First of all, sorry for losing track of this thread. Thanks for coming to look for me.
The word for today will be "syncretism." Defined as:
1 : the combination of different forms of belief or practice
2: the fusion of two or more originally different inflectional forms
We can't really know what first century Jews believed. Until 70 it seems that the majority believed that all they had to do was pay for their sacrifices at the temple and the priests would do the rest. We hear lots of b.s. about how the "Jews" did not represent the human form nor would they tolerate other gods. Yet,
![[Image: Hammath-Helios2.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.rationalrevolution.net%2Fimages%2FHammath-Helios2.jpg)
this portion of a mosaic floor from kibbutz Beth Alpha was unearthed in 1928 as the floor of an ancient synagogue. Helios was the Greek sun god yet here we see him depicted in the middle of a representation of a zodiac. How can this be if what we are told of ancient Judaism is true?
For that matter, these days we are told that muslims will not draw the image of muhammad and will gleefully chop off the heads of those who do...yet....
![[Image: ea60a61e9df71830e6733cdc8a3602cd.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i43.fastpic.ru%2Fbig%2F2012%2F0629%2Fcd%2Fea60a61e9df71830e6733cdc8a3602cd.jpg)
Mohammed receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami' al-Tawarikh (literally "Compendium of Chronicles" but often referred to as The Universal History or History of the World), by Rashid al-Din, published in Tabriz, Persia, 1307 A.D. Now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.
in spite of what they now say this did not always seem to be the case. My point here is that one cannot believe religious bullshit based on what they say now.
In the Helios example we see evidence of syncretism with Hellenistic ideas which was what Philo of Alexandria was trying to do in the early first century. So I am not in a position to say what jews may or may not have thought of any "jesus." You are right about resurrection not being restricted to gods - the Gabriel Revelation Stone is indicative of that but I am also less than convinced that these stories originated in Judaea or Galilee. They were set there by their author ( "mark" or whoever) but that is just literature.
The simple fact is that it only matters what first century jews thought if you accept the proto-orthodox version of history which has him living in first century Judaea. I don't. Once you move beyond the borders of Judaea there is no question about the prevalence of dying/resurrected vegetation gods. They were a drachma a dozen.
The word for today will be "syncretism." Defined as:
1 : the combination of different forms of belief or practice
2: the fusion of two or more originally different inflectional forms
We can't really know what first century Jews believed. Until 70 it seems that the majority believed that all they had to do was pay for their sacrifices at the temple and the priests would do the rest. We hear lots of b.s. about how the "Jews" did not represent the human form nor would they tolerate other gods. Yet,
this portion of a mosaic floor from kibbutz Beth Alpha was unearthed in 1928 as the floor of an ancient synagogue. Helios was the Greek sun god yet here we see him depicted in the middle of a representation of a zodiac. How can this be if what we are told of ancient Judaism is true?
For that matter, these days we are told that muslims will not draw the image of muhammad and will gleefully chop off the heads of those who do...yet....
Mohammed receiving his first revelation from the angel Gabriel. Miniature illustration on vellum from the book Jami' al-Tawarikh (literally "Compendium of Chronicles" but often referred to as The Universal History or History of the World), by Rashid al-Din, published in Tabriz, Persia, 1307 A.D. Now in the collection of the Edinburgh University Library, Scotland.
in spite of what they now say this did not always seem to be the case. My point here is that one cannot believe religious bullshit based on what they say now.
In the Helios example we see evidence of syncretism with Hellenistic ideas which was what Philo of Alexandria was trying to do in the early first century. So I am not in a position to say what jews may or may not have thought of any "jesus." You are right about resurrection not being restricted to gods - the Gabriel Revelation Stone is indicative of that but I am also less than convinced that these stories originated in Judaea or Galilee. They were set there by their author ( "mark" or whoever) but that is just literature.
The simple fact is that it only matters what first century jews thought if you accept the proto-orthodox version of history which has him living in first century Judaea. I don't. Once you move beyond the borders of Judaea there is no question about the prevalence of dying/resurrected vegetation gods. They were a drachma a dozen.
