On 12/28/2017 4:18 AM, juan wrote:
Really? How did you learn that?
"James A. Donald" <jamesd@echeque.com> wrote:
By reading the histories of Josephus, who came mighty close to being forced to suicide by Jewish religious fanatics.
On 12/29/2017 2:59 AM, juan wrote:
lolwut - that was allegedly because of his fight with the romans
We have multiple independent sources suggestive of a holiness spiral in Judaism at the time, consistent with the account given by Josephus and in the gospels. When the area was ruled by Greeks, the Jewish hereditary priesthood led a revolt against Greek secularism and established a dynasty of priest kings. The rabbis (pharisees) challenged the power of the hereditary priesthood, on the basis of being holier than thou, and part of being holier than thou was being more willing to get into suicidal war with powerful enemies, just as today's progressives are flirting with nuclear armageddon. The hereditary priesthood had led the Jews into a war with powerful enemies (Greeks) and won, so the Rabbis wanted to lead the Jews into an even bigger war with even more powerful enemies (Romans plus Greeks under Roman leadership) and win. Now that the formerly communist regimes have turned right wing, progs are today the war party. Similarly, rabbis were the war party back in the days of Jesus and Josephus, hence the prophecies of Jesus about the fall of Jerusalem and the temple. Thus we know from other sources that events must have been much as depicted by Jesus and Josephus. You suggest that Josephus made up the story of being forced to suicide to justify his betrayal of his comrades, but we have independent evidence that his comrades murdered everyone, Khmer Rouge style, as over the top fanaticism spiraled into even further over the top fanaticism. If they did not attempt to force Josephus to suicide, they forced everyone like him to suicide.