Jewish Bubba: Hellenization of Bethlehem: Start of Anti-Semitism

Nadene Goldfoot

Constantine I (Latin: Flavius Valerius Constantinus; 27 February c. 272 – 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. My impression after reading his book found at Portland University, was that he didn't really want to convert but did it for his mother, Helena, who was a believer. Constantine loved the stories of the Roman gods and goddesses. Under the Roman Empire, the city of Bethlehem was destroyed by Hadrian, but later rebuilt by Constantine the Great, who commissioned the Church of the Nativity in 327 CE.

Though we have heard a Pope say that Jews were not responsible for the death of Jesus, a large segment of Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, believe that Jews caused his death. I'll try to give the Jewish end of this accusation. No Pope blamed Jews for the death of Jesus Christ, but the Gospels themselves give into this accusation in its wordings, especially the writer, John.

Pontius Pilate was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of Jesus and ultimately ordered his crucifixion. Rome conquered Judah in 63 BCE when the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem, effectively ending the independence of the region and bringing Judea under Roman rule; this event is often referred to as the Roman conquest of Judea.

The Romans deposed the ruling Hasmonean dynasty of Judaea (in power from c. 140 BCE) and the Roman Senate declared Herod the Great "King of the Jews" in c. 40 BCE. Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea became the Roman province of Judaea in 6 CE/AD. Jewish–Roman tensions resulted in several Jewish–Roman wars between the years 66 and 135 CE/ AD, which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple and the institution of the Jewish Tax in 70 (those who paid the tax were exempt from the obligation of making sacrifices to the Roman imperial cult).

So who did they blame? Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea, who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. Still, Jews are blamed right along with everyone else, only more so. Jesus, in the Gospels, which were written about 100 years after the fact,was accused of many things against Jewish law: All these things that Mathew, Mark, Luke and John listed were well known to the community tobe acts never done by any Jew. Yet to put someone to death? That wasn't to be done by the Jewish people. They were having enough of a hard time dodging the crosses themselves, let alone help the Romans to take another of their young Jewish men.

"Jesus is generally quiet, does not defend himself, rarely responds to the accusations, and is found guilty of: violating the Sabbath law (by healing on the Sabbath); threatening to destroy the Jewish Temple; practicing sorcery, exorcising people by the power of demons; blasphemy; and claiming to be the Messiah. He is then taken to Pontius Pilate, the governor of Roman Judaea, to be tried for claiming to be the King of the Jews."

Roman procurator of Judea, Gessius Florus, murders 3,600 Jews (crucifying about 2,000) in May. May-Oct. Christians flee Judea. Jewish Revolt against Rome begins ...

The Appian Way, a long avenue, was lined with thousands of crosses with the body of a Jew on each one.

