The New Testament as It Was
Originally Understood:
The King on the Cross in the Context of the
by Michael Hoffman
Initial outline toward a draft
November 5, 2006
I'll resume work on this article and my book in December 2007.
Contents
The
New Testament Is the Only Way to Terminate Modern-era Evangelical Christianity
Understanding
the New Testament Is of Top Importance.
New
Paradigm Identifies What Type of Literature the New Testament Is
New
Testament Meaning Is a Snapshot of Changing Objectives, Strategies, and Parties
New
Testament Canon and Roman Imperial Ideology as the Directing Contexts for
Interpretation
How
are we to think of the New Testament?
How should we see it? What sort
of thing is it?
Is
the Bible concerned with religious truth and salvation?
Post-modern
= replacing historicity by "altered state for alternative State"
Understanding
the New Testament Requires These Integrated Ideas
Main
Missing Components: Imperial Theology, Entheogen Theory, Ahistoricity/Metaphor
How
the altered state was used for group solidarity or for imperial cult support
The
true origin of New Testament Christianity and its Jesus figure
Critique
of Existing Alternative Theories of the New Testament
Astrotheology
Not an End In Itself
Conventional
Entheogen Theories
Simplistic
assumption of true or false; simplistic conception of "debunking"
Misuse
of idea/term "belief" and "apocalyptic expectation"
Sandmel's
book "A Jewish Understanding of the New Testament"
Limits
of Existing Treatments of Ahistoricity of Jesus and Paul
Entire
Roman empire and all its cultures as context (not just Palestine or paganism)
Ahistoricity
and Alternative History of Christian Origins
Summary
of the highly developed ahistoricity component
Errors
resulting from the ahistoricity-only assessment
Modern
misreadings of the intended meaning in New Testament books
Purpose,
Nature, Genre of New Testament and Its Books
Is
the New Testament genre biography of historical individuals?
Doctrinal
Strategy of Jesus' Presence in the Flesh
Ahistoricity
of Jesus and Paul, Metaphor, Genre/Type of writings
Jesus
Christ figure as rebuttal by twists on Julius Caesar and Titus accounts
Medieval
Understandings of the New Testament
Literary
creation as re-interpretation
Late
Chronology of the New Testament
Paul
as contended authorial figure
Ahistoricity
of all the figures: Jesus, Paul, and Peter
Christianity
as Negation of Imperial Theology
Emperor
Cult included dissociative Mysteries initiation
Imperial
theology, Caesar's rule, Pax Romana justified by ecstatic state
Jesus
terms co-opted from Caesar cult
Altar
sacrifice pouring a libation of unmixed wine
How
did a Jewish, outsider religion take over the pagan world?
Roman
empire was broader context of meaning for New Testament Christianity
Roman
imperial theology, imperial cult, and ruler cult
Alternative
society networked like synagogues, then top-down takeover
Derivation
vs. surface dress, of the New Testament
Pop
sayings explained in their original cultural context
"Jesus
is lord" (Caesar/ego are not the controller)
"Jesus
as savior" (despite imperial claims of Caesar as savior)
Summary
of the highly developed sociopolitical component
Errors
resulting from the sociopolitical-only assessment
The
Strategic Rightness of Redacting the Marcionite Writings
New
Testament Camps as Political Strategy Pact Positioned Against Roman imperial
system
Modernizing
Assumptions and Projecting Compartmentalization
Hierarchical
Nature of Associations Except Christian Assemblies
Jesus
storyline partly based on Julius Caesar storyline
New
Testament Not an Isolated Statement/System
Roman
Saturnalia and the Release of Jesus Bar-abbas
Entire
roman empire as New Testament context
Captive-exchange,
re-purchasing freedom, economics of freedom & slavery
Benefits
of Christian membership, around the takeover era
The
version of the mystery religion based on ruler cult
Sociopolitical
Counter-theorizing Supported by Full Mystic Religion Initiation System
Political
aspects of Jewish picture of relation of god & kings
Mythic/political pseudo-history in Jewish scriptures and in Roman myth & literature