Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00186)

--- In theos-talk@y..., "kpauljohnson" <kpauljohnson@y...> wrote:
> That there was some kind of anti-Temple message, and the offer of a 
> direct connection to the Father without going through sacrifice, 
> priesthood, etc., seems fairly well established. The question 
though 
> is whether it was anti- in the sense of actively opposing the 
> institution (which the Essenes did) or anti- in the more passive 
> sense of encouraging people to live lives that were independent of, 
> and contemptuous of, priestly authority but indifferent rather than 
> actively hostile to it. The body of sayings about the lilies of 
the 
> field, and resist not evil, and such, indicate the possibility of a 
> less political message than that of John and the Essenes.

>From the point of view of the priests the distinction would have been 
moot. Had he persuaded large numbers of people to stop paying those 
clowns, the Temple would have gone out of business. He had no chance 
of bringing down the Roman Empire, but an entirely realistic chance 
of bringing down the Temple. If businessmen today have people 
murdered as a way of furthering their financial self interest, as we 
all know they do, it is entirely credible to me that ancient business 
men would have had Jesus crucified for the same reason.

> The problem, as I don't need to tell you, is that there are many 
> layers of Jesus, and no solid way to determine which is the 
original 
> layer and which were superimposed on the historical figure to make 
> him serve some later agenda. However, much of the apocalyptic 
> prophet persona seems like a convenient ex post facto construction 
in 
> the wake of the Temple's destruction.

Yes, I agree. Oddly, Burton Mack disagrees iu I understand him 
correctly.

Later Christians would have a 
> motive for exaggerating Jesus's anti-Temple message in order to 
make 
> him seem prophetic.

That is an interesting point. The onlt way in whichhe was made to 
seem prophetic that I can see is the fantasy that he predicted the 
fall of Jerusalem. They also refused to accept the reality that he 
did not take over the kingdom and continue to believe today that he 
is coming at any time to finish the job. That they are still waiting 
for him after 2000 years is an astonishing triumph of belief over 
reason.

I am sure glad Theosophists are not subject to this failing.