The Jesus Puzzle

Facts and Fiction - 280 Theses

Johannes Neumann

• Publisher: Books on Demand
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9783746087467
• eBook ISBN:
  9783746087405
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Jesus of Nazareth is a fascinating figure. His miracles and his sermon from the Kingdom of God are legendary. His death on the cross in Jerusalem touches people all over the world. But what are facts? What is fiction? Refreshingly critical the historian and theologian Neumann, author of severeal books of Jesus, deals with the texts of the bible and shows how facts and fiction can be separated. Behind the beautiful legends appears the historical Jesus, whose true story fascinated people at that time and astonishes them today. Read the Blog https://bibleblog-en.com

V. Christianity

Literature: Hammer, Heinrich: Traktat vom Samaritanermessias. Studien zur Frage der Existenz und Abstammung Jesu, Bonn 1913 - Neumann, Johannes: Der Galiläische Messias, Hamburg 1986. - ibid.: Der Stern von Bethlehem aus der Sicht der Astronomie, der Geschichtswissenschaft und der antiken Astrologie, Radebeul 2005. - ibid.: War Jesus Statthalter von Galiläa?, Radebeul 2009, pp.1-40. - ibid.: War Markus ein Dichter?, in: ibid.: War Jesus Statthalter von Galiläa?, Radebeul 2009, pp.43-92. - Schille, Gottfried: Anfänge der Kirche. Erwägungen zur apostolischen Frühgeschichte, Munich 1966. - ibid.: Osterglaube, Berlin 1972

V 1 Antipas

Thesis 134 (5.1.1.)

Antipas does not feature in the dominant master narrative about the origins of Christianity.

Thesis 135 (5.1.2.)

In the new theses on the origin of Christianity, Antipas plays a decisive role as follows: The Christian anticipation of the Messiah began with the Jewish prince Antipas who Jesus saw as the Messiah on earth for the Jews of his time.

Thesis 136 (5.1.3.)

Antipas was the natural candidate for the title Messiah. Messiah is a Jewish title for king, and after his brother Archelaus was banished in 6 AD, Antipas was the highest-ranking member of Herod's family, the ruling dynasty, so he had a claim to the highest title, that of king or Messiah.

Thesis 137 (5.1.4.)

Antipas was an educated monarch: he had studied in Rome; he had diplomatic skills; he brought prosperity and civil rights to Galilee and Perea, the areas that he ruled. His subjects' lives were much better than those of their parents - an important benchmark - and they lived in a community ruled by a Jewish king; the Roman Empire did not weigh on the citizens.

Thesis 138 (5.1.5.)

Antipas appears in Christian tradition in the accounts of the star and the massacre of the infants in Bethlehem, though his name is not mentioned.

It was Antipas whose future kingship was indicated by the appearance of the star, according to the astrologers, and Antipas who escaped the massacre of the infants in Bethlehem. When Jupiter and Saturn drew close to each other (a great conjunction) three times in 7 BC, contemporary astrologers interpreted it as a sign announcing a new Jewish king.

The old king, Herod, was afraid that his sons could use the prophecy to overthrow him, so he executed his two sons by Mariamne, Alexander and Aristobulus, in the same year. Antipas only escaped death - as did his brothers Archelaus and Philip - because he was in Rome to be educated.

Thesis 139 (5.1.6.)

The accounts of the star and the massacre of the infants in Bethlehem were only later related to Jesus. Herod had nothing to fear from Jesus, because Jesus did not feature in the Herodian family succession. Only when Jesus was himself later revered as Messiah could the old story be reinterpreted to apply to him. In 7 BC, Jesus was also being educated in Rome and was thus out of Herod's reach.

V 2 Jesus - the biography

Thesis 140 (5.2.1.)

The dominant master narrative about Jesus' biography states that Jesus was born in 7 BC in Nazareth in Galilee as the eldest son of Joseph, a building labourer and Mary, a housewife. After an encounter with John the Baptist he became an itinerant religious preacher, gathered disciples and gained the reputation for carrying out miraculous healings.

In 30 AD Jesus went with his disciples to Jerusalem to preach there. Due to a misunderstanding, he was accused by Pilate of insurrection against the Romans and crucified. His disciples saw him in visions after his death and reported that he had risen from the dead.

Thesis 141 (5.2.2.)

My opinion is presented in the following theses: Jesus was born in 24 BC. According to John 2:20 and 8:57 Jesus was about 50 years old when the temple had been under construction for 46 years, i.e. 27 AD, so he must have been born in approx. 23 BC.

According to Luke's chronology, which is usually followed nowadays, John the Baptist became known in the 15th year of Emperor Tiberius' reign, i.e. in 29 AD, and Jesus soon after that, at which time Jesus was about 30 years old.

According to that information, Jesus would have been born in 1 AD, which is impossible, because he was born at the time of Herod the Great, i.e. in 4 BC at the latest.

Luke and current research link the dates of Jesus' public appearance with that of John. This synchronicity is a later legend, however; Jesus emerged in public life much earlier than John.

Thesis 142 (5.2.3.)

Luke has information suggesting that the beginning of Jesus' story coincides with Quirinius' census that was carried out in Judea after Archelaus was deposed and banished: Luke 2:2f. However, this date - 6 AD - does not relate to Jesus' birth, but to the start of his public ministry.

