Yesterday
I
watched Mel Gibson's The
Passion of the Christ
on my iPad; the first time since seeing it at
the cinema in 2004 (even though we've owned the DVD). It is
unparalleled film making, IMO.
Because of it, Gibson was targeted by Hollywood for neutering.
Upstairs, I learned, MoSup had been watching the movie version of Bill
O'Reilly's book "Killing Jesus."
I Googled it up on the iPad, but of course Apple does not accept Flash,
or whatever the hell format the civilized world
use, but I found something better on YouTube. The full 6
hour+ Audio Book read by O'Reilly. Just finished the first two
chapters, and what a treat. In that time the book has covered an
introductory birth of Jesus replete with a short political history of
the area and then into a broader—and
captivating—history
of
Caesar's Rome itself. What an unexpected treat. I've paused
now (at 1:09),
after the account of Casca shoving his shiv into Caesar's sack left me
... queasy.
ASIDE: I can appreciate that Jews
were fearful that The Passion
of the Christ
might have the power to rekindle old hatreds. It did not.
But the Sanhedrin, led by high priest Caiaphas, which demanded his
crucification was the earlier equivalent of General Pétain's
lackey Vichy government under the Nazis. Rome controlled the
Temple, and who ran it. Hell, they erected a statue of Caesar
inside of the Temple! Many learned and pious Jews of
the time reacted to this abomination by forming splinter groups
having nothing to do with that ilk. Of course Jesus, his
apostles, and most early converts were Jews. As a Roman Catholic
I have come to view the church as a Jewish sect, and myself a
member. For me, this is riveting history.
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Our coddled selves can scarcely grasp living in times like those. That's prolly why I have so little patience for people demanding so much of others and doing so little for themselves while whining about how rough their lives are. Thank you Lord for ALL of my countless blessings!
ReplyDeleteTim
Whaaat? We LIVE in times like these. Our Senate and House of Representatives is the equivalent of Petain's lackey Vichy government under the Obamas. Many learned conservatives of our time react to this abomination by forming splinter groups having nothing to do with that ilk.
ReplyDeleteTheology aside,
ReplyDeleteI'd say that parts of the Middle East haven't changed all that much.
Wait … okay, including theology.
Just sitting back watching your men hit nails on the head...
ReplyDeleteRAK
Ceasar's pride killed him, not I.
ReplyDeleteCasca
Thanks for that...best time spent on a Holy Saturday ever.
ReplyDeleteImagine that the consolidation of the Germanic states, the Spanish American War, WWI and WWII had all happened in one unending war in the same time period. That would give you a good idea about what it was like to live in the time of Jesus. It was world war, the likes the average person could not comprehend.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite historical author, Elaine Pagels, does a wonderful job of giving perspective to just what these times were like. Her most recent book "Revelations" is superb and "The Origin of Satin" really depicts the struggle against the Romans.
It's important to think here, Jesus really had no beef with Rome; "Render unto Caesar, what is Caesars'." He is pissed off that his religion/culture had degenerated away from the values of their founding fathers. Now where have I heard that before? -Anymouse
One fascinating biography is that of hellenized Jew Flavius Josephus,
ReplyDeletethe only commentator on someone called "Jesus"(a hundred years later)
As for Mohamed, according to historian Ibn Warraq, not only he never existed,
but was an invention of the diseased mind
of Caliph Omar, who then burned the library of Alexandria, just to tie up loose ends.
Wabano, it's worth noting that the passage in Josephus that references "Jesus" was not written by him and was likely added much later by Christian authors.
ReplyDeleteOutside of the Bible there are no contemporary accounts of Jesus' "godhood" (or whatever you want to call it).
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