The book Israel Divided by the idiosyncratic antiquarian Jonah Lendering is a complex, yet commendable history of the shared origins of two world religions. In any case, it becomes clear that churches believe in Preaching Jesus, and certainly not the faith of Jesus.
Although the church likes to make us believe otherwise, the defining moment in the history of Christianity is not the birth of Jesus. Nor his crucifixion or resurrection. The decisive historical moment was the year 70 A.D., when Roman armies destroyed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem after a long and bloody war.
At that point, ancient Temple Judaism came to an end. Rabbinic Judaism, as we know it today, arose. The destruction of the temple was also the reason for the mostly Jewish followers of Jesus of Nazareth to organize themselves as a separate religion. After that fateful year 70 A.D. ch. early Christianity and the new Rabbinic Judaism soon grew apart.
But the religions have a shared past. And it is precisely this shared past that antiquity Jona Lendering focuses on in his book Israel Divided. He discusses the period from roughly 180 BC. up to 70 A.D. BC, when there was a very different Judaism than now. The sacrifice of animals in the temple was still central to this. There was as yet no established collection of religious texts, and no religious authority. As a result, all kinds of movements and sects were discussing "halachic questions":how to live according to the laws of God? Lendering discusses an important but nebulous period, which is much more than a harbinger of Jesus and Christianity.
'Quak historians' vs good historians
Jona Lendering is eager to explain the method used by antiquarians. According to him, this distinguishes real ancient historians from 'quack historians', and refutes the mountains of nonsense about antiquity that can mainly be found on the internet. The subject matter is complex and because Lendering refuses to make things more sensational than they really are, his book is not always accessible. Lendering is open about that. “If you're looking for a page turner, this isn't your book,” he warns in advance.
It does indeed take some effort to Israel Divided to read. The first chapters, which mainly deal with political developments, are – to be honest – very dry. But it is important:since the Maccabees wrested the kingdom of Judea from the Seleucid Empire, the country and religion gradually became divided. The office of high priest became corrupted. When the Romans conquered the country in 67 BC. annexed, any political unity was hard to find. Many Jews had the hope of a messiah who would bring unity, others believed in the end times:God would soon destroy the world.
The book becomes more interesting when Lendering exposes the religious diversity in that period and we are allowed to read about obscure sects such as Pharisees, Essenes, Sadducenes and a nationalistic-like 'fourth philosophy'. They are described by the Roman historian Flavius Josephus (one of Lendering's favorite sources) who compares them to Greek philosophical movements. A misleading comparison according to Lendering, but what exactly these sects entailed remains obscure.
Archaeologists just don't know exactly. The fragmentary sources, such as the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, provide a small glimpse here and there, but much remains unclear and speculative. It can hardly be called a criticism; Israel Divided is not a book that tells 'how it is', but rather a book that describes how antiquarians try to reconstruct a lost world on the basis of small pieces of evidence.
'The Way'
Then the key question:how should we place Jesus of Nazareth in this in every way divided Jewish world? He was a believer and herald of the end times, that much is certain. Furthermore, Jesus was “semi-educated and from a small provincial town, representing a different type of authority from the scribes. He was closer to the chakram, with men like Honi de Cirkeltrekker, his sons and Hanina ben Dosa:people who had such a personal relationship with God that they could be regarded as his sons.'
Going back to many figures quoted earlier is characteristic of Lendering's rather academic style (and Honi the Circle Tractor is a name that you should look up again in the appendix) Jesus proclaimed the end times, the demise of the current order and the arrival of a new kingdom, that of God, in which there was also room for non-Jews. A view that went straight against any established authority. But at the same time he was also a Jew, who was concerned with 'halakha':how to live according to Jewish law. Lendering tries to explain it all as best as possible, how difficult it can all be to understand with our modern, western view.
Jewish tax
In any case, according to Lendering, it is clear that the churches believe in Jesus went to preach, and certainly not the faith of Jesus. In the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. many of Jesus' Jewish followers saw a fulfillment of his prophecy, namely, the end of the world. To the followers of Jesus, the power claims of the new Rabbinic Judaism were unacceptable. Synagogues began to exclude the Jesus movement. After the destruction of the temple, the Romans introduced an extra Jewish tax (Fiscus Iudaicus) that all Jews had to pay, but from which followers of 'The Way' (the Jesus movement) were exempted. Paul proclaimed that faith in Jesus and the salvation it would bring was also open to non-Jews.
Somewhere in the third or fourth century the break was complete, but the attention Lendering pays to the events after 70 is unfortunately somewhat sketchy. Although Israel Divided is very detailed, you as a reader are left with a lot of question marks. Lendering tells how rich and diverse pre-Christian Judaism is, but at the same time points out that archaeology is often anything but sensational. But for those somewhat interested in the subject, the book is a page turner, despite Lender's warning. because it finally provides insight into what we do know and, above all, what we don't know.