1. A tribal myth was passed from generation to generation that the Jews were a special and chosen people who would be above every other nation.
jEHOVAH'S DARLINGS! The Lord's favorites! Kings, Priests, Rulers over everybody else!
2.Constant downfalls seemed to disprove the myth. It was getting embarassing and harder to believe!
3. To rescue the myth, great thinkers concocted a way to save it. They declared that God punished this chosen people whenever they failed to live up to perfect standards. The PERFECT LAW set them apart, but, made them subject to "corrections" God would only forgive through sacrifices.
4. Even when the Jews were on their best behavior, however, they still got their asses kicked. Jerusalem was destroyed. Leaders were carried off to Babylon.
5.While in Babylon, the Jews discovered another intellectual concept that would create an "out" for their myth: SATAN! When they were "good" Satan was attacking them. When they were bad, God was punishing them. Now they could justify anything that kept them down!
6.Returning from exile, a book was assembled that wove together myths, stories, histories and prophecies to demonstrate that Everything Happens for a Reason. A Hope for the future of Judaism was formed: Messianic rescue!
7.The Greeks conquered the Middle East and threatened Jewish worship. The new temple was defiled.
8.The Maccabees overthrew (temporarily) outsiders and a surge of self-empowerment "proved" they were God's special and chosen darlings.
9.The Romans invaded and the Jews were subjugated. The myth was busted again! The Maccabbes were not Messianic.
10. Another "save" was circulated: This would be a superhero who, like David, would catapult the Jews into special status and prove to the world they really were the CHOSEN PEOPLE! This was a new and improved Messiah!
11. False Messiahs came and went. Each claimed special status and each failed.
12. Jesus came along. He was Apocalyptic. The end was near and his teachings electrified a select group of Messianic Jews.
13.Jesus' ministry failed when he was put to death---BUT--a rumor was started that God repudiated the error of those Jews who sold him out and handed him over to the Romans. JESUS REALLY WAS the very Messiah they'd been waiting on.
14. Stories grew like wildfire. Jesus was resurrected. So and so says they saw and heard him. He did this and that miracle. The rumors grew richer in detail.
15. Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor because of conservative Jewish beliefs, suddenly changed his mind! Paul effectively started telling everybody JESUS HAD APPEARED TO HIM! Paul saved the Messiah myth by EXPLAINING it differently! Paul's version told Jews that the real Messiah (Jesus) was proved to be genuine because he suffered and died and was resurrected by Jehovah!
16. With no other choices before them the Jews were faced with a terrible dillemma. A.:Accept the Jesus is Messiah story and prepare for his imminent return and be on the winning side by demonstrating they were sorry for turning him over to the Romans. or...B. Take matters into their own hands and overthrow the Romans like the Maccabees did!
17. When the rebellious Maccabee-like revolt failed and Jerusalem was destroyed (yet again!) only one choice remained.
A. Admit that the Jews are NOT a special, chosen people any different from any other tribe in the Roman Empire.
or....
B. Get Baptised and embrace the JESUS IS MESSIAH idea and prepare for the End of the World Apocalypse that (at least) gave them a chance to be winners instead of wannabe losers!
18. The Jewish religion split (already into factions) again into Jewish-Christians and, ultimately simply Christians who were Gentiles.
The Gentile dominated sect outgrew the Judeo-christian part and overwhelmed the rest.
JESUS did not SAVE the jews so much as allow them to trade one myth for another!
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Epilogue
1. The World is going to End when Jesus Returns shortly crowd never saw the second coming. Didn't happen.
2. A new theory developed. The world must be converted to Christianity by preaching first---then, the end will come.
Christians have fallen into the myth-trap the Jews once faced.
A. Jesus is coming back soon.....almost now!
B. Become perfect, convert the world and set a good example through behavior
The more things change....the more they stay the same!
HERE IS THE STORY......SO FAR.........
by Terry 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Terry
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ICBehindtheCurtain
That was great Terry! Brilliant as usual! Thanks, IC
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White Dove
Nice! Gives me food for thought. That would explain how the myth was propagated through the centuries.
