Fernando Bermejo-Rubio has just uploaded Jesus and the Anti-Roman Resistance. A Reassessment of the Arguments to the academia.edu website. It’s a long article  –  over 100 pages. 

I did read this article some weeks ago. I requested a copy via the request button on the website and received the copy via email. However, the article is now available for download.

Kazibwe Edris said
mary , thank you for the link. 

Your welcome…….

I like this quote from Bermejo-Rubio  –  strong words indeed…..

”A simple thought experiment suffices to grasp the extent of the mystification prevailing in Jesus studies. What would happen if the referent of the available seditious material were any other first-century Jew? The answer is obvious.
If only half of the evidence which we have got about Jesus were evidence concerning any other Jew of his age, the scholarly world would have long ago unanimously reached the conclusion that he was an insurrectionist, and would have excluded as the most improbable thing—not to say as ridiculous and crazy—any idea of him being a sort of pacifist. The unfortunate fact, however, is that the religious significance of Jesus for millions of our contemporaries (including most of those who boast about doing historical research on him) makes him a very different kettle of fish. History is still, for most in the guild, the handmaiden of theology, to such an extent that hosts of scholars have not removed—and presumably will never remove—the theological wax from their ears. This suffices to explain why the hypothesis that would have otherwise been deemed the most plausible one is deemed to be the most improbable and outlandish.”

The Prince of Peace was actually a Man of War, actually a seditionist  –  history getting trumped by theology…..oh, well….

While I agree with the seditionist material in the gospel story I confine it to the crucifixion story. My view is that the crucifixion story does not reflect history of the years 30/33 c.e. Rather it’s a remembrance of the Roman execution, 70 years earlier, of the King of the Jews in 37 b.c.e.

There are two basic stories in the gospels. The crucifixion story and the ministry story. These two stories are not the story of one man but of two historical men. The lives of two historical men have been fused together, combined together, to create the gospel Jesus figure. One historical figure was executed by Rome. The other historical figure lived out a long life. It is the historical figure that lived during the time of Pilate that the gospel ministry story relates to.  The gospel contradictions between sedition and peace reflect two historical figures  –  not one man with a split personality….