In the New Testament, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling

council, tried Jesus and condemned him to death for

blasphemy: The trial

The Sanhedrin brought false witnesses against Jesus, who
remained silent. The high priest asked Jesus if he was the
Messiah, and Jesus replied, "You have said so". The high
priest tore his clothes in horror, and the Sanhedrin
condemned Jesus to death.
The reason for the trial
The Sanhedrin believed Jesus had claimed to have God-like
powers. They considered blasphemy to be a sufficient
reason for execution.
The timing of the trial
The Sanhedrin illegally met the night before Passover to try
Jesus. It was illegal to try someone on the day before the
Sabbath or before some holy day.
The aftermath
The Sanhedrin mocked Jesus, spat in his face, and struck
him: Sanhedrin trial of Jesus
What Baptists have said https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/
explore-the-bible/when-the-law-of-moses-calls-for-death.html is:
Offenses violating the sanctity of human life. Moses requires that “first-degree” murder be punished by the forfeiture of life (Exod 21:12, 14; also Lev 24:17, 21), with special emphasis on those who sacrificed their children to the gods (Lev 20:1–5). Negligence resulting in death could also be a capital crime (Exod 21:28–29), especially in the case of unborn children (Exod 21:22–25), though this was not true in every case (Exod 21:13). Perjury in capital cases was also a capital offense (Deut 19:16–19), ostensibly because it might result in the unjust loss of life. The fact that God persistently commands human governments to guard human life with capital force, not only in the Mosaic economy but beyond (Gen 9:6), seems to leave no room for debate—God expects collective mankind, being ever in his image, to exercise due process and execute murderers quotes a Baptist Christian but Jews do everything in their power to not take a life. Even Israel today does not have a death sentence. So much lies in interpretation and past history.
Hearing that Jesus was called, "King of the Jews" would have been a threat to Roman leaders. They could not have that, so were anxious to take his life.
.
But then I say that Jesus didn't take any life so they cannot take his life! The acts he is accused of are not worthy enough for the death sentence.
Because of what we learn in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 37a): “Whoever saves a single life is considered by scripture to have saved the whole world.’ Because we are created in God’s image. It was written in abouet 200 CE, possible time of Matthew,
The contents of the Palestinian Talmud were written by scholars between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, while the Babylonian Talmud was written between the 3rd and 6th centuries. The Palestinian Talmud is older than the Babylonian Talmud, which relies heavily on it. The Sanhedrin was a rabbinic court that became a technical term around 200 CE. The Talmud describes the Sanhedrin as a religious legislative body led by sages, but it also had some political and judicial functions.

Jesus could have died in 29 CE according to Jewish Encyclopedia's theory,though we have no knowledge of his actual existence. There are no Jewishrecords about him found. The closest attention has been from the Naked Archeologist, Simcha Jacobovici, who said, "When it comes to the historical Jesus, there is a conflict between those who are interested in the 1st century Galilean rabbi who ended up crucified by the Romans, and those who worship this same individual as a man-god called “the Christ”. The minute the first group – to which I belong – say anything that contradicts the latter group’s view of God, an army of naysayers are mobilized to discredit the individual and his/her message about the historical Jesus.

Simcha has taken a big step of even saying he couldhave been a real existing person which many cannot do.

The four gospels of the New Testament were written over a period of almost a century, likely between 65–110 CE/AD

Mark: Written around 66–70 CE/AD
Matthew: Written around 85–90 CE/AD
Luke: Written between 85–95 CE/AD
John: Written between 90–110 CE/AD

The gospels were written in Greek and are thought to be the work of unknown Christians. Most scholars agree that the gospels are not direct eyewitness accounts, but rather present the theologies of their communities. The gospels were written during a time when Christian communities were spread throughout the Roman Empire

The Gospel of John was written by a Jewish-Christian in the late first century A.D. for a community that had recently been expelled from their synagogue. The Gospel's language is sometimes intentionally antagonistic toward Jewish tradition and sensitivities. Although John affirms the Jewishness of Jesus, at times the evangelist has Jesus address the Jews as an outsider. According to this gospel, the Hellenistic Jews regarded Jesus as both lawbreaker and blasphemer. John even implies that the Jews as a whole were responsible for the crucifixion.

Josephus Flavius (38-100 CE) wrote for the Romans, pleasing them with his Jewish history. He was a general that was also a politician and historian, a Palestinian Jew of a priestly family and in the year 64 went to Rome on a semi-public mission. The Romans attacked Galilee in 67 and burned down Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE.

Pope Benedict XVI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Pope Benedict XVI's book Jesus of Nazareth, Part II was the first to declare that there is no scriptural basis for the claim that the Jewish people were responsible for the death of Jesus. In 1965, the Second Vatican Council also officially repudiated the idea of collective Jewish guilt for Christ's death. The charge that Jews were responsible for Christ's persecution has been a source of tension between the Catholic and Jewish faiths for centuries. It continues to this day.