If we follow this interpretation, the date agrees with John's chronology: Jesus began his public work in 6 AD at the age of 30. In this way the chronological information found in John's and Luke's Gospels can be harmonised. Because if Jesus was born in 24 BC, he was 30 years old in 6 AD and about 50 years old in 27 AD (John 2:20 and 8:57).

Thesis 143 (5.2.4.)

Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea: Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:4; Michah 5:1. The prophecy in Micah 5:1 was only formulated in Jesus' time. Bethlehem was the only place close to Herod's court, the castle of Herodion.

Thesis 144 (5.2.5.)

The identification of Nazara with the town Nazareth and of Nazoraios and Nazarenos as meaning from Nazareth is a later legend. The terms Nazara, Nazoraios, Nazarenos are all derived from the Hebrew NaZUR, meaning preserved. I assume that this refers to the governor's immunity that is also mentioned in the story of the temptation in Matt. 4:1ff and Luke 4:1ff (on the pinnacle of the temple).

The reason behind this is as follows: when someone was stoned, the condemned person was pushed down a slope and then stones were thrown at him. In Luke 4:29 Jesus is taken to a mountainside to be stoned, but the punishment is not carried out. In the story of the temptations, this refers to the accusation of blasphemy that was punished by stoning. Satan (= Antipas) is able to save Jesus by granting him immunity.

Thesis 145 (5.2.6.)

Jesus was the son of an upper-class Jewish family: 1 Sam. 16; 1 Kings 19:19ff.; Luke 2:1ff. If Jesus had advanced from the lower class, there should be stories about his social rise like those by Aesop, the Greek writer of the fables: see Wolfgang Müller (ed.): Das Leben Aesops, Leipzig 1974.

Thesis 146 (5.2.7.)

Jesus was brought up at King Herod's court: 1 Sam. 16:14ff. The account of how David comes to King Saul's court is a story about Jesus.

Thesis 147 (5.2.8.)

From his youth onwards, Jesus was friends with Herod's son Antipas: 1 Sam. 18:1-4. The stories about David and Jonathan relate to Jesus and Antipas.

Thesis 148 (5.2.9.)

Jesus received the classical education of the Roman upper class in Rome from 8 to 4 BC, along with Herod's sons Archelaus, Antipas and Philip: Ant. 17.1.3; Luke 2:41ff.; cf. Acts 13:1. The Herodian princes were sent to Rome to continue their education around 8 BC. I assume that Jesus was also sent to Rome to study with them.

Herod and his sons needed capable administrators and diplomats who were loyal to the king and his family. A good education would have been the prerequisite for Jesus' later career. The story of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple shows that traditions suggesting that Jesus was well-educated already existed.

Thesis 149 (5.2.10.)

The statement in Matt. 13:55 that Jesus was son of a "tekton" should be translated as Jesus is also one of the tektons, as in the parallel verse Mark 6:3. In Semite culture the word "son" was used to indicated belonging. The Greek word tekton can mean a building worker; it can also mean an architect, a master builder or house builder.

Jesus is described as a tekton, an architect and master builder, because he was commissioned by Prince Antipas to build the city of Tiberias, Galilee's new capital city.

The idea that the craftsman's son Jesus could have acquired all his wisdom through divine inspiration rather than by hard study contradicts the principle of Occam's Razor, whereby the simplest solution is the correct one.

Thesis 150 (5.2.11.)

Jesus became Antipas' governor (prime minister) for Galilee and Perea in 6 AD; Matt. 4:1-11; 1 Kings 13. The narratives of Jesus' temptations describe Jesus' participation in worldly power at Antipas' side. After Jesus quarrelled with Antipas the latter was seen as the devil, and after Christianity turned into a pure religion without political ambitions, Jesus' participation in secular power was no longer politically correct. The Christians now stated that Jesus rejected a position of power, making him the model for Christian behaviour in this context as well.

There is an Old Testament parallel to the story of the temptations in 1 Kings 13, where the Man of God (= Jesus) also rejects a share in the power offered by Jeroboam I (= Antipas). In the stories about the prophet Elisha (= Jesus) however, his cooperation with King Ahab (= Antipas) is described quite openly.

Thesis 151 (5.2.12.)

The stories about Jesus' appearances after the Resurrection in Matt. 28 show Jesus in the typical situation of a governor at the morning audience. Jesus and the angels appear - like the governor - dressed in white linen; the people approach them with their concerns and wishes. Jesus shows both nearness and distance.

Raimund Schulz writes the following on the significance of the governor's morning audience (Herrschaft und Regierung, p. 108f):

"To be surrounded every morning by a large crowd seeking advice and help - this too was a sign of (the governor's) prestige and power. It gave the aristocratic ruler legitimacy … "

Thesis 152 (5.2.13.)

In the early 30s Jesus' situation as governor at Prince Antipas' court became more difficult. Then it came to an open conflict. On 18 October 31 AD in Rome, the equestrian Sejanus, Emperor Tiberius' delegate, was deposed and immediately executed on the emperor's orders.

This happened because Sejanus had sought a familiar link to the imperial family and was suspected of aiming to succeed the emperor. This made Jesus' position less safe, as his position in Galilee was similar to that of Sejanus in Rome.

Thesis 153 (5.2.14.)

Antipas rejected his wife in 31 AD and married his niece H...

Table of contents

• Notes
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• I. Introduction
• II. Previous history
• III. The Starting Point
• IV. Judaism
• V. Christianity
• Literature
• Copyright