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Narkissos
OK, I suppose you want it discussed...
1. A tribal myth was passed from generation to generation that the Jews were a special and chosen people who would be above every other nation.
jEHOVAH'S DARLINGS! The Lord's favorites! Kings, Priests, Rulers over everybody else!
As long as Yhwh was not considered the supremegod (let alone the only"God"), his "special" connection to Israel implied no superiority: each nation was just as "special" to its own tutelary deity (cf. Deuteronomy 32:8f; Judges 11:24).
2.Constant downfalls seemed to disprove the myth. It was getting embarassing and harder to believe!
In the early version of the myth which I described above, downfalls would first question the power of Yhwh (as compared to other national gods).
3. To rescue the myth, great thinkers concocted a way to save it. They declared that God punished this chosen people whenever they failed to live up to perfect standards. The PERFECT LAW set them apart, but, made them subject to "corrections" God would only forgive through sacrifices.
The idea of gods "punishing" or "forsaking" their peoples for moral or ritual offences was not new. The unification of worship under Josiah, along with the retroactive condemnation of the previous Israelite religion (including various gods / goddesses and sanctuaries), did serve to explain previous downfalls (such as the fall of the Northern Israelite kingdom), but it primarily served a positive political agenda: unifying Judah around the royal sanctuary of Jerusalem. At this point Yhwh became the jealous god of henotheism -- not wanting his people to worship any other god -- more and more thought as supreme although not yet the only "God" (monotheism).
4. Even when the Jews were on their best behavior, however, they still got their asses kicked. Jerusalem was destroyed. Leaders were carried off to Babylon.
Ok.
5.While in Babylon, the Jews discovered another intellectual concept that would create an "out" for their myth: SATAN! When they were "good" Satan was attacking them. When they were bad, God was punishing them. Now they could justify anything that kept them down!
Oh no, that was much later, well into the Persian period, with the influence of Zoroastrian dualism (cf. the rewriting of 2 Samuel 24 in 2 Chronicles 21).
6.Returning from exile, a book was assembled that wove together myths, stories, histories and prophecies to demonstrate that Everything Happens for a Reason. A Hope for the future of Judaism was formed: Messianic rescue!
Ok, although the "messianism" of the returnees was nothing like what we know under that name -- it was political, not eschatological, and centered on historical figures like Cyrus, Zorobabel and Joshua (Jesus).
7.The Greeks conquered the Middle East and threatened Jewish worship. The new temple was defiled.
Only there is over one century and a half of relatively peaceful hellenisation before the Antiochus crisis.
8.The Maccabees overthrew (temporarily) outsiders and a surge of self-empowerment "proved" they were God's special and chosen darlings.
Ok.
9.The Romans invaded and the Jews were subjugated. The myth was busted again! The Maccabbes were not Messianic.
Ok, save that's where "messianism" (almost) as we know it really starts.
10. Another "save" was circulated: This would be a superhero who, like David, would catapult the Jews into special status and prove to the world they really were the CHOSEN PEOPLE! This was a new and improved Messiah!
QED.
11. False Messiahs came and went. Each claimed special status and each failed.
12. Jesus came along. He was Apocalyptic. The end was near and his teachings electrified a select group of Messianic Jews.
Maybe. That's just one possible version of one possible historical Jesus. But his historical footprints are yet to be found.
13.Jesus' ministry failed when he was put to death---BUT--a rumor was started that God repudiated the error of those Jews who sold him out and handed him over to the Romans. JESUS REALLY WAS the very Messiah they'd been waiting on.
See #11.
14. Stories grew like wildfire. Jesus was resurrected. So and so says they saw and heard him. He did this and that miracle. The rumors grew richer in detail.
See #11.