According to the Christian eulogy, there was a Jewish man named Jesus who died on the cross. He was born in Bethlehem according to the story. Jesus is not in any of the Jewish writings of that era.

The first he is mentioned is in the four gospels, Mathew, Mark Luke and John. Jesus' name in Hebrew was Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ, Yēšūaʿ). Jesus' was “” which translates to English as Joshua. So how did we get the name “Jesus”? And is “Christ” a last name?

Jesus (/ˈdʒiːzəs/) is a masculine given name derived from Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς; Iesus in Classical Latin) the Ancient Greek form of the Hebrew name Yeshua (ישוע). As its roots lie in the name Isho in Aramaic and Yeshua in Hebrew, it is etymologically related to another biblical name, Joshua.

The Greek New Covenant uses the word Iesous (Ἰησοῦς) to represent Jesus. Iesous is a transliteration, which means it takes the letters of a word from one language and finds similar-sounding letters in another language to create a new word. The Latin spelling IESVS/Iesus eventually led to the English spelling "Jesus" I=J.

The word "Christ" comes from the Greek word Christos, which means "anointed one". It's derived from the Greek verb chrī́ō, which means "to anoint". Hellenization was working. This title indicates that Jesus' followers believed him to be the anointed son of King David, whom some Jews expected to restore the fortunes of Israel.

John is the most anti-Semitic, especially 8:44.

As it turns out, Bethlehem was a Hellenized town. It's very possible that Jesus was born to a Hellenized couple, who were following many Greek ideas, both religiously and politically. In fact, Jesus was a common name. This story would not have happened had it been placed in Jerusalem. Hellenization changed Bethlehem and other areas in the region through the spread of Greek culture, language, and customs:

Language: Greek replaced Hebrew and Aramaic as the primary language.

Names: Greek names became more common.
Education: Greek educational institutions were adopted.
Literature and philosophy: Jewish Hellenistic literature and philosophy developed.
Architecture: Hellenistic architecture was built, including splendid buildings that rivaled those of other major Hellenistic cities.
Trade and commerce: Hellenistic pottery, trade, and commerce flourished.
Urbanization: Urbanization increased, and new areas were put under cultivation.

Hellenization was the result of Alexander the Great's conquests in the fourth century BCE, which spread Greek culture and language throughout the lands he conquered. Hellenism became so popular that it persisted even into New Testament times.

The Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, had Pope John XXIII, who modernized the Catholic Church and, as part of that process, renounced Catholic antisemitism — including the allegation that the Jews are eternally responsible for Jesus’ death. Pope John wanted a pastoral Council and one of renovation, so that the Catholic teachings could be better understood and accepted in 20th-century society. As he said at the opening speech of the Council, while preserving the integrity of its doctrine, the Church wanted to offer the modern world the "medicine of mercy", and not severe condemnations.

Pope Francis has championed Vatican II, earning him the adoration of liberals and the ire of traditionalists. This has made the Israel-Hamas war especially complicated for Francis to accept and explain. His recent letter heard by all Catholics is very harsh against Israel. He doesn't understand, in my opinion, just what Israel has to do to remain a state when attacked by 7 fronts at one time, nor do most people.

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_and_Judaism_in_the_Land_of_Israel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesus

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-10/vatican-ii-council-60th-anniversary-video-history-background.html#:~:text=Pope%20John%20XXIII%20officially%20opened,a%20solemn%20ceremony%20inside%20St.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_XXIII

https://www.npr.org/2011/03/04/134264425/Pope-Jews-Are-Not-Responsible-For-Killing-Jesus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_(name)#:~:text=Jesus%20(/%CB%88d%CA%92i%CB%90z,to%20another%20biblical%20name%2C%20Joshua.

John Simpson : Gerald F. Hawthorne and Ralph P. Martin, “Trial of Jesus,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels,

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hellenism-2#:~:text=The%20Hellenization%20of%20the%20Jews,philosophy%2C%20and%20religious%20deviation%20and