Why did Jesus die? Flashcards
What were the main details regarding crucifixion?
- Method used by Romans (to execute criminals, rebels, escaped slaves)
- Jews believed the Messiah would give them freedom and God’s kingdom -> created political threat
What is “Jesus’s passion” known as?
His arrest, trials, torture, death (where he seems to passively accept these events)
Provide reasons why people may have perceived Jesus as a gentle, religious Jew.
- Preached love, forgiveness, and non-violence
- Avoided commenting in politics
- Requested that messianic claims be kept quiet=
Provide reasons why people may have perceived Jesus as a zealous religious and politcally radical Jew.
- Preached the ‘kingdom’ that most Jews longed for
- Preached freedom for the oppressed
- Challenged established authorities
- Realised he would die
- Killed for his political agenda
Who were the key players in the crucifixion and resurrection narratives?
- Caiaphas, The High Priest (a Sadducee appointed by the Romans)
- Pontius Pilate, Roman Governor of Judea
- Sadduccees, wealthy/conservative Jews (responsible for maintaining Temple worship)
- Pharisees
What is the importance of the ‘Criterion of the Embarrassment’ regarding crucifixion narratives.
- Gospel writers surely have preferred not to present their faith to one that involved worshipping a criminal and failed to rebel
- To compensate for embarrassing death, writers insist on Jesus’ innocence, even having Pilate agree (who was aggressive)
Provide scholarly points on the crucifixion narratives.
- Reimarus: Jesus was a genuine political rebel (Pilate right to execute him)
- Schweitzer: Jesus was innocent but hoped to be executed
- Brown: conflict exaggerated to describe community’s dispute with Judaism
- Culpepper: conflict is entirely symbolic (neither historical nor representative of author’s sitz im leben)
Provide reasons for why Jesus may have died as a result of religious conflict.
- Jesus may have been blasphemous
- Examples: claiming he can rebuild the temple in 3 days, calls God his father, attacks on the Temple, attacks on the Torah, Breaking the Sabbath Laws, claiming life after death
Provide reasons for why Jesus may have died by being a threat to power.
- Jesus’ growing popularity and attracting crowds simply threatened the status and pride of those in authority
- Blasphemy = challenge to religious leaders
Provide reasons for why Jesus may have died due to it being politically expedient to kill him.
- Roman governors had to cruelly put down rebellions in Judea [Sadduccees and Pharisees wanted to prevent this happening again]
- Made sense to deal with anyone that stirred up crowds [link to Rivkin]
Overall, what were Rivkin’s claims regarding the crucifixion?
- Title of Jesus’ cross (King of the Jews) presents situation was political, not religious
- “It was not the Jewish people who crucified Jesus, and it was not the Roman people - it was the imperial system”
- Co-operation with religious authorities and Romans was out of fear of the punishments they would face
What criticisms can you use against Rivkins?
- He only uses pieces from the Fourth Gospel but mainly from Josephus (dismissive of religious views)
- Gospels passed down traditionally - why would this carry on being passed down and not corrected?
