 'Oe J",u, Sem inar.nd it> OOIrid.". 'Oe infore""", one i"""i,ably drew ... ore (.) ,ha, 'here i. ""me pos.ibili,y that the Goopel of Thom .. ortu,lly ..... pre_De>truc,ion in origin. ,ha, (b) in . ny cas<. i, i. of, compila_ ba>ed on. pre_Destruction original and (c) ,ha, il> form _ tion of •• )'in~. _ ... i,h 00 Mrrati,,, ,bout y.,hu,. i, , pri>ti"" pre-70 genre ," (A. we .hall "'" as we go ,long. 'here i. a >trong impul>< among the liberal ",ing of Yo,hu' _que>tOf. '0 get rid of n,mIli,'. and leO\'e only •• )'ing' "" orig_ in.l. Of at minimum. pre-JO ""." why ,hi, shou ld be ,he 0• ..., .",al"" me. bu, it i, • curious reality of the histori"l'raphy,) Enthu.ia.m f", ,he docu"",nt i. oot limited to the S-eminar. • nd the docu _ ment de"",,'''' .ttontion. 11>0 Go.pel of lhoma> "-""i,,,. its name th rough i" be ing a>ti,n ohurch ...... reyered ••• n .postle and •• , ,win brother of l",u,,'1 11>0 book i. f""udep igraphic. bu, that i, rommonplace within 'Oe

,IIa,

tradition of biblic.1 in,'eotion .00 «rIlIio l)" doe. !lOt discredit it "' • rotenti.1 of infC4"IDOtioo on ,he historic.1 y.. hu., The Go.",, 1 of 11>om''''''ll> 1"'0 of ,he tro,'e of Gn"" ic documeo t> fouOO at N.g H.mm.d; in E2)l" in j <;.l~. Alone .mon2 th.", item •. " the =",,1 of Thorn.a> ha< some rotenti.1 of givin2 an independent vi.,.. of ,he hi .. oric.1 Yoshu., The =",,1 of lhom ... .. fouOO at :-"'g Hammadi. wa> • foun h-<:eo'ul)' Coptic m.nu",ript. and ptob.bly ,,"00" not h".. 2amered much ",he larl)' .tten'ion, ..""pt that i, has a p<eCU r><>f: ,hr.. Greek frag"",ot> from the I.", "-'<000 century "'hich. though oot ideot;".!. are from. d"", ,..,-ian' edition." Thi, mean. that the fouoh-<:e ntur)" Coplic docu"",nl "'''' b.oed 00 a Greek >O\ll'Ce that wa, "'ril_ "n. at the I... ". in the second h. lf of the "",ond oootul)'. and the Gft", k manu",ript ;. one of the earli .., Chri>1iao "",nu>crip" still in e,iSl.nee, M.nifestl)". lhe G"'pel of Th""",. i. imJ>Ol1""" BUI importanl .. what' An .. ami""tioo of the [[on,lati"" of the Coptic .. Xl'" pres case, The re.der .hou ld not b< PU' off 1»' the ",,.. proI"l''''' statin2 lhal -- these.", lhe .,,"',,' •• )"in2' that the livin2 Je,u •• pole ... " no, b)".n empha.i. "" stril'Ping ,he buff ("'" .. ying. .00 391 for this i. oot a Sec"" Mark.1l ow, "2.in, (In f",,'.! ,u'peel ,ha' "homewr forged Secrel M.r\; look one of hi. cu<' from the Cop'ic ,'e "ion of the Go._ pel of lhoma'",'er. there are .ignif",.n( J>OI1ion. of lhe book that are remark.bly mi "'2yniSlic and quite out of tune with the "'r ."ample. the wonl< of Thoma. are t"'-"" (' , 4 : 1-1):

>00,,'"

'0

l'

'0

<1<."".

