the first time, the early Christians could be seen, in full context, as one of many Jewish sects. That the last Qumran documents date to 68 C.E. is significant, because the Essenes, unlike Christians and Pharisees, were wiped out by the Roman assault against Jews that commenced that year.
24. Jewish Antiquities, 18.21; Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 64; Sanders, Judaism, 14.
25. Wilson, Paul, 56.
26. Matthew 22:20.
27. Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 64.
28. Segal, Rebecca's Children, 59.
29. Wilson, Paul, 21.
30. Broshi, "Role of the Temple," 35.
31. Sanders, Judaism, 117. See also Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 64.
32. Horsley and Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom, 15.
33. Fredriksen rejects the term "occupation" for the Roman presence in Judea, pointing out that the legions were concentrated in Syria, not Palestine. From those outposts, soldiers could sweep into Judea when necessary. But one of the characteristics of a police state is the relative invisibility of police. Occupation consists more in the mental state of knowing that rigid rule is ruthlessly enforced than in the obvious presence of troops. See Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 169.
34. So, for example, from a later period: "The tendency to understand war in late antiquity from a Roman perspective is also a historiographical tradition, which has been compounded by a pervasive, almost unconscious, desire to share the Roman point of view. So the Battle of Adrianople of 378 is a catastrophe; and the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410 is a political disaster. Similarly, the defeat of Attila and his Huns on the Catalaunian Plains in 451 is a good thing." Brent D. Shaw, "War and Violence," in Bowersock et al., Late Antiquity, 134.
35. Acts 22:25–29. Note that Paul, in his own writings, never refers to his being a Roman citizen.
36. Wilson, Paul, 9. It is important to note, in understanding early Christian claims that Jesus was the "Son of God," that the Mediterranean world had already heard such a claim from Caesar Augustus himself.
37. In the Vatican document "Memory and Reconciliation," the Church warns against that "historicism that would relativize the weight of past wrongs and make history justify everything" (4.2). Commenting on this passage, Leon Wieseltier wrote, "Moral absolutists cannot have it both ways. If moral values are timeless, then what is wrong now was wrong then." Wieseltier, "Sorry," 6.
38. Wilson, Paul, 3.
39. In early 2000, a dispute broke out between Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims over construction of a mosque near the Christian shrine at Nazareth. The construction permit had been issued by the state of Israel, prompting some Palestinians to decry a new version of the old strategy of divide and rule.
40. Sanders, Judaism, 4.
41. Ibid.
42. Owing to a later error in composing the calendar, the year of Jesus' birth was not o but 4 B.C.E. See Horsley and Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom, 16.
43. For this understanding of the politics of Israel at the time of Jesus' birth, I am particularly indebted to Horsley and Silberman; see The Message and the Kingdom, 9–23.
44. Ibid., 20.
45. Jewish Antiquities, 17.250–89, quoted by Horsley and Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom, 20. "Those who appeared to be the less turbulent individuals he imprisoned," Josephus wrote of the Roman general, "the most culpable, in number about two thousand, he crucified."
46. Sanders, Judaism, 72. In Jerusalem today, archaeologists speculate that an ancient cemetery may abut the Western Wall, but Jewish authorities discourage investigation because if a cemetery were found, Orthodox Jews would no longer be permitted to pray there.
47. "There should be no question or mystery about the brutality of Roman crucifixion. Were we not so familiar with the stylized image of Jesus on the cross and were we not so thoroughly programmed from our earliest school days to admire the ... Roman Empire ... we might be able to see this
24. Jewish Antiquities, 18.21; Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 64; Sanders, Judaism, 14.
25. Wilson, Paul, 56.
26. Matthew 22:20.
27. Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 64.
28. Segal, Rebecca's Children, 59.
29. Wilson, Paul, 21.
30. Broshi, "Role of the Temple," 35.
31. Sanders, Judaism, 117. See also Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 64.
32. Horsley and Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom, 15.
33. Fredriksen rejects the term "occupation" for the Roman presence in Judea, pointing out that the legions were concentrated in Syria, not Palestine. From those outposts, soldiers could sweep into Judea when necessary. But one of the characteristics of a police state is the relative invisibility of police. Occupation consists more in the mental state of knowing that rigid rule is ruthlessly enforced than in the obvious presence of troops. See Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, 169.
34. So, for example, from a later period: "The tendency to understand war in late antiquity from a Roman perspective is also a historiographical tradition, which has been compounded by a pervasive, almost unconscious, desire to share the Roman point of view. So the Battle of Adrianople of 378 is a catastrophe; and the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410 is a political disaster. Similarly, the defeat of Attila and his Huns on the Catalaunian Plains in 451 is a good thing." Brent D. Shaw, "War and Violence," in Bowersock et al., Late Antiquity, 134.
35. Acts 22:25–29. Note that Paul, in his own writings, never refers to his being a Roman citizen.
36. Wilson, Paul, 9. It is important to note, in understanding early Christian claims that Jesus was the "Son of God," that the Mediterranean world had already heard such a claim from Caesar Augustus himself.
37. In the Vatican document "Memory and Reconciliation," the Church warns against that "historicism that would relativize the weight of past wrongs and make history justify everything" (4.2). Commenting on this passage, Leon Wieseltier wrote, "Moral absolutists cannot have it both ways. If moral values are timeless, then what is wrong now was wrong then." Wieseltier, "Sorry," 6.
38. Wilson, Paul, 3.
39. In early 2000, a dispute broke out between Palestinian Christians and Palestinian Muslims over construction of a mosque near the Christian shrine at Nazareth. The construction permit had been issued by the state of Israel, prompting some Palestinians to decry a new version of the old strategy of divide and rule.
40. Sanders, Judaism, 4.
41. Ibid.
42. Owing to a later error in composing the calendar, the year of Jesus' birth was not o but 4 B.C.E. See Horsley and Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom, 16.
43. For this understanding of the politics of Israel at the time of Jesus' birth, I am particularly indebted to Horsley and Silberman; see The Message and the Kingdom, 9–23.
44. Ibid., 20.
45. Jewish Antiquities, 17.250–89, quoted by Horsley and Silberman, The Message and the Kingdom, 20. "Those who appeared to be the less turbulent individuals he imprisoned," Josephus wrote of the Roman general, "the most culpable, in number about two thousand, he crucified."
46. Sanders, Judaism, 72. In Jerusalem today, archaeologists speculate that an ancient cemetery may abut the Western Wall, but Jewish authorities discourage investigation because if a cemetery were found, Orthodox Jews would no longer be permitted to pray there.
47. "There should be no question or mystery about the brutality of Roman crucifixion. Were we not so familiar with the stylized image of Jesus on the cross and were we not so thoroughly programmed from our earliest school days to admire the ... Roman Empire ... we might be able to see this
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