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549ad55
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It is a shame that this word, myth, which originally signified nothing more than stories of the supernatural, has come to be regarded as synonymous with falsehood, when in fact myths are always true. By their very nature, myths inhere both legitimacy and credibility. Whatever truths they convey have little to do with historical fact.
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Reza Aslan |
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b98a386
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solely through the slow and steady building of personal relationships that one discovers the fundamental truth that all people everywhere have the same dreams and aspirations, that all people struggle with the same fears and anxieties.
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Reza Aslan |
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a5e2591
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It is a miracle that we know anything at all about the man called Jesus of Nazareth. The itinerant preacher wandering from village to village clamoring about the end of the world, a band of ragged followers trailing behind, was a common sight in Jesus's time--so common, in fact, that it had become a kind of caricature among the Roman elite.
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Reza Aslan |
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fdf69af
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The very term "theocracy" was coined specifically to describe Jerusalem."
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Reza Aslan |
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6b2e252
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In the words of the Iranian political philosopher Abdolkarim Soroush, "We no longer claim that a genuinely religious government can be democratic, but that it cannot be otherwise."
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Reza Aslan |
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bf7e207
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There is absolutely nothing divine about the Shariah and in no way can it possibly be considered fixed and infallible. The argument that the Shariah derives its divine nature from its first and primary source, the Quran, falls flat when one recognizes that the Quran, unlike the Torah, is not a book of laws. The Quran is God's direct self-revelation to humanity. Certainly, it contains the moral framework for living a holy and righteous life ..
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Reza Aslan |
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69eb2fc
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The separation of "church and state" of which America is so proud was established in Islam fourteen centuries ago, when it was decided that no Caliph would have religious authority over the community."
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Reza Aslan |
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db67b39
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He was a man of profound contradictions, one day preaching a message of racial exclusion ("I was sent solely to the lost sheep of Israel"; Matthew 15:24), the next, of benevolent universalism ("Go and make disciples of all nations"; Matthew 28:19); sometimes calling for unconditional peace ("Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God"; Matthew 5:9), sometimes promoting violence and conflict ("If you do not have a s..
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Reza Aslan |
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414ea2e
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The reformation of Christianity was a terrifying process, but it was not, as it has so often been presented, a collision between Protestant reform and Catholic intransigence. Rather, the Christian Reformation was an argument over the future of the faith--a violent, bloody argument that engulfed Europe in devastation and war for more than a century.
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Reza Aslan |
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b144c7f
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Por lo tanto, un relato inventado por Marcos, con propositos estrictamente evangelizadores, para absolver a Roma de toda culpa por la muerte de Jesus, se amplia hasta el punto del absurdo, convirtiendose con el transcurso del tiempo en la base para dos mil anos de antisemitismo cristiano.
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Reza Aslan |
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80741b5
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Luke means that Jesus is the new David, the King of the Jews, placed on God's throne to rule over the Promised Land. Simply put, the infancy narratives in the gospels are not historical accounts, nor were they meant to be read as such. They are theological affirmations of Jesus's status as the anointed of God. The descendant of King David. The promised messiah.
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Reza Aslan |
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12a075e
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The bandits tapped into the widespread apocalyptic expectation that had gripped the Jews of Palestine in the wake of the Roman invasion.
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Reza Aslan |
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ab2da07
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The Samaritans denied the primacy of the Temple of Jerusalem as the sole place of worship. They instead worshiped God on Mount Gerizim. though this was essentially the only religious difference between the two peoples, it was enough for the Samaritans not to be considered Jews.
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temple
samaritans
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Reza Aslan |
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b15045b
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themselves: "Give back (apodidomi) to Caesar the property that belongs to Caesar ..." The verb apodidomi, often translated as "render unto," is actually a compound word: apo is a preposition that in this case means "back again"; didomi is a verb meaning "to give." Apodidomi is used specifically when paying someone back property to which he is entitled; the word implies that the person receiving payment is the rightful owner of the thing bei..
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Reza Aslan |
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bc9cbaf
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In other words, according to Jesus, Caesar is entitled to be "given back" the denarius coin, not because he deserves tribute, but because it is his coin: his name and picture are stamped on it."
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Reza Aslan |
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9e41258
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practically every word ever written about Jesus of Nazareth, including every gospel story in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, was written by people who, like Stephen and Paul, never actually knew Jesus when he was alive (recall that, with the possible exception of Luke, the gospels were not written by those after whom they were named).
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Reza Aslan |
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fab0e2e
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Greek, the lingua franca of the Roman Empire (ironically, Latin was the language least used in the lands occupied by Rome), enough perhaps to negotiate contracts and deal with customers, but certainly not enough to preach. The only Jews who could communicate comfortably in Greek were the Hellenized Herodian elite, the priestly aristocracy in Judea, and the more educated Diaspora Jews, not the peasants and day laborers of Galilee.
