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WhyNotAskAlice
Is the New Testament propaganda put out by the Romans to delude the insurgent Jews into thinking a Messiah had already appeared as suggested by Joseph Atwil in Caesar's Messiah?
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Trout
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
The Jews made up the old testament and the Romans wanted a piece of that so they made up the new testament
The whole thing is a myth that got out of hand but proved usefull for the governments on the day - <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Josephus is well versed in Jewish tradition. He decides his present to the House of Flavius will be the transformation of his âbrother,â Titus, into a deity by fleshing out this Christ figure as a human entity (Jesus) over the framework of Titusâ exploits. <b>This will make Titusâ triumph not only a military victory, but a âspiritualâ one as well. </b>Whether it works on the Jews or not, itâll be good for a laugh. Anonymous comment on summary article<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The tales are interchangeable, observes Atwill: "Both women have an experience with wicked priests; both have husbands with the same name; both husbands appeal to Tiberius; and both women share the quality of dignity." We can also switch Christ from the TF into the tale: They both claim to be gods, they both make revelations regarding their divinity on the third day; and they both have made public resolutions to sacrifice themselves. The tale thus resolves into a tale with obvious parallels to Christian history: <b>Decius (representing Rome) cannot buy a Jewish woman (representing the land of the Jews), so he tricks her, pretending to be a god </b>(just as Jesus is a fictional Roman creation, in Atwill's view). <b>The issue of his identity is resolved on the third day. The Jews are banished, and the Temple is demolished </b>(recall that Josephus knows that the Temple of Isis was not actually demolished). Once the reader switches the names around, something very like history as we understand it emerges. Atwill adds: "Once the reader knows that the stories are designed to have interchangeable elements, it is not difficult to see that by switching their genders Paulina can become Paul, which completely clarifies the identity of the "Jew at Rome."Â Decius<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
WhyNotAskAlice
Is the New Testament propaganda put out by the Romans to delude the insurgent Jews into thinking a Messiah had already appeared as suggested by Joseph Atwil in Caesar's Messiah?
----------------------------------------------------
Trout
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
The Jews made up the old testament and the Romans wanted a piece of that so they made up the new testament
The whole thing is a myth that got out of hand but proved usefull for the governments on the day - <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Josephus is well versed in Jewish tradition. He decides his present to the House of Flavius will be the transformation of his âbrother,â Titus, into a deity by fleshing out this Christ figure as a human entity (Jesus) over the framework of Titusâ exploits. <b>This will make Titusâ triumph not only a military victory, but a âspiritualâ one as well. </b>Whether it works on the Jews or not, itâll be good for a laugh. Anonymous comment on summary article<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The tales are interchangeable, observes Atwill: "Both women have an experience with wicked priests; both have husbands with the same name; both husbands appeal to Tiberius; and both women share the quality of dignity." We can also switch Christ from the TF into the tale: They both claim to be gods, they both make revelations regarding their divinity on the third day; and they both have made public resolutions to sacrifice themselves. The tale thus resolves into a tale with obvious parallels to Christian history: <b>Decius (representing Rome) cannot buy a Jewish woman (representing the land of the Jews), so he tricks her, pretending to be a god </b>(just as Jesus is a fictional Roman creation, in Atwill's view). <b>The issue of his identity is resolved on the third day. The Jews are banished, and the Temple is demolished </b>(recall that Josephus knows that the Temple of Isis was not actually demolished). Once the reader switches the names around, something very like history as we understand it emerges. Atwill adds: "Once the reader knows that the stories are designed to have interchangeable elements, it is not difficult to see that by switching their genders Paulina can become Paul, which completely clarifies the identity of the "Jew at Rome."Â Decius<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->