Si""", Pet.,. said '0 them. "M"e M:" y I.aid. -- 1.00<, I ~ ill ~uido)", r (0 mal. her male, so ,........ '00 ""'y bororne • I ;,'in ~
lha, i, ahool a. f.,-", "". can 20 in direc'l)" rejeClin2 lh. idea behiOO the Magnifical (Lu ke ' : ~6-561, Similarl)". the =",,1 of Thoma. (",)"i02 J 51 ascribe. these '0 Jesus:

..-ord.

j,,,,, eo one aOO

wor
~'ho ~... DOt

born of woman, f.1I on your f"""

ThaI one ;,)'OIO" Father.-

What the", a llOI1ion of thi., lhe "fifth go."" I. " i. made up of ... ying. that h. v. 'heir I"'rallel, in the fOUf canonic.1 Gospel., 1'1""'. it i. JK".i ble '0 om... hen the ~"'''.''l e nth u. i.... of ,he ,.. t do not do

WI" """ond. ooe could ,u&!l"st thai Thorn", o)'in2' of yo.hu. that w. ro fl oating a"",od tile Noar Ea.t after hi. u, Seminar adopt. thi, 'J>I"oach_ I dearly wi,h it were 0 compell in2 orl'.ument. beeau", then the c.oooic.1 ",,,,ce. wou ld be ma"'Oed 00 many matt"rs by noo-<:anooic.1 "",,,,e. a od tile proba _ bilit), of the •• )'ings bein2 tOe actu, l toou2ht< of Yesh u. would he made much more likely. AI",. given the 3tici,m. which e"entua lly w"' declared heret _ ical) took the Gospel •• nd re_in"ented them during til< second_ through foo n h-<:enturi .. fOf thei r o'l'n brnoch or the faith. Thi. i, 0 f..",inatin2 piece of chu",h history, but •• atte"ation of what V.. hua of Na"""th ..id (it i •• .... )'in2 .. ·£0>1"'1). til< GooI"'I ofTl>omas ha, no hi>tOfical proof_value: tOe portion. th .. are ",'identiaril), indel"'ndent (til< G nostic S«1iomJ are >0 fanci _ rul and.., 00.;00,1), late oddition, •• to he of 00 rroi>ati," strength. ond tile f"'I' that are historic.lly plau,iMe ore derivative_ Nc-yenhele". the scoolarly work 00 the Gospel of Thorn,,, i. illum i natin~ . for it illustrat",. panicularly in,,,,i,.. pher><>m<noo .mong bibl ical ",hol",,_ namely. J",,·"~-a,-J-dming -Cfup. When ono observes this f""tem with any Christian document. it i, a w"",ing light to the watch carofully . nd count the spoon" n.e Coptic Gospe l of n.:.ma, i. from the ><"Cond half of the founh centu'Y_ n.e tin)' fragments of the Greek ,·e.-.ion ore dated '00 CEo or a bit hefore. Howe,-er. within the ",oo larly rommu"ity there i. an al"""t_ ma~ic.l belicf in 10 ... numbers. and this de'pite the existence of the well_ known fort in "",ular hi>!"f)' that I." r tex" are often more accurate than oarlier ooos. How",-er_ in biblical "u,lie •. > c.l ligraphy (late SKOnd century)_the les", Seminar. " 'h ich ..... panic_ ul.,l)" keen on its content, ".ted that "11>om", probably . " umed it> pre ... nt form b)" tOO CE _ •• " That "ill malee. it ,ub""'l""nt in formu lation to the u,uall)'_oc<ept.d dating of the Four GooI"'I •. ]<>---tOOCE (. matter that ",e ..-ill rome to lator), so . nyone who ",i.he, to mako thi, document ,"em p"-potent h"" to !alee the dating ga,,", """ '''p farther. Stephen I. Patte""". who did. tran>lation of

e..-_

ob"""..,r:

the Coptic Gospel. a!)!ued 'hat its composi'ioo in it< pre""n' form ,I>ook! be pi",,"'; in ,he I"'riod ]0--'00 CEo Thi •. I'f1maril), bee.u", he belie,''''; i, did not deri", from ,he c.nonical Go"",I •. bu, from ,he ,elyH Here. fOlfe' for a momen' ,ha, Oc kham', razor would lead one '0 ,ug~e" ,ha" he d>la are mos' <"ro on ' ho canonical GosI"'I,. rathe, ' hlIn tha' Thom. . . nd ,he carlOni cal Gosl"'i> ,hlIre commoo. un_ >pe<,e i. 00 ca"",i relatio",h ip. e ither in log ic or in empi ' ical demo"'tra,ion. he,w""n ,he Gosl"'l of Thomas', al legedly being 00«<1 upon oral tradi,i"", (ratber ,han upon wrillen """"e.) and its being ..-rillen down at the •• me ,im< ' ho Four Go.pel, w.. e being se' down in 'heir final form , n.e oral ' rndi_ ,ion,. if ,hey were .Ii,.. in ]0--'00. were 001 .ooden l), ex,ine' in . .. y. "OCEll>< c hronology .u g~osted by Paller>OO i, in foc' a dOI'« d..ba'ing trick bu, nothing more : the pr<>p<>O«I dating (which i. ,akon ' 0 imply . uppon fo< ,he oc.kompo.i,K>n ' heory) i. in fac' deri,,,,i ... from ' hlI' ' heory. Remember 'hat ..... '" here limi'ing oo ,,,,h',,, '0 a discussion of biblical and para_biblical ' oxl> as wo at presen' ]>OM<" ,hem, For fu,ur. ",f.reoce. 00.... ,.,.. nOle ,ha, ' bere i. yet .nOlher "age in ,he dating game aoo ooe >hook! be alell'o i, when. la.,r, we doeal with h)']lO,be'ical lext<, 11>0 real del'_ OIees of ,he Gospel of Thorn .. go fanher.nd ",' e ,hal ".n e.. li .. edi,ioo may hal'e origin.led a. early., 50-60 cr..""." Thu,. we ha,'e TllQI'ed from I'iewing • «.mplel< documen' of ,he founh ",n'u,)" ' 0 • "" of fragment< f",m ,ho end of ,he "-""",,d. ' 0 a postula'ed ori _ gin al,be beginning of ,he """""" ",n'u,),. ' 0 ,n h),pothe.ized origin be,ween the de>lruc,ion of ,he Second Temple ' 00 ,he end of ,he fi rs' ",n'ury. '00. finall), to .., h)'pOIhe,;"al ","",e. of IIhich the", i, no known phy,ical ,",'ide"" •.• ,id to hOI'" i>elruc'Kon , Gran'ed. it i. lhrotet icall), possible (although "er)' highly improbable) ,ha, the.., ",'or-hook! be heeded not ooly bere. bu, wi,h particular assiduou.""" II hen one encounters (as we will in the ne" chapter) h)'pothe'ical document> which "'. ,aid '0 ha,.. been framed before ]0 n, The", f"" i,', document> meri, 'pe< i.1 .nen_ tion bee.u",. withou, p"''''ntin~ any I'erif.. ble text. 'hey prope l the disc",_ sion into an era prior to the in,'entKon of the ..-imary hi"",), of Christ ian ity .. found in the Four Gospe l, and the Book of Acts. Hooce. tbe", h)'pothe'ical documents .u'oma'ic.lI)" obtain a rri"ik'ged po.ition in tbe ctv-ooology of Christian in"en,ion tha, i. "'lual to ,hat of , .. earliest >eSl"". pte"ide... cI.,.., to a doef,niti,'e ,ummary

Ie"""

of ,he .i,ualion .. one can find: "J ' hink "'. h.,'e probed eOOO'1an'. bu, they belong in a >1nd)' of ,he patristic Chu rch from tile "",ond to ,he foo~h centu')' ... In recen' y""" ,,'e haYe been witn<., ing the "",lIing'" of ,he >pOC')'pha , __ under tile guiso of New T"'tamen' ",,,,arch and tile quo" for the hi>loricol Jos",. Thi. i. a misu", of usoful matoriaL There i. nothing he", that 0"" ""rYe •• 0 sourco in oor quest for the historic.l Ie,"", "J> Th .. i, nei,her inacru,"'" 00f unkind. and if we .ubsti'"te "poril00' ad,'en_ ,u",-- lot M< i",', doscriJ>lOon of the Y,,>h""-<j"est a, a "l""'arlOO ' ,,,n'",,,.--" ooe catohe, ""cur .. ely ,he ' pirit of most of the y".huo-<j"e.'or., They are OOll'-'~OOO" ,hey hayo. sen"" of h i ~h in'e llec,u, 1ad,'ont"re. They are trying to ,.-.,""" , wide and "nchaned """an in order '0 find a rich J>Il>I>he,ied-land 00 ,he far .ide. It i. noI "nna,u.-.I that ,hey k""p 'o iling ,he""" I,'e. that tt..')' see a I.ndmark 00 tll< ~i,on. and. if ,hat "",, 'urn, oot '0 be • wi.p of clood. woll. ,he",', ,,"OIher J>O',ible landfall. j ust a bi, fart her 00, TIley long '0 be .ble '0 .tep off ,hei! uncortain and pitching yo.",1 and. ",'en if it'. just for a bri"f ,ime, to PIlt ,hei! f",,' 00 solid land, When ,hey cannol ti nd any. they .Uow """ of 'hei r lende" to de i. dead ahead, ju". few f""', ma}'1>< ju" inches. 1><"""" ,he ,urface. They go, '0 th. , point. step off. .Iway. ",,,rwhe lm , • nd plunge in far o,'er tlllh •. it

''''''n>,

·5.