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Reza Aslan |
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612ceab
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That Jesus had brothers is, despite the Catholic doctrine of his mother Mary's perpetual virginity, virtually indisputable. It is a fact attested to repeatedly by both the gospels and the letters of Paul. Even Josephus references Jesus's brother James, who would become the most important leader of the early Christian church after Jesus's death. There is no rational argument that can be made against the notion that Jesus was part of a large ..
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Reza Aslan |
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34958c0
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During Jesus's lifetime, zealotry did not signify a firm sectarian designation or political party. It was an idea, an aspiration, a model of piety inextricably linked to the widespread sense of apocalyptic expectation that had seized the Jews in the wake of the Roman occupation. There was a feeling, particularly among the peasants and the pious poor, that the present order was coming to an end, that a new and divinely inspired order was abo..
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Reza Aslan |
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6cd68b1
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The census, they argued, was an abomination. It was affirmation of the slavery of the Jews. To be voluntarily tallied like sheep was, in Judas's view, tantamount to declaring allegiance to Rome. It was an admission that the Jews were not the chosen tribe of God but the personal property of the emperor.
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Reza Aslan |
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4b2f241
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Festus allowed Paul to go to Rome because Paul claimed to be a Roman citizen. Paul was born in Tarsus, a city whose inhabitants had been granted Roman citizenship by Mark Anthony a century earlier. As a citizen, Paul had the right to demand a Roman trial. a Festus, who would serve as governor for an extremely brief and tumultuous period in Jerusalem , seemed happy to grant him one, if for no other reason than simply be rid of him.
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roman-law
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Reza Aslan |
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03c9ff0
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Paul's breezy dismissal of the very foundation of Judaism was as shocking to the leaders of the Jesus movement in Jerusalem as it would have been to Jesus himself. After all, Jesus claimed to have come to fulfill the Law of Moses, not to abolish it. Far from rejecting the law, Jesus continually strove to expand and intensify it. Where the law commands, "thou shall not kill," Jesus added, "if you are angry with your brother or sister you are..
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Reza Aslan |
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0c83277
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Jesus's titulus reads KING OF THE JEWS. His crime: striving for kingly rule; sedition. And so, like every bandit and revolutionary, every rabble-rousing zealot and apocalyptic prophet who came before or after him--
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Reza Aslan |
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9a3ceed
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Meanwhile, I continued my academic work in religious studies, delving back into the Bible not as an unquestioning believer but as an inquisitive scholar. No longer chained to the assumption that the stories I read were literally true, I became aware of a more meaningful truth in the text, a truth intentionally detached from the exigencies of history. Ironically, the more I learned about the life of the historical Jesus, the turbulent world ..
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Reza Aslan |
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21a7781
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The transformation of the Nazarean into a divine, preexistent, literal son of God whose death and resurrection launch a new genus of eternal beings responsible for judging the world has no basis in any writings about Jesus that are even remotely contemporary with Paul's (a firm indication that Paul's Christ was likely his own creation).
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Reza Aslan |
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d606039
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In the end, there are only two hard historical facts about Jesus of Nazareth upon which we can confidently rely: the first is that Jesus was a Jew who led a popular Jewish movement in Palestine at the beginning of the first century C.E.; the second is that Rome crucified him for doing so.
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Reza Aslan |
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1331fc0
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Jesus was not a Christian. Jesus was a Jew preaching Judaism to other Jews. His was a Jewish mission, one concerned exclusively with the fate of his fellow Jews. Israel was all that mattered to Jesus. He insisted that his mission was "solely to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24) and commanded his disciples to share the good news with none but their fellow Jews: "Go"
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Reza Aslan |
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15cb7e7
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Crucifixion was a punishment that Rome reserved almost exclusively for the crime of sedition. The plaque the Romans placed above Jesus's head as he writhed in pain--"King of the Jews"--was called a titulus and, despite common perception, was not meant to be sarcastic. Every criminal who hung on a cross received a plaque declaring the specific crime for which he was being executed. Jesus's crime, in the eyes of Rome, was striving for kingly ..
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Reza Aslan |
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c773f5a
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Scattered across the Roman Empire, it was only natural for the gospel writers to distance themselves from the Jewish independence movement by erasing, as much as possible, any hint of radicalism or violence, revolution or zealotry, from the story of Jesus, and to adapt Jesus's words and actions to the new political situation in which they found themselves.