15. Saul of Tarsus, a persecutor because of conservative Jewish beliefs, suddenly changed his mind! Paul effectively started telling everybody JESUS HAD APPEARED TO HIM! Paul saved the Messiah myth by EXPLAINING it differently! Paul's version told Jews that the real Messiah (Jesus) was proved to be genuine because he suffered and died and was resurrected by Jehovah!
Or, a modified, mystery-like kind of Jewish "messianism" developed in the diaspora around the entirely different concept of individual salvation through a heavenly figure, which eventually met the more "nationalistic" kinds of Palestinian messianism, and possibly the memory of some (or several) earlier executed hero(es). Paul himself doesn't invent the concept, nor does he show any knowledge of, or interest for, a Galilean hero.
16. With no other choices before them the Jews were faced with a terrible dillemma. A.:Accept the Jesus is Messiah story and prepare for his imminent return and be on the winning side by demonstrating they were sorry for turning him over to the Romans. or...B. Take matters into their own hands and overthrow the Romans like the Maccabees did!
I really doubt "Jesus Messiah" was a significant choice for the vast majority of Palestinian Jews before 66 AD.
17. When the rebellious Maccabee-like revolt failed and Jerusalem was destroyed (yet again!) only one choice remained.
A. Admit that the Jews are NOT a special, chosen people any different from any other tribe in the Roman Empire.
or....
B. Get Baptised and embrace the JESUS IS MESSIAH idea and prepare for the End of the World Apocalypse that (at least) gave them a chance to be winners instead of wannabe losers!
It's strange you omit the option which the vast majority of surviving Jews actually took: redefining a templeless, priestless (and certainly not Christian) Judaism for a situation of lasting diaspora, around the Pharisaic school.
18. The Jewish religion split (already into factions) again into Jewish-Christians and, ultimately simply Christians who were Gentiles.
The Gentile dominated sect outgrew the Judeo-christian part and overwhelmed the rest.
Or, the so-called "Jewish Christian" groups developed from those Jews who differed from both Pharisaic Judaism and Hellenistic Christianity (and were rejected by both emerging "religions"),
But the general picture stands: waves of myth and history...
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Terry
As long as Yhwh was not considered the supremegod (let alone the only"God"), his "special" connection to Israel implied no superiority: each nation was just as "special" to its own tutelary deity (cf. Deuteronomy 32:8f; Judges 11:24).
Quite a nice parallel with the Arabs. All that "pagan" worship and shrines going on until a rather sudden switch to monotheism under Allah.
In the early version of the myth which I described above, downfalls would first question the power of Yhwh (as compared to other national gods
Hmmm...would this ever be doubted? I wonder. Perhaps confidence in Yhwh actually came from the "power myths" already told about miraculous displays of competition with "other" gods. At least, to the extent Yhwh was a given. It may be a psychology question, really.
The idea of gods "punishing" or "forsaking" their peoples for moral or ritual offences was not new. The unification of worship under Josiah, along with the retroactive condemnation of the previous Israelite religion (including various gods / goddesses and sanctuaries), did serve to explain previous downfalls (such as the fall of the Northern Israelite kingdom), but it primarily served a positive political agenda: unifying Judah around the royal sanctuary of Jerusalem. At this point Yhwh became the jealous god of henotheism -- not wanting his people to worship any other god -- more and more thought as supreme although not yet the only "God" (monotheism).
And this, more than anything else, demonstrates to me (at least) that Deity is a projection of human nature. Our Father punishes, rewards, nourishes and consequently, our Heavenly Father does too. Sanctuary appears to be an ethnic fetish and a tribal demonstration of prowess.
I always thought it hilarious in Homer's Odyssey that hundreds of oxen would be offered up as a sacrifice to please deity! This would be the religious equivalent of a billionaire driving a Porche.
5.While in Babylon, the Jews discovered another intellectual concept that would create an "out" for their myth: SATAN! When they were "good" Satan was attacking them. When they were bad, God was punishing them. Now they could justify anything that kept them down!
Oh no, that was much later, well into the Persian period, with the influence of Zoroastrian dualism (cf. the rewriting of 2 Samuel 24 in 2 Chronicles 21).