JYfi llfillg .New y ospels

IF

THE

'EHeH

FO~

PIF. \ " OU'CY

U N~NOWN

(00

KNOWN,

BUT

unappref ,he hi"oric.1 Yeshua. Many of '"" bel ie,'o tha, ,hey o.n ~< t bock into the world of lator S<"n>trab ly "",,_ JO C F. 00'" I.,,, ,hal are oarlier. n.e la'~ i, d",.ptjyely 'imple: if there ore no .xtant pre_]o tho" bu ild OOIDe and ",II ,hem. Hore ,he men,.1 '2ility of the ",1>01." i. imp", ..i,'. and ,he ,uasi,'e in«",;')" tha, i. in',,"od in J>Iin2 some of 'hese '"''' i, quile remorkable. We will enmine two o.ampl.. of'his orti vity at it> ,,"o.Ice,,- and 'hen .... ",ill tum to 'he one that really cOlIn". namely '9:" The ron,.nder fOf f'I"-70 "atu, (whioh i. to .. y. pre-Four Gruplll.) i, I"'" of the "Go'pIl l of Pote,." Thi . itom i, the by_produe, of an ar"haeolo~ i "al dig roodueted in Egypt in '88~---1!6 by rreoch ",holan, In • Christian moo t ", gm". "'''' fOllod. ,m.1I doc"men' omit .,;e, of othe, item, ",00.., o",li"" dat ing "'.. ,he oighth «n'ury, Howe", .. i, probable (btl, 1>01 quite cortain) that the "O-'ymyll
Que"""

'0>'>.

r.",

'PP<"" "<>me,

"""'on by two undefi ...'<1 fi2ure •. ""d ""'n. coofu.io~ l y. como, down again and ontorl the too,b (Petor chapter> '0 and ,,). I find convi ncing lohn P Moi",', ....,,,,ment of ,he >pt"i of Porer : namely thOl i, i. 0 «pe l. (mostl), Matthew ) with 0 bit of im'2ination thrown in.' n.e f'!i-tamen' ""holar. John Dominic Cr",,,,,,,. ,ul'<'"''' that the e"ant document actu.l ly i, bo,oJ 00. hypothetical 0"'" an i'em "" denominate. the ·"Cro.. Go'peL ~ 1\"01 ,urpri'ing ly. ,h i, i, 1,,,,,'entoJ as being mid_first-<:on t"ry and thu . prior to t"" Synoptic< .nd 10 ,"" GO>pel of lohn, Cros"", t .~ .. the hypothe'i' one ,"op fartl>er.nd t"""""" that the ·"Cro.. Gospe l-- w., one of the >O .• nd that. I.rer, the Cros> G0spe l w.. eXf"'nded into. full Go.pel of POIe r. the fra2"",nl> of which .... oow ha,'o) Why thi, I.'er Gospel of Pe'N o,,,.. r mad< lhe canon i, _ expl.i ned. except by '"GG,,>lin2 that il was put t020thor quite lato. after the c.non ..... • Iready ptim.rily ...... 0 thi, oicoly elide> t"" problem ... hich "om> from oor ha"i02 only a late_.. rond ""ntu,)' dOling for ,"" document that we aclu.lly possess,

n.e deeper problem.

i, one of re"","in2 . If one taL", • second_ cenlury Ie" ( ... hich;' t"" artifact ..... re beginnin2 with).nd find. that por_ lion, of it resemble cloo.: ,"" """,nd--cenlury te,,;, b.><'

of Mar\; i. found in the Gospe l of Malthew _ and thu., ioo" i,ably. Mallhew and Luke ,hare ma",rial,hal i. found in M,rl_ the best ..-ay '0 "plain lIIi. situation i, '0 infer ,hal" ,i~ni fl-'o--or-.e chance of ha,'in~ occurred. we would .a), i, was " "cor_ lainty.» Fai r oOOllgh. 00' "he", doe. "coruin'" be~in" And. wha' doe> "U"_ likely" cmw: anylll ing wi,h Ie.. dun a ,0 percen' probabili'y of ha" ing occWTl" If 50, if, a p"'It)' large torm, Honce. to U"'" man""r of 'f"'aI;ing ilia, i. alien '0 hi"orieal di>C<>\lrse, 00' which communicato. dearly my .. ns< of the balance of probabilities on ,hi. pi''''''1 malICr, I'd be willin~ ' 0 be"wo-'o--on< on Marl ', being fi"" Or. '0 pl" i, another wa)'. the ",OOer .hould realize lIIa,.,OOugh IlII in' that on bal.nce ,he M",k_h},pothe.i. i, ,he be" p"',ibi li'y of bein8 hiSlorically >Ceura'o. I al", ""Ii"," that 'here i•• one_in_lII"", chance 'hat I am wrong ,

