A Religiously Pragmatic Approach to Historical Jesus in the Context of the 1th Century Beliefs of the Jews on Virginity and Messiah

Abstract

Historical Jesus and his mythical character are the controversial issues, which is because the topics have been considered by the contemporary concerns of the interpreters. Theo political conflicts among the early Christian churches on the nature of him, which were directed by the state making processes in the medieval Europe and the Roman Empire, affected the content of the debate and the issue of how to approach his mythical character and his miraculous life in order to truly understand his message. The latter depends on the more relevant argumentation of the scientific religion of the 20^th century, aiming to discredit the idea of the groundless contradiction between religion and natural sciences, which led them to provide strong interpretation on his mythical character that began with his birth through the scientific explanations. It can be possible to find the several examples among the Christian and Muslim theologians that make systematic considerations of such an explanation through the passages of the Holy books, Quran and the Bible. However, looking at the two approaches mainly based on the contemporary concerns of the interpreters, the historical context of Jesus in the first century cultural geography of the region seems to be ignored. We assume that, without the eschatology of the Old Testament and the religious syncretism in the eastern part of the Roman Empire, understanding the myth of virgin birth and miraculous character of the expected Jewish King, the Messiah, is problematic as well as directed by the out of contextual materials.  The Seleucid and the following Roman rule over the region led the Jewish population to have militarily mobilized identity, basing the idea of the resurrection of the kingdom of David, about which the ongoing prophecies of the prophets in the recent centuries had been very popular in the Jewish society. The idea disclosed the very fundamental requirement of fighting against the Roman rule in order to realize the word of the God for his chosen people in the earth, and was experienced by the several failed attempts that caused the very harsh reactions of the empire.  Such a mobilized identity of the Jews, scattered in the countryside and inflamed through the different sectarian groups, led the radicalization of the belief on the expected Jewish king, the Messiah, which was later combined with the beliefs on the virgin goddess and her savior baby, the son of the Heaven. Eschatological narratives of the Old Testament, described mostly with the fall of the Jerusalem, and such a religious syncretism were the main components shaping the political activities of different groups, which also provided them with the public legitimation, especially in the countryside.  Jesus, gathering mostly the essential parts of the prophecies upon himself, appeared as a political figure in the Jewish society with his character. His miraculous birth and portents that the Jewish society in the first century wondered proves his religiously legitimated mission. In this short paper, we try to approach to historical Jesus, without depending our contemporary concerns, by interpreting his mythical character in the first century cultural geography of the region. By doing so, considered the phenomenological function of the virgin birth, showing the same experiences in the different religions and societies, we focus on the social effects of parallel mythical conceptions on the Jewish religious mind, Therefore, hoping to take a chance to contextualize an actual value of a popular belief in the process of political mobilization.    

Keywords

• Historical Jesus,Messiah,Virginity,Goddess,Jewish Society

I. Yüzyıl Yahudi Toplumunun Bakirelik ve Mesih İnancı Bağlamında Tarihsel İsa üzerine Dini Pragmatik bir Yaklaşım

Abstract

Bu makale boyunca ise Hz. İsa’nın tarihsel gerçekliğini teolojinin ilgi alanı dışında inceledik; bu sayede 1. yüzyıl Yahuda’sının kültürel coğrafyasını kendi dinamikleri, özellikle tam da bu dönemde şiddetlenen Eski Ahit merkezli Yahudi eskatolojisi ile mesih kral beklentisi ve yine Roma dini kültür geleneğinin bir parçası olan bakire ana tanrıça kültünün çağdaş Yahudi toplumu üzerindeki nüfuzu ile ele aldık. Bütün bu çabanın yegâne sebebi, doğumundan ölümüne değin Hz. İsa’nın şahsında toplanan alametlerin kendi tarihselliğindeki değerini ortaya koymak; ama daha da fazlasıyla dini metinlerde geçen mitsel karakterini modernist yorumların iptidailik ithamından ve köken merkezli dini araştırmaların sığlığından bağımsız ele almaktır. 

Keywords

• Bakirelik,Mesih,Tarihsel İsa,Ana Tanrıça,Yahudi Toplumu

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