Many members of the ruling elites of Israel were constantly attempting to negotiate a tenuous peace with the Romans, because of Israel's weak military position. Hence the guerilla presence of the bandits of the title, and the religious preachers and messiahs who spoke against the ruling authority's compliance in apocalyptic terms.
This was why the teachings of Jesus were so controversial. Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes and Essenes all fought for the allegiance of the masses and for the legitimacy of the nation, in a nation that was occupied, yet where nationhood and religious authority were synonymous in the minds of many. And yet, these well-known names of groups such as the Pharisees only comprised very small segment of the population -- many of the religious contemporary rivals of Jesus and the ruler ship of the Romans have been lost to the ages.
Although the focus of the book is historical and theological, it also shows the powerful influence of economics on human life. The Roman populace was heavily taxing the peasantry. This made them angry with their own rulers, for not taking strides to lessen this burden upon farmers and land owners, particularly subsistence farmers. They could easily lose their vital lands, if they could not pay their debts because of a bad harvest or a new tax, or simply because the authorities...
Horsley and Hansen suggest that peasants and
leaders often exist in a kind of
dialectic of fear, as rulers fear
rebellion from the peasants because of their oppression of these classes, while peasants fear being taxed by the ruling authorities and retribution if they cannot pay -- a Marxist analysis of conditions that produced revolutionary religious fervor. (Horsley & Hanson, p.2)
This book is an important reminder, even a seasonal reminder of the reality for the reasons that Christians everywhere continue to
honor the teachings of Jesus. Christianity is not a fixed, static
philosophy, but a social product of a particular period in historical time that has changed and shifted with the needs of its practitioners, varying from Roman and Jewish over-taxation to the spiritual needs of people today.
Bandits, Prophets, and Messiahs helps makes use of the Gospel narratives as historical documents, but also historians such as Josephus. The writing is accessible, and enables the reader to picture what the poor and the meek of Jesus' sermon really looked like, and how they lived. No longer is the land where Jesus walked just a vague concept, or a
place far away, it becomes a lived political reality in the eyes and minds of the readers of this valuable text.
Works Cited
Horsley, Richard a. & John S. Hansen.
Bandits, Prophets & Messiahs. New York: Trinity Press International, 1999.