,

My ",.son fo.- talking like an udd._makor is not mere l), cautionary. ald»ugh a liltle humili'), on such. bi~ quo,,;"" •• the ma'ICr ofpriori'), in ,he Syoop,ic Go'f"'I, m igh' be usefu l all arouud. Rather. my direc' PO","'" is '0 poin' """ha, in ,he scholarly world there are not one. oo"wo, promi.ing , .." .ion, of ,he Mark_hypolhe,i •. Thi, de'pite ,he fae' ,ha' one of ,he '''-0 _'Il< one 111.,1<00, '0 ,he hypothe'icalgo'f"'1 "Q-- _ rec.i .... almo<' all the aI"'n,ion, So. wll"" ,ha, the M,rl_hypothe,i, i. right. aOO if ,he", are ' ... 0 mu,ually o"du,i,'o ,.""ion. of tha, hypothe,i,. ,hen ,he odd,. roughly. are on l), one_in_'hree for ei,her of them , Thi, i. worth ",membering os one eOCQUnter> ,he remar\;able "'".. of odd._on conoin'y of man}' of the ",holars "'ho work on the complexiti .. of "Q." They ha,.., ,he kind of ""If--confide""o thai make, booki... rich , N"",'. "Q" i, 50 "-0 11 known ,hal i, i, not .,.11 wo ll known: an aequa in_ lance wi,h it i. e'peOn juS!., an ""quainla""e with 1M IliuJ i. «pe
misquoting the erudite john Updi~e .. ha" ing ">.imply a, .. ned -M,nhew = Mar\; + O' a. lhough the question of Syooptic .ull-.onhip "'-" .. nled and roukl he reduced 10 • qu",i_malhematic.1 foemula_ '" and ,ubsequontly heing sharply rebu~ed by lhe "",'oli"'> Educated P""!'"' ~now ,ooul .och thing •. But what i. u>uolly '" ~ no"'n'" .boot '"0" i. lh" it i. pan of a '"t.."."",re'-· o' planation'" of 00'" the Synoptic Gospel. came inlo hein~: Mar ~ and '"0pro,'Klo lhe matorial for Matthe",_ .\I",~ .nd Lu~e , Actually. the g. bee.use .• lthough mo>;t of Matthew .nd LuLe can pl.u,ibly he trxed eilher to Marl or to '"0. " each of them ha. malori.1 un ique to itself. Thu,. to aerount fo r the th"", Synoptic Gospel,. one ","ui",s: (a) Mark: (b) '"0'"' .nd (c) , souree of '"Spepei" Here. walk , lowly. It i, "",.ible to look at Marl. and lhen at hbnt..·w and at Lu ke.nd to he ... kon by the idea lhal In,i r re lalion,hip may gi,.. u. the key to something , .. ry rare in lnlu.1 studie •. an .. perimen ...1 laboratO<)', If M."",-·w and Lu~e are dependonl upon Mart. lhen ",e can lum lhe wOole "'Iuence 011 it< head.nd pretend thaI .... do not k""", of Mark: we can pre_ tend 10 deri,.. ponioo, of an unknown document _ we ",iii c.1I il Marl _ from t,.-o known sourc .., """'y boIher" Boc ..... lhi, pro«SJ which we can 00><1>"< _.ad ,.- hich i, not ""«.... ily an hypothetical pro<"". but pos.ibly. real histone.1 00< in "hilod , ilU>lioo: namely that appro,imalely 100 "'''''' are held in Nmmon by Lu~e aad ~1a"he",_ bul are not foond in Marl , Wo can deri,'e t .... t """rco _ biblic.1 schol ... u,ually c.1I il "0:' "hi inferred. W,,", ."ablished by lOe way hbrl; ..... heuri<1ically d..-i""d. in our i ma~inary l.boratO<)' experiment. from common element> of Matthe", and Luke. Unlike the so--c.II,-d "Signs Go"",I:' which i, >aid to underlie the Gospel of John. "0- i, based upon. set of in,-.",i,,, proce .... whose ",aliI), i. ronfLITI1ed by lhe document< lhem..,I\' ••. So_ lhe basic soo rc", of the Synoplic Go.pel. are ta~en 10 he Mark and "0:' This orrnngement has the "i"ue of followin~ lhe "")' in which the

J 10

•

TH. nON T · .000 OU."

