Chapter 2 A Most Unexpected Legend - A Closer Look

It might sound reasonable that the Jewish culture in the first century was Hellenized enough to create a legend abuot Jesus. But when you look more closely at the evidence given for this view, it isn't as convincing as it seems. Here are four points of evidence with other information to consider.

1. The Dead Sea Scrolls included magical and astrological texts. - Finding these texts in the library of the Essene community does not mean that they endorsed them. It is also important to remember that the Qumron community held to ideas rejected by the Jews and did not represent all of Jewish culture.
2. Some excavated synagogues have zodiac symbols. - None of these synagogues are dated earlier than the third century AD, so they do not reflect the beliefs of Jews in the first century.
3. Some Jewish literature prior to the time of Jesus gave humans divine attributes. - The literature prior to the time Christ did exalt beings other than Yahwah but never to the point of contradicting the view that Yahwah was the creator and the only one to be worshiped.

The idea that the Jews were Hellenized to the point that they could have created a legend about a man who was God and should be worshiped like Yahwah does not hold up under closer scrutiny. Actually, scholars have found that the influence of Roman rule was mostly superficial and the presence of pagan culture actually caused the Jews to become more conservative in their monotheistic convictions.

Next time we will look more closely at the Palestinian Jews, where the story of Christ originated to see if the environment in that vicinity supports the idea that Jesus was a legend that they created.