Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict

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Whether you are an academic of the field, a lay Christian, or clergy, you should be reading this volume and seriously considering it. When John’s shorthand term for the Jewish authorities in the Passion narrative as “the Jews” is described as a “chilling ‘fascist-like’ tendency”, the reader may be forgiven for assuming that the authors slip too readily into a Marxist perspective. Myles have painstakingly examined many of the mainstream interpretations of the life, teachings, and execution of Jesus. The latter is written from a Marxist viewpoint, presenting Jesus not as “a Great Man of history”, but as a religious organiser, formed by and emerging from the peasantry of Galilee and Judaea, the vanguard of a new political party with its own politburo, a dictatorship to serve the interests of the non-elite peasantry, but also with a mission to the rich. What impresses the most, though, is in how by demystifying an epic class struggle of the past lessons of strategic relevance to struggles for liberation in the present can be drawn.

I can think of no better introduction to the historical Jesus for the general reader, no clearer statement on the legacy of the Jesus movement in the sweep of subsequent history, or a more worthy challenge to contemporary scholarship on Jesus and the rise of Christianity. That said, the authors do reinforce more traditional interpretations in other regards, including the self-awareness of Jesus that the trajectory of his life would lead to a challenge to the religious and military authorities in Jerusalem. To mention just two detailed points: the presentation of the movement as “tough, muscular, hard, and manly” hardly fits Peter’s reaction to Caiaphas’s servant-girl.But is Mark’s story his way of showing that Antipas is a foolish victim of a pretty girl’s charm (Esther 5. Of the three last words of Jesus on the cross offered by Mark/Matthew, Luke and John which is historical or does that not matter?

Written for a broad audience, it understands the Jesus movement and rise of Christianity without resorting to the usual Great Man view of history and instead pursues a history from below. From the outset, this book seeks to place the “Jesus Movement” within its wider economic and social context. Without such testing, it remains unclear that the Jesus movement was a product of class-conflict and agrarian unrest. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Nor does the “preferential option for death” accord well with the persistent and emphasised failure of the disciples to accept the message of suffering.We are part of the pro-democracy media contesting the vast right-wing media propaganda ecosystem brainwashing tens of millions and putting democracy at risk. We are a conservative evangelical church with a long history of faithful Bible teaching in the coastal town of Whitehaven in beautiful West Cumbria.

The movement’s vision meant the rich would have to give up their wealth, but the poor would be afforded a life of heavenly luxury. There needs to be more study, not of history as a science, but of the genres of historical writing and their way of asserting the truth, or, rather what truth they mean to assert. Copious and informed material information by way of well-wrought and well-written biographical narrative.For many young men of the time, there were only two realistic responses: banditry or hitching themselves to a prophetic itinerant movement. We are trusting God’s plans for St John’s and excited to discover how he might be looking to use us for His Kingdom in our community. Seeing such portraits as romanticized and overly idealized, the interest here is on the social and economic forces that produced the Jesus movement. This thrilling historical materialist take on the historical Jesus situates the life of Jesus of Nazareth in the turbulent troubles of first-century Palestine. The movement’s popular appeal was due in part to a desire to represent the values of ordinary rural workers, and its vision meant that the rich would have to give up their wealth, while the poor would be afforded a life of heavenly luxury.