On the people not more tolerated by god: the Romans

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
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Giuseppe
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On the people not more tolerated by god: the Romans

Post by Giuseppe »


For forty years I was angry with that generation;

(Psalm 95:14)

A contradiction I see in many modern commentaries, is that this Psalm is meant to be used by "Mark" (inventor) to place Jesus 40 years before the 70 CE, hence under Pilate, but not with the Romans being meant as the people not more tolerated by god, but with the Jews themselves.

In other terms, the argument I see being often made is the following: God has tolerated the Jews for 40 years after the death of Jesus (in the fiction), therefore 40 years after that death, the same God destroyed the temple by using the Romans of Titus (in the real History).

Now, this is really wrong. The more correct argument based on the Psalm 95:14 has to be the following: God has tolerated the Romans for 40 years after the death of Jesus (in the fiction) by Pilate, therefore 40 years after that death, the same God would have provoked the destruction of Rome.

This argument is even more persuasive if the original audience of "Mark" (inventor) was a Roman audience:

These Christian Romans would have identified themselves with the (Roman) people "not more tolerated" by God after 40 years, therefore deserving the coming destruction of their world by the present time (70 CE). The goal of "Mark" was to instill a partial (apocalyptic) sense of guilt in the Christian Romans themselves, for what the Roman Pilate did on Jesus (in the fiction).

The coming destruction of Rome didn't happen, therefore proving that God forgave Rome and the Christian Romans for what Pilate did (in the fiction).

But the destruction of Jerusalem proved that God didn't forgive the Jews, for what the Jews did (in the fiction).

This scenario (but not one I like particularly) assumes that the use of the Psalm 95:14 in the Roman sense described above proves that Jesus was invented for Christians of Rome by a Christian of Rome. These Christians of Rome identified already themselves with the Novus Israel, therefore as the people "not more tolerated" by God 40 years after the death of Jesus (in the fiction). They were now the people who deserved the forgiveness by god for the his sins, not more the old Israel. From this POV, Pilate is forgiven as member of the same people "not more tolerated by God" after 40 years.
Nihil enim in speciem fallacius est quam prava religio. -Liv. xxxix. 16.
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