~rnmmar

of biblic.1 in"enti"" .mplif"" . oo tran,form, t.,,, (by eXf'll'l,ioo. not by redu"'ioo) .• oo also has the virtuo of not preteooin2 to be • dosed_ booodary expl,natOf)' 'ystem: from the v"ry be2innin8. tbe outside w",ld_ in thi. C0 5< . in tbe form of "Q"' _ i, .lIowed to play. f"l" in ,he Synoptic PIlule. Simp" enou2h. Howe,,",. bee."", "Q" ha, be "-"Co,'ery h:L!; be! i. rarely articulated ,-ory dearly. and i, more of.n ."itude than • "",'OOdoIogic.1 position. Thi, i, tbe ."itude that what ,.,.lIy coon" fo.- CMstian tbeologi.n, i, biblical literatu re. cOII,idered a, • ~e"", .• 00 that historical hypothese, de not ha,'e a ronstit",i,'e fUlICtion, [n"oad. ,he", hypothese, _ of which "Q" i, one _ help u, to "'00 the CMotion Gool"''' in • more discemi n2 way and. in some sen"". '" ~<e than a psychologist expects that a '",n,verse ..,." ioo of ,he human brnin wi ll r,oo a ", ul"'r-!ic p'ycholo~ic, 1 fi",iOll'. "Q" c.n be used as. conceptua l tool that bundles togooher some di'p ..ate phenomena and m.ke, them .ligh'ly more undo"tandable , Scholars who """pt this .pproooch ... nor at p,.,,,,,n, ,enibly infl""nti. 1in " Q" ",....-ch. but their k>ng -"'"2e research in hem",neu,ic, will. I ,u'I"'Cl. be ,ubstanti.l. fot they ... good at ",memberin2 that be hind.1I ,he conceptual trees ,ho,., >till i, a ... 1 fore", Thirdly. there are too.e «hoi"" who ,,,,at --Q .... an hop"In"jc,,1 con"'uct, That is. they"')' that. 00. we cannot infer from rresent ."""',., a '",.,.1" docu"",n' "Q.» ooe tha, will be the equivalent of oct .... lly find ing an ancient toxt of "Q-, how ...... ,hey add. ODC< we h.." defined ,he limits of ... hat actually c.n be knO\\'n aboot "0"" (more of tha, in. memonl). then. u",ful hypothetical document c.n be cre.,ed. Foonh. the mos' en' hu_ ,i"" i" 2rouP _ ,/00 ooe ,hal m.h, 0 200d1y portion of its livel ihood from "0" .... arch _ be lie,-., ,hal, real tWcum<'nl i, l<"C<>'"erab., and that this doc _ ument i. "l113 1 in it> hi>!",ic.1 ",ali'y to that of the four canoroical Gospel, and that in m.ny w.y. it i, ,u peri (){ .ub>t,,"'i,'ely to ,ho", foo , "',,,. (That the four po.itions I haye iust defined aro di>tinct ""d incompa'ible categOO .. in hist()(ic.1 logic i, clear. but. ",ho l..-. being ",ho l..-.. ><>me fow mon 'go to st,,,dod ., two of these posi'i"'" ,imu luneoo, I),,)

'0

n.e reliculation of '9" r"",arch h", reached mch • 1",.. 1 of 1/"''',)'_ul'''''_ lIK"ory_ul""'_lheory lhat one in>lin ",ith the ob""''''lio of l obn p, Mei ... He i •• C.tholic ",1101..- and i. generall), ""'''!IoiLed .., the ",""ing studenl in North A",eric" 00 lhe questioo of the hi"rncal Ye>hua, He acce pt> th.1 "Q" h., some coo.iderable "al"". bul .bo ""yo: I

m"" odmit. though. th.lt tho alii m\alion 0( Q', "i.","", """'.

