Giuseppe wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 4:51 am
yakovzutolmai wrote: ↑Sun Sep 19, 2021 3:19 pm the sons of Judas of Gamala.
Are you sure that Judas of Gamala existed ?
A case
has been made for Judas being a pure Flavian invention.
This study shows that we can no longer assume that this Judas presented by Josephus is an historical figure who engaged in some activity in 6 CE.
My figures of interest in Josephus are, in the order:
- The Samaritan false prophet
I have given up from much time to concern about Judas of Gamala & sons.
It is a good theory that Judas in invented. However, his role would be to serve as the leader of the Sicarii. What I have noticed is that the "brothers of Jesus" overlap with the sons of Judas. However, none of these people have to be blood relations. That's a good point.
In this case, Judas Iscariot and Judas of Gamala are meant to represent the Sicarii faction as it is. We see that Josephus is identifying the New Testament brethren of the church as Sicarii. In Mark's Gospel, I believe we have Jesus as an allegorical figure for the theologically correct Christ, who is betrayed or overlooked by his own disciples (the Sicarii).
I have read Neil Godfrey's post above, and I'm not completely convinced. Maybe Josephus is trying to distance the Sicarii from conventional Jewish, or even Christian, thought. Maybe there is less distance than Josephus proposes.
However, even if they aren't family, there seems to be that the prominent Sicarii (as Josephus calls them) are later identified as the brethren of the church.
Returning to your original post, I am proposing that the "good news of the kingdom of God" was always a project of "violent ones who want to take over the kingdom", and that the collapse of Hasmonean power in the context of your theory, is what provokes the rise of this alternative political-religious movement.