Читать книгу Getting Jesus Right: How Muslims Get Jesus and Islam Wrong - James A Beverley - Страница 34

When historians consider Jesus, they try to classify him. They do this with all historical figures. Here are a few examples: Aristotle was a philosopher, but his famous student Alexander the Great was a military commander and empire-builder. The first-century Jewish aristocrat Josephus was an apologist and historian. The early second-century Simon ben Kosibah, who became known as Bar Kokhba (Aramaic, meaning “Son of the Star”), was a charismatic messianic claimant who gave leadership to Israel’s last great rebellion against Rome. Defining, or classifying, these figures helps us to interpret their activities more accurately.

Classifying figures of history is part of the historian’s attempt to place them in the appropriate context. This is very true in the case of Jesus of Nazareth. Because of his multi-faceted activities and teachings, classifying Jesus has not been easy. Emphasizing his role as teacher, some see Jesus as a rabbi. Others think he was more of a prophet or a martyr. Others see him as a political leader, perhaps a king of sorts. More eccentric proposals include Jesus as a Pharisee, an Essene, a magician, or even an Eastern mystic. Another proposal made from time to time argues that Jesus was a zealot.

In this chapter we shall consider the zealot classification, which in one form or another has been proposed from time to time. To understand why it has been proposed, it will be necessary to review not only the evidence that has been offered for it but also the history and biblical background to zealotry. The topic is an important one, to be sure, but it is not always understood.