"",,",1_ in~ my obi lit)' 10 hel.",', in h)'pothe­ pn~icol setli ng. ""l'" of tradition onJ redaction. and coIoere .. thelp th,"kin~ !hat biblicol ochol=hip "'oo lrl he ~"'atly ",,==
''''get'''

OI",ioo, I),. Moier i. not one of the "Q'" "nlhu,i ..", M" mbe" of IMI group . ......., '" he> f",,1 lital "Q" i •• - ",al docu"",nl" in """" "'""'. re",nllhe u"" of the word "h),pothetic.l'· 10 ",f.. 10 "Q," For example. Slllnley D. Aode""". in hi . inlrOOuet;"n 10 lhe inili.1 ,'olume (1 <)96) of /)ocum,"'a Q. which will he (he IDa"i,.. dalab.", of the -International Q Projec(." undor (he gen.",,1 edilc.-.h ip of I."",. M, Robin",n. Paul Hoffmann and loon S. Kk>ppenborg.

hope""

"'I"'"'''' thi, perf«I I)': "(he recon'truction of Q i, not in fac( .. or hypothe(ic.1 a proj<>melime. imagined:'" For (he enthu';"'I, - hypo(hetic.l'· i, • diny ""ord, Bun"" L. M:.: k, one of (he mool ""''l'''(ic j>I'OI!>Oter> of "Q-- ... re al enl ily, rom m" n", "Yoo stil l hear thai: 0',,>, a h,'P'>lb,,;.,.. He add. impishl),: "'n .ere will be • leXl ' It', going 10 h. ve a Library of Cong",,, "umber'--' > lohn Dominic Cros.an anoounee, lital "I "",fer to call Q (he Q Grup'i."" Although n>ost enthusi",,, do nOl use lhal term, lhey ""'-' excla""lion , "'Q will pUI u. in «lOCh with the firsl fo il" ... er> of I ..u • • II i. II" ~'ril"" record w< hal" from II" and ., is" PTff'Wu' 1'-<1 inJud. (emph,.. " mine) .. , Q puts w; as dose to (he hi,tori_ c.1 l e,u, .. we e,' .. ... ill be. Thu. the import.nce of Q i, en<>mlOO', It h.u enabled u. (0 """,",ider.oo ,""i", lhe lradilion.1 pK-tU'" of early Chri
,art,,,,

J".'IIWl'em,"'.

J"

.

TH. nON T · .000 OU.,T

the oommoo currency of profe .. ional hi""ri.n,. ><>ci.1 scionti". and. in~. all branclle. of human "ud ie. which ."ompt •• part of their activit"'< to lind out wh.t moot.likely happ' has cenain limiting foa _ ture. (as compared to the real world) Of is thi, c""struet put forward a. ail ."empt at the full case? Tho most ""fonunato a'pect of the dist .. te fo.- the torm "hypothetical" i. that it seem, to ha,'. 'Pilled ",.. r to the concept of ··h)'pothe in any rational oxamination of human be ha,·i,"",r. Thoy permit fal>ifioation (th.t i<. ,'..-ir,able pr«>f C4" di<pr«>f) of a thro,y Ol of • p",d iction that""", no v;,ible dire<)' ("'y. from. roughly 1970 OIlword,) when the proponents of the theory ha"e actu.lI), defined the criteria by "hich we will know if their theorie,.re CO<\firmed or fal>ified . Tho)' h..'e not employed hypotlle ... . much Ie .. ope ra_ tion. 1 h)'potho", •. that .n external observe, could replicate: • "eC)' curious ,ituation indeed . In Appn _ OIher version of tile Mark_h),poth«i • . 0"'-' th.. tile "Q" follo.... el> 00 nO! deal with effecti ... I),. Thi, i, the .Itemati,·e >oorce_yiewpoint put fo,,,, ..d mc<;t forco full)' by tile Eng li," ",hour Mich:l..1 D. Goolder, Goolde r. and hi.

j"" "'.

prodece • ....- of the '¢OS' A.M . Farrer. are so YO')' unli ke ,he p"'""n,-d.y ''0'' indo",)" a. he almos, unfalhomable ,he "0-- schol .... Pan of ,0. probkm i, ,hal Goolder .nd F.lTar are. welL En~h,h . The TeUlonio >chool. in ron,idorablo pon ' h , oo~h tho infl uence of the grea' RLKloif Buhmann", "u_ de n'. Holmo, h:u blossomed in'o America". unique biblical ""'ga_ J>W,;oct>. ,he Je,u. Seminar and ,he In'orna,iI.nd ,he En~li,h, The Bri". for in".nce. mos,ly ..'oct alone. And 'I>ey u'Wllly "'pro.. ,hem""I,'" , cau' i
'0

