It is April 2024, two years since I resigned membership in the LDS church and a year and a half since blog #1. I have read a lot of literature during the intervening period and endeavoured to process their contents.
Bible Historian James Tabor describes Jesus’s mission and it’s followers as a movement. There are a couple of clues in the book of Acts where it can be referred to as ‘The Way’. Tabor & Robert Eisenman along with many other bible scholars including Bart Ehrman believe Jesus saw himself as an apocalyptic preacher, urging his people to repent for the Kingdom of God, a literal earthly managed kingdom, as anticipated by the Jews was imminent. The evidence for this can be found from Jesus’ messages in the synoptic gospels. They are distinct from those of John’s gospel and Pauls epistles.
Briefly, in the synoptics, Jesus’ message is repent and get ready. In contrast Paul and Johns’ gospel are centred on belief in Jesus for salvation in the next life. Tabor & Eisenman see the ‘Movement’ centred in Jerusalem under the leadership of Jesus’ brother James labelled the ‘Just’.
In a separate article I will share the pertinent passages from Galatians and Acts that highlight James’ pre eminent position along with ancient sources outside of the New Testament. Ehrman refers to Paul’s gospel as the proto orthodox gospel. The one that became the orthodox Christian faith with it’s creeds, dogmas and rituals. In fact scholars such as Ehrman suggest that Christianity was founded by Paul, that it radically differed from ‘The Way’ of Jesus that was an extension of Judaism, upgraded by the sentiments he shared in the Sermon on the Mount. Paul was scathing about any of Jesus’ followers continuing with Jewish beliefs and practices, as one scholar observed, Paul was not present when Jesus may have said Matthew 5:18: “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”.
In short, the Jesus movement, The Way, was centred in Jerusalem and adminstered from there, James the Just was killed under the orders of High Priest Ananus, he was succeded by another family member Simeon. It is believed the nucleaus of the movement survived the Roman destruction of Jerusalem by possibly relocating to Pella, Jordan. Over time Paul’s influence outweighed the Jesus movement by it’s growing number of supporters (non jews) supporting his idea of Christianity instead of Jesus and James enhanced Judaism.
The evolving Christian movement when viewed in the context of it being originally Jewish based greatly aids the understanding of Pauls epistles where he rails against ‘The Law’ and anyone turning against the gospel he has taught in favour of the Jerusalem movements retention of Judaism.
A book I would highly recommend for its short length, brevity in laymans language detailing the evidence for Jesus’ brother taking in the reins of ‘The Way’ is The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity’ by Jeffrey J Butz.