The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus

by Carsten Peter Thiede

Publisher:

SPCK

, 2004

Overview

The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus presents a breath-taking vision of Jewish society during the Graeco-Roman period. Carsten Peter Thiede shatters the popular conception of Christ’s Palestine as an isolated backwater, depicting it instead as a highly cultured part of the Roman Empire.

Thiede reconstructs the world of Jesus using an interdisciplinary approach, employing evidence from archaeologists, papyrologists, philologists and classic historians. He reveals the concrete reality of the multicultural, multireligious environment that surrounded Jesus and offers a portrayal of the daily life of the real people who populated the world in which the message of Jesus was spread. As he explores this world’s geographical frontiers and borders, Thiede provides insight into the life of its businesses, homes and leisure.

The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus leaves behind, as Thiede terms it, the “bloodless creations” of so much New Testament research. It enters instead the theatres, literature, postal services, library systems and commerce of the vibrant and sophisticated world of Christ.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Varus crucified some two thousand of the revolutionaries.” (Page 9)

“Jesus was in a league of his own. He ‘rivalled’ no one, not even the extremely popular Graeco-Roman healing god Asclepius/Aesculapius. And if it is a question of credibility, Jesus wins hands down. Who had ever seen Aesculapius? No one. Who had seen Jesus? Thousands. Who had ever witnessed in person a miracle performed by Aesculapius? No one. Who had seen Jesus performing miracles? Thousands. Did Jesus perform ordinary miracles? No, he did many things that no one—no pagan, no Jew, no emperor, no rabbi—had ever done before. Above all, he accepted, touched and healed the outcasts, the lepers, the untouchables. Not even the later god-emperor Vespasian came anywhere near this breaking of the socio-religious mould.” (Page 41)

“By insisting on Pilate, the emperor and his bishops achieved a signal effect: they made sure that people understood the reality of politics and responsibilities. World history, Roman history was always also regional and local history. The representative of the emperor was in charge, and no one else. This is what the creed tells us. And thus it was another Roman emperor, Constantine, who insisted on a twofold message: the Christ of Faith, the one proclaimed in the creed, must not be separated from the Jesus of History. And if you want to apportion blame for the death of Jesus the Christ, do not accuse the Jews. It is not the high priest Caiaphas or the Sanhedrin who are mentioned in the creed, but the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate.” (Pages 1–2)

Praise for the Print Edition

[I]t would be great if this… found its way into libraries and book­shelves around the world. Many might sense again how the message of Jesus was rooted in real history and is able to touch even our everyday lives with its transforming power and with hope.

—Peter Walker, The Church of England Newspaper

You will find yourself turning to [The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus] again and again to broaden your understanding of the New Testament, strengthen your confidence in the authenticity and accuracy of the text, and increase your appreciation for the power of the Gospel.

—Gretchen Passantino, Answers in Action

Product Details

• Title: The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus: New Light from Archeology
• Author: Carsten Peter Thiede
• Publisher: SPCK Publishing
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 160

About Carsten Peter Thiede

Carsten Peter Thiede (8 August 1952 – 14 December 2004) was a German archaeologist and New Testament scholar. He was also a member of PEN and a Knight of Justice in the Order of St John. Thiede often advanced theories that conflicted with the consensus of academic and theological scholarship. He taught as Professor of New Testament Times and History at the Staatsunabhängige Theologische Hochschule (STH) in Basel and at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, Israel.