'0 '00

"""51'''.

mos'

kIlo ra,her than ,he c""'Joe book . Thu,. ' wo of ,0. "'''''''''' shorte>l. radic. 1 cri,icism, of ,he I." 40 )'e ... _ Farrer. "On Di'I"'..,in~ wi,h Q""" and Goolder. - [, 0 • Juggernaut' --" ha", gone un.o>woreJ . p"',um.bly bee.","" ,hey.", too ooliquely willy to be taken ..,rioo, ly .nd I ,harpening if it i. to ha,"" any con ti nuin~ ".100. Earlicr. [ .ff,rmed ,hal J w<>pied Matthew, -- That """mnly clean> up ,he playing field, "[ think i, aceoun" for the "\Ojori'y of the parallel mat.ri.[ in M.tthew and Lu ke.~" Be,'ic", for. moment, William R. Farmer coo"ioed_bo<JndMy problom. M.tthew. M.r\; and Luke coold be ",[a,ed in on ly . i, way' that <>plained both ,imilari,ic. and divergence. in the tex", The Mark_h)'pothe'i' ha, '1<'0 , ... ian" in F.rmer", o)'Slem and • third. which i, "Q." The.., are ,

'00

in ,he classic "0" rnod.el. Mar\; .nd "Q- foml the ba,i, fo.- ,he 'hree S)'n_ optics (..-ith .1100wance for ..,"'" . poei.1 material from oo"ide). , Or. del
J

q

.

TH. nONT · • .",. OU."

3 Or. again de.,'ing "0", M>rI; came f,,,' and w", copied by Maull"w and ,lien Lu ke used '"" material from ~lark and ~bnh ew to form hi, o'l'n Gospe l (wi, h.,,£ain . • liule 'I""'ial material and oome nlOde" c reat i"i'y by eacll autloor_edit<>< "" he <"<>pied ponion< of pre" ioo, manu", ript'l,

NO'I>'_ I remain impre,,.,.j with tile da"ic "Q" model (",.. n if its elaboration in the la" tw"n'y yean Iw; turned it into a n",'el la. heyond ",holarly ,'erifi _ cationl. """au", i, mal' p.m iJe • generalizable ill>igll' in'o how ",ripture_ making took pl""e at the ,i"", of the Temple', de'lmc'ion: ,lie quic k blending "'ENller of narT3,i,,, and .. ying, material in'o the th"" Synoptic Go'pel, under ,he p",ssure of the great De'lructioo , lhat doe, something extremely rare in biblic.1 "ndies _ n."",ly. 10 join t"!lether ",n,ibly the internal hi,IOry of Chri"i... i'y and the hi"ory of the external w",ld in "hich ,lie """. f. i,1I ..... eme'l'mg. For the ><>COOd ver.ion of the M>rI; _hypt>the,i •. OOIed abo,'e. I have fOllnd no >lrong "'l'umen' based on in'er_",,,ual ma,ori.I.'" H,,,,,-ol'Ol. til,,, f<>< ,lie third . .., articulated by Michael Gookler. i, quile powerfuL II ... ort.", fol _ Io..... and in"ol,'", cas." in "hich .. lea" t... o of the (h"", Synoptic Gospel, ha,.., material that i. : Primary Agreemen" (that is my term) in "hich Mar\;. M.uhew and Lu ke all agree. TIres< mo"ly are m,"ers of narrati,'e. bot nOl entirely. TIre "'plan.,ion f<>< ,lie.. primary ag"-,,",,,n1> in all th ree ,..,,,ioo of '"" Mark_hypt>tlle'i> i, that Luke and M."",,w borro ...ed from Mark, 1 S=ndary Agreo",,,",, (.gain my 'onn). which are tile i!em> on which ~latlhew and Lu ko agr"" concern ing material which i, in Marle It j, ,hi, ",",,,ri. 1 that in the dOllic "Q" model i, made the b .. i. of '"" hypt>thetical - O" docun",nt. c"".isting """tly of .. yioS" 3 ~1ioor Agree"",o" _ thi. i, tile generally_em ployed scholarly leml. and it i, a,..,.)' importan' ooe _ in ... hich ""lTati ... ""'tion. ,hat are included in Manloew .nd Luke ,,£"'0 ag