Where did Jesus get the inspiration for his teachings of selflessness, turning the other cheek and exalting the poor over the rich? At the end of “How Jesus Became God” Bart mentions a couple of verses from the Old Testament that could have inspired Jesus, but my sense is that these notions were not common in Jewish or Pagan cultures. Would this be correct? Of all the apocalyptic Jewish preachers of his time were his moral teachings unique? Is the horrible condition of Jewish life at the time thought to be sufficient inspiration? They did indeed change the world in many ways, so I am curious. Thank you.
Thanks Robert. Your reply makes me wonder in a slightly different direction if perhaps the teachings of Jesus and his contemporaries existed along a spectrum between the theological/moral and the political. The evidence does seem sufficient to claim that, historically, Jesus’ was likely addressing extant political realities more directly than the New Testament writings indicate. But, even so, his teachings could have still been on the more theological/moral end of this spectrum.
There may not be sufficient historical evidence to support this idea and it may not be particularly relevant. But perhaps – along with the
obvious distinctivenesss of the resurrection belief – the comparatively more universal nature of Jesus’ moral teachings (or that they at least lended themselves to such an interpretation) was also necessary for their broader appeal and staying power.
I’m not sure if it is exactly what you are asking about, but the Rabbi Hillel the Elder (active about the time of Jesus’ birth) taught something very much like the Golden Rule as the summation of the Law– “That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation.” (** you do not have permission to see this link **).
Now, that doesn’t get you to “turn the other cheek,” but it does pretty much give you Mt. 7:12, so to the extent that someone views the Golden Rule as the
epitome of Jesus’ moral teaching, something very like the epitome of Jesus’ moral teaching was already being taught when he was, at most, a child.
I am inclined to think there is a general tendency to overstate the novelty of Jesus’ moral teaching.
There’s hardly an ethical system committed to writing the world over that does not contain some variation on the Golden Rule. It’s easy to see why. The precept requires no distinctive metaphysical base. It’s simply a common sense reply to a common sense question. How do groups of people live together with a minimum amount of disruption?
Jesus had good writers. If his pacifism and quietism are at all unique then it’s beyond ironic that it this aspect of his teaching that is usually junked first. If you want to start a fight go tell an American Evangelical that he can’t be a real Christian and serve in the military! Ha! Having lived among them for vast swaths of my life I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that of Americans they are ones most likely to have supported the invasion of Iraq and the use of torture in the War on Terror.
…according to some Jewish halachic interpreters, Hillel’s formulation is more authoritative because it is a negative command prohibiting behavior rather than merely encouraging positive behavior.
The Garden of Love
-Wlliam Blake
I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen;
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And ‘Thou shalt not’ writ over the door;
So I turned to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore.
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
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