The Message and the Kingdom: How Jesus and Paul Ignited a Revolution and Transformed the Ancient World

Abstract

The Message and the Kingdom: How Jesus and Paul Ignited Revolution and Transformed the Ancient World, by Richard A. Horsley and Neil Asher Silberman. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002. Pp. xii + 290. $18.00 (paper). ISBN 0800634675. This book describes the revolution the early Jesus movement brought to the ancient world primarily by analyzing the ministries of Jesus and Paul within their sociopolitical contexts. Its main thesis is that what started in Galilee as political reform movement to restore Israel and its Mosaic values finally developed into new and independent Christ-religion thanks to its criticism of the patron-client system that dominated the imperial society. The method Horsley and Silberman used for their analysis is combination of sound historical scholarship (especially as far as the socioreligious context of the early movement is concerned) and healthy commonsense reading of early Christian texts that reflect the development they noted. The question they ask first is an important one that is often overlooked: What influence did political circumstances in the early imperial age have on the development of Christianity as an independent religion? The starting point for Horsley and Silberman is the fact that the early Christian writings do not reflect the views of the ruling class but of those who held far lower position on the social ladder: History has almost always been written from the viewpoint of those who build cities and conquer empires, but in the New Testament and the early Christian tradition we may be able to catch rare glimpse at the hopes, dreams, and Utopian visions of those who suddenly find themselves at the bottom of new civilization's social heap (p. 5). This observation forms the foundation of the entire reconstruction offered in this book. Indeed, the views we encounter in these early Christian writings are not those of the rulers but of the ruled. Chapter 1 (Heavenly Visions) introduces early Christianity as a down-to-earth response to an oppressive ideology of earthly power (p. 10). It describes the conflict between the Jesus movement and the Herodian and imperial systems of rulership. The authors present the tensions between the potent messianic story contained in the writings of Isaiah, Haggai, Micah, and the Psalms of Solomon, on the one hand, and the claims of authority held by Augustus, Herod, and their ilk, on the other. In ch. 2 (Remaking the Galilee), Horsley and Silberman reconstruct Jesus' ministry within its Galilean context. The division of Herod's territories between his sons did not alter the impact of Herodian ideology on the countryside. On the contrary, Antipas actively tried to implement the imperial ideology throughout the country. He had Sepphoris-Autocratoris built, started newgorwm-center in Magdala, and laid heavy tax burdens on the inhabitants of Galilee. Antipas's rule of Galilee and Perea thus aimed at installing the imperial system. Antipas regarded the emperor as his patron, and an imperial restructuring of his territories would prove valuable in his relationship with Tiberius. This even led him to build new city for the emperor, namely, Tiberias. It is this cultural imperialism that John the Baptist eventually spoke out against when he protested Antipas's marriage with his brother's wife, Herodias. seen from this perspective, John was not just religious figure; he was political activist. Jesus is presented in ch. 3 as Faith Healer. He started out on mission in Galilee and evoked massive following. By this movement Jesus tried to create of community renewal (p. 57). According to Horsley and Silberman, this program is to be characterized as political-religious (p. 59). Jesus' program aimed at restoring the Torah as the center of Israel's identity. Jesus preached this restored Israel not just in words but most of all in actions: through healings and exorcisms. However, the strange thing is that his message was not simply matter of God's ultimate judgment being at hand. …