There is little doubt that Jesus lived in 1st-century Palestine and was crucified by the Romans, as recorded by even non-Christian writers such as Tacitus...The synoptic gospels describe instead a carpenter or possibly builder from Nazareth, called Yeshua, son of Joseph and Mary (really Miriam). He wasn’t born in Bethlehem...
...We are told that Jesus had four brothers, James, Joseph, Judas and Simon, and several sisters...At about 30 he became a wandering rural rabbi, and remained always a countryman. He left the green hills of Galilee only once in his life to go to Jerusalem — and it killed him...
Jesus’s main concern was healing the sick, comforting the poor and preaching about the coming of the Kingdom of God. He had no interest in politics, revolution or theology, or in preaching to non-Jews...we know only three words that he actually spoke in his native Aramaic: Abba (“father”, meaning God); and Talitha cumi (“little girl, arise”), calling the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue back to life...“the religion of Jesus was one of urgency, enthusiasm, compassion and love”. This Jesus would have been pleased, presumably, that two billion humans now follow his core teachings — or try to, at least. But he would have been astonished, indeed horrified, that he is now worshipped as God. He said pretty plainly: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” (Mark 10.18)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Historical Jesus?
From a book review of Searching for the Real Jesus: Jesus, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Religious Themes by Geza Vermes and The Story of the Scrolls: The Miraculous Discovery and True Significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Geza Vermes:-
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I find Geza Vermes comments problematic for one very major reason. There was no J-sus of Nazareth. There was a Yehoshua ben Yoseph of Natzrat. One must understand that Yehoshua ben Yoseph does not equal, yea is the polar opposite of Jzeus. This is not pedantic. The former, J-esus, has no archeological evidence and certainly no spot in history in the 1st century but Yeshua bar Yoseph has a Tomb in Talpiot. You must change history and mythologize the real man Yehoshua ben Yoseph. You must make him what he was not for he was a Torah observant Jew, a teacher and judge of the Jewish people in the 1st century. J-sus is the poster boy for demonizing the Jewish people, something Ribi Yehoshua never did. Oxford scholar James Parkes in his book, "The Conflict of the Church and Synagogue," is a good starting place for scholarship. Also Joseph Klausner from Hebrew University and his books, "J-sus of Nazareth," and "From J-sus to Paul," and though obviously he uses the misnomer J-sus, he is obviously referring to Yehoshua ben Yoseph. Both Parkes and Klausner agree as do all competent scholars that both the man and his students were completely Torah observant Jews. But most scholars depart from history after this point and assume that a change took place that never did. There is no connection between Torah observance and Xtianity. There is no connection between the 1st century Ribi Yehoshua ben Yoseph and Xtianity. A short time after the death of Ribi Yehoshua an Hellenistic Jew named Paul, as a charismatic charlatan, misappropriated that which had been prophesied and catalyzed the most abhorrent myth the world has ever known. Then almost finally the Church eradicated the Torah observant students of Yehoshua and almost the historical record. So why does Vermes keep the mantra Jzeus? Because it is the raison d'etre of the established order of “scholarship.” But screw them. The dirty secret of how the Hellenist Romans clothed a Torah observant Jew with the feces of Torah rejection is coming out whether Vermes will step up and restore the good name of Ribi Yehoshua ben Yoseph or not. If you would like another example of how rotten things can get when history is rewritten consider this. Even Vermes uses the phrase “1st century Palestine.” There was no 1st century Palestine as Vermes and many other either poor scholars or misojudaics write. If you recall the Romans pasted that name on Israel after 135CE. Every time someone repeats the phrase “1st century Palestine,” or “Palestine” before 135CE, they give credibility to the lie that this is not the land of Torah revereing Jews. Now what do we have from that? False claims of ethnic cleansing of squatters? The logical and therefore objective facts of who Ribi Yehoshua was and the logical outcome of setting the record straight can be found at www.netzarim.co.il
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