102 Chapter 6commentaries that is the basis of Jewish learning and of
modern Judaism. Only a handful of Jews remained in Ju-
daea. A band of perhaps nine hundred Zealots held out
in the great desert fortress of Masada until A.D. 73 when
they committed mass suicide instead of surrendering to
the Romans. Sixty years later, another small group of
Jews launched a futile rebellion under Bar Kochva, but
nearly two thousand years would pass before the estab-
lishment of another Jewish state.Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus lived in the midst of this chronic turbulence. He
was probably born at Bethlehem in Judaea, between
7 and 4 B.C. Both the year and date of his birth are now
regarded as the products of later calculation and tradi-
tion. A precise chronology is impossible because the
Gospels provide no dates. The four Gospels are the
most important sources dealing with his life and min-
istry. Though written by different authors more than a
generation after his death (Mark, the earliest, was writ-
ten about A.D. 70; John, the latest, shortly before 100),
their accounts, though different in important ways, are
in broad general agreement.
They describe the circumstances of Jesus’s birth and
of an appearance at the Temple when he was about
twelve but remain silent about his activities until the
age of thirty, the point at which he began to attract a
following as an itinerant rabbi. Accompanied by twelve
close associates or disciples, he preached throughout
the Judaean countryside to ever-increasing crowds. His
message was directed primarily against the Pharisees.
Jesus felt that their rigid observance of the Law was an
obstacle to faith and that it could largely be superseded
by the simple commandment to “love thy neighbor as
thyself.” At the same time, his preaching left no doubt
that he regarded himself as the Messiah (the Greek
word for which is christos,or Christ). By this he did not
mean the traditional Messiah who would lead the Jews
to earthly glory, but the Son of God who brought them
eternal salvation. His kingdom, he said, was “not of
this world,” and those who believed in him “would not
perish but have eternal life.”
This message enraged the Pharisees but attracted
many, especially among the poor. When he entered
Jerusalem at Passover accompanied by symbols attrib-
uted to the Messiah by prophetic tradition, Jesus pro-
voked a crisis. The Sanhedrin demanded his arrest. The
Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, agreed, fearing that
his presence would provoke further disorders when vir-
tually the entire country had come to town for the fes-
tival. Jesus was tried by the Sanhedrin for blasphemy
and by Pilate for treason, though both trials as de-
scribed by the Gospels were of dubious legality. Every-
one responsible seems to have been motivated by
political expediency, and Jesus was crucified with un-
common haste to avoid the possibility of demonstra-
tions. After his execution, his followers reported that he
had returned from the dead and ascended into Heaven
after promising to return on the Day of Judgment.The Spread of Christianity
The story of Jesus’s death and resurrection solidified his
followers into a new Jewish sect, but someone who had
never heard him preach spread his teachings throughout
the Roman world. Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee who had
originally persecuted the followers of Jesus. After a dra-
matic conversion to the faith of his opponents, he began
to use his Roman name, Paul, and devoted the rest of his
life to the task of converting Jews and non-Jews alike.
Though a Pharisee, Paul’s early education had been cos-
mopolitan and strongly influenced by Hellenism. To
him, the teachings of Jesus were universal. With some
difficulty, he persuaded the more conservative disciples
to accept converts without forcing them to observe the
Jewish dietary laws or be circumcised. Had he not done
so, Christianity probably would never have become a
universal church. By emphasizing faith over the minute
observance of the law, Paul influenced the theology of
the growing church as well.
In his letters, Paul portrayed himself as small of
stature and physically weak, but his efforts on behalf of
the faith were heroic. While Jesus was still alive, his
teachings had begun to spread through the Jewish com-
munities of the Roman Empire. Opposition from the
Jewish leadership could not prevent the formation of
small, usually secret, congregations that became the or-
ganizational basis of Paul’s efforts. Traveling incessantly,
he moved from one to the other, prevailing upon them
to accept non-Jews as converts, preaching to the gen-
tiles, and helping individual churches with matters of be-
lief and practice. By so doing, he not only gained
converts but also provided stability and a vital link be-
tween isolated communities that might otherwise have
lost contact with one another and drifted into confusion.
When he could not visit the churches in person,
Paul communicated with them by letters that he seems
to have composed in answer to specific questions.
These Epistles, written in Greek, form an important
part of the New Testament. In some, he deals with the-
ological questions; in others, with morality, ethics, and
church organization. For issues not addressed by Jesus,
Paul’s Epistles—logical, fervent, and rooted solidly in