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revisionism
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Reza Aslan |
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564c290
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To begin with, with the possible exception of the gospel of Luke, none of the gospels we have were written by the person after whom they are named.
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Reza Aslan |
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2cc48b7
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The passage proves not only that "Jesus, the one they call messiah" probably existed, but that by the year 94 C.E., when the Antiquities was written, he was widely recognized as the founder of a new and enduring movement." --
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Reza Aslan |
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6eba041
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Despite two millennia of Christian apologetics, the fact is that belief in a dying and rising messiah simply did not exist in Judaism. In the entirety of the Hebrew Bible there is not a single passage of scripture or prophecy about the promised messiah that even hints of his ignominious death, let alone his bodily resurrection.
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scripture
messiah
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Reza Aslan |
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8a67b2d
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When it comes to the heart and soul of the Jewish faith - the law of Moses - Jesus was adamant that his mission was not to abolish the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). That law made a clear distinction between relations among Jews and relations between Jews and foreigners. The oft-repeated commandment "love your neighbor as yourself" was originally given strictly in the context of internal relations within Israel. The verse in question..
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jesus
moses
israel
jews
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Reza Aslan |
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0c8702d
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The story of the zealous Galilean peasant and Jewish nationalist who donned the mantle of messiah and launched a foolhardy rebellion against the corrupt Temple priesthood and the vicious Roman occupation comes to an abrupt end, not with his death on the cross, nor with the empty tomb, but at the first moment one of his followers dares suggest he is God.
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Reza Aslan |
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8e9a29e
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By the time these stories were written, six decades had passed since the crucifixion. In that time, the evangelists had heard just about every conceivable objection to the resurrection, and they were able to create narratives to counter each and every one of them.
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writing
resurrection
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Reza Aslan |
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d3eb356
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Indeed, if we commit to placing Jesus firmly within the social, religious, and political context of the era in which he lived--an era marked by the slow burn of a revolt against Rome that would forever transform the faith and practice of Judaism--then, in some ways, his biography writes itself.
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Reza Aslan |
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a412da8
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Thus it is written that the messiah would suffer and rise again on the third day," Jesus instructs his disciples (Luke 24:44-46). Except that nowhere is any such thing written: not in the Law of Moses, not in the prophets, not in the Psalms. In the entire history of Jewish thought there is not a single line of scripture that says the messiah is to suffer, die, and rise again on the third day, which may explain why Jesus does not bother to c..
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jesus
scripture
resurrection
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Reza Aslan |
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5273cc8
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Mark's Baptist admits that he himself is not the promised messiah--"There is one coming after me who is stronger than I am," John says, "one whose sandals I am not worthy to untie" (Mark 1:7-8)--but strangely, John never actually acknowledges Jesus to be the one he is referring to. Even after Jesus's perfunctory baptism, when the sky opens and the spirit of God descends upon him in the form of a dove as a heavenly voice says, "You are my so..
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Reza Aslan |
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69ebf6c
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The Bible is replete with ablutionary practices: objects (a tent, a sword) were sprinkled with water to dedicate them to the Lord; people (lepers, menstruating women) were fully immersed in water as an act of purification.
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Reza Aslan |
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f1a40d3
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The tearing of the Temple's veil is a fitting end to the passion narratives, the perfect symbol of what the death of Jesus meant for the men and women who reflected upon it many decades later. Jesus's sacrifice, they argued, removed the barrier between humanity and God. The veil that separated the divine presence from the rest of the world had been torn away. Through Jesus's death, everyone could now access God's spirit, without ritual or p..
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Reza Aslan |
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a328f38
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Mark's audience was in Rome, where he himself resided. His account of the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth was written mere months after the Jewish Revolt had been crushed
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Reza Aslan |
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020f6f8
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The Son of God Among Greeks and Romans," Harvard Theological Review 93.2 (2000): 85-100. Two zealous rabbis, Judas son of Sepphoraeus and Matthias son of Margalus, led an uprising that attacked the Temple and tried to destroy the eagle that Herod placed atop the"
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Reza Aslan |
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ca55b7d
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But, as in the rest of Galilee, the profits firm this increase in the means of production disproportionately benefited the large landowners and moneylenders who resided outside Capernaum: the wealthy priests in Judea and new urban elite in Sepphoris and Tiberias. The majority of Capernaum's residents had been left behind by the new Galilean economy. It would be these people whom Jesus would specifically target - those who found themselves c..
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jesus
galilee
israel
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Reza Aslan |
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1035913
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The notion of history as a critical analysis of observable and verifiable events in the past is a product of the modern age; it would have been an altogether foreign concept to the gospel writers for whom history was not a matter of uncovering facts, but of revealing truths.
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Reza Aslan |