Right..right. Thanks....I'm thinking of the sudden change in the names of the Hebrew Months to Babylonian names and such. Mithra and the dichotomy of good vs evil lay ahead at that point.
7.The Greeks conquered the Middle East and threatened Jewish worship. The new temple was defiled.
Only there is over one century and a half of relatively peaceful hellenisation before the Antiochus crisis.
As you know from previous discussions, I feel the Helenization after Alexander did more to change the Jews ethos than anything before that time. The loss of Hebrew to Greek was a huge impact. I imagine the dividing line in religion was language as well.
Significantly, the only time in history the Jews ever really had power--they too started persecuting minorities! Very telling.
Or, a modified, mystery-like kind of Jewish "messianism" developed in the diaspora around the entirely different concept of individual salvation through a heavenly figure, which eventually met the more "nationalistic" kinds of Palestinian messianism, and possibly the memory of some (or several) earlier executed hero(es). Paul himself doesn't invent the concept, nor does he show any knowledge of, or interest for, a Galilean hero.
And...wouldn't you agree that Paul himself doesn't even seem to have any historical interest in Jesus' life, ministry, teachings, etc?
Paul's ministry to the Gentiles is either entirely due to the rejection by natural Jews or due to the pagan influences he was surrounded by in Tarsus growing up. The central character of Paul's evangelism is the guilt-tripping of Jews for handing over Jesus and the appeal to rejecting Saducee disbelief in resurrection.
What puzzles me is what actually constitutes a "miracle" in that day and time. Are we talking street "magic" or gullibility or merely exaggerated stories by word of mouth.....?
Thanks Narkissos!
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Narkissos
In the early version of the myth which I described above, downfalls would first question the power of Yhwh (as compared to other national gods
Hmmm...would this ever be doubted? I wonder. Perhaps confidence in Yhwh actually came from the "power myths" already told about miraculous displays of competition with "other" gods. At least, to the extent Yhwh was a given. It may be a psychology question, really.
A very interesting question indeed.
Maybe the official shift to henotheism concentrating the diversity of Israelite religion on the unique worship of "Yhwh of Jerusalem," just a few decades before the destruction of the temple and exile of the leaders, is the really critical element.
In conquered civilisations, the "national" and "war" gods would naturally recede to the background, while other deities and aspects of native worship (like the astrological, agricultural, sexual ones) would not be affected, or even benefit from the national disaster. The Jeremiah passage on the "Queen of Heaven" suggests that resurgence of older forms of the Israelite religion did happen among the people.
But the main Bible texts are the product, not of the people, but of the elite who stuck with Josiah's reform, were severed from its people and land by the exile, and were left for some time with little to do except thinking about Yhwh's failure from afar. There an ideal religion (cf. Ezekiel), and eventually monotheism proper sprang (Deutero-Isaiah). And this fantastic, idealistic religion was what the returnees had in mind when they came back with the power to rebuild the temple and rule from Jerusalem, henceforth despising the religion of the "people of the land" more than ever.
Shortcut to bottom line: the Jewish notion of "God" is, among other things, the product of this particular historical sequence (not to say accident).
And...wouldn't you agree that Paul himself doesn't even seem to have any historical interest in Jesus' life, ministry, teachings, etc?
Yes... and "miracles," too.
The real question is whether he had heard of such a character...
Paul's ministry to the Gentiles is either entirely due to the rejection by natural Jews or due to the pagan influences he was surrounded by in Tarsus growing up. The central character of Paul's evangelism is the guilt-tripping of Jews for handing over Jesus and the appeal to rejecting Saducee disbelief in resurrection.
Perhaps you are still reading too much about Paul from Acts... from the epistles I read very little about his "evangelism," either to Jews or Gentiles. His issue is rather the orientation of already existing communities of Hellenistic "believers" including Jews and Gentiles.
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daniel-p
You have a nice outline for a book there....