Flavius Josephus (AD 37-100)
- Primary source for first-century Jewish history
- Antiquities of the Jews
- The Jewish War
Revolutionary Movements
- Athronges (4 BC)
- Judah the Galilean (AD 6)
- The Samaritan Prophet (AD 36)
- Theudas (AD 45)
- The Egyptian Prophet (AD 58).
Four Types of Judaism
- Pharisees
- Sadducees
- Essenes
- Fourth Philosophy
- Sicarii
The First Jewish-Roman War (66-73)
- Began in 12th year of Nero’s rule
- Anti-taxation protests
- Roman governor, Gessius Florus, plundered the temple
- Rebellion took Antonia fortress, forcing King Agrippa II and his government to retreat from the city
- Nero sent Vespasian with four legions
- In 69 Vespasian went to Rome to become emperor, leaving his son, Titus, to conquer Jerusalem
- Titus breached the city in 70
- He plundered and burned the temple, leaving for Rome in 71 at the head of a Roman triumph
- The last holdouts fell at Masada in 73
Christians Fled from Jerusalem
- Jesus warned his followers to flee “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies” (Luke 21.2-24)
- Eusebius (AD 324) and Epiphanius (AD 375) both mention the desertion of Christians from Jerusalem
Exclusion of Christians from Synagogue
- Berkat haMinim = blessing the heretics
- Actually a curse upon Christians whom the Jews called “Nazarenes”
- Late first century or early second century
- In AD 160, Justin Martyr mentions the curse in the synagogues Rabbinic Judaism
- Organized at Yavneh (Jamnia) at the end of the first century
- Mishna (AD 200)
- Talmud (AD 500)
Three Total Jewish-Roman Wars
- 66-73 First Jewish-Roman War
- 115-117 Kitos War
- 132-135 Bar Kokhba Revolt
These wars made Christians less likely to befriend or interact with Jews throughout the Roman Empire in the late-first and early-second centuries. Jews had the reputation of being rebels. Jewish synagogues made it hard for Christians, even those of Jewish ethnicity, to attend since they regularly pronounced a curse on the Nazarenes. Still, Jews and Christians continued to interact and affect each other for the first several centuries of Christianity. Even so, Christianity from the second century onwards gradually adopted Greco-Roman categories of thought, leaving behind our Jewish roots.
Review
- Josephus is a primary source if you want to learn more about the Jewish War
- Early revolutionary moments happened before, during, and shortly after his resurrection up until the big revolution of the year 66.
- There are Four Types of Judaism: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, The 4th Philosophy
- The First Jewish War of 66-73 were when Christians flew to Pella and were excluded from the synagogue.
- The second and third Jewish War are important to the history and understanding with Jewish Christian relations during this period.
