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

Yıl 2019, Cilt: 2 Sayı: 3, 43 - 61, 30.06.2019

Dücane Demirtaş

Öz

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.    

Anahtar Kelimeler

Historical Jesus, Messiah, Virginity, Goddess, Jewish Society

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

Öz

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. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

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

Kaynakça

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