Ebook: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: a Jewish life and the emergence of Christianity

Paula Fredriksen, renowned historian and author of From Christ to Jesus, begins this inquiry into the historic Jesus with a fact that may be the only undisputed thing we know about him: his crucifixion. Rome reserved this means of execution particularly for political insurrectionists; and the Roman charge posted at the head of the cross indicted Jesus for claiming to be King of the Jews. To reconstruct the Jesus who provoked this punishment, Fredriksen takes us into the religious worlds, Jewish and pagan, of Mediterranean antiquity, through the labyrinth of Galilean and Judean politics, and on into the ancient narratives of Paul's letters, the gospels, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Josephus' histories. The result is a profound contribution both to our understanding of the social and religious contexts within which Jesus of Nazareth moved, and to our appreciation of the mission and message that ended in the proclamation of Jesus as Messiah.;Introduction : the history of the historical Jesus -- Gospel truth and historical innocence. The synoptic gospels ; The synoptics and John ; Anachronism and willed innocence -- God and Israel in Roman antiquity. Purity ; Practice and tradition ; Jewish diversity and consensus in the time of Jesus ; Living the law : sacred space and sacred time -- Trajectories : Paul, the gospels, and Jesus. "For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord" : the kingdom ; "He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve" : the twelve ; "To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord" : ethics and the end ; "The one spirit gives the gifts of healing" : works and power ; "This is my body, which is for you" : the Lord's supper ; God's "Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh" : Jesus the Christ -- Contexts : the Galilee, Judea, and Jesus. Economics, politics and power ; The mission of John ; The followers of Jesus -- The days in Jerusalem. The call to Israel ; The crucified Messiah -- Afterword : Jesus, Christianity, and history.