This study examines the life of Jesus Christ and the beginning of Christianity with special reference to Marvin Harris' research. Especially during the time from the late first century BC to the seventies AD, Jewish people had strong belief in the coming of a messiah, any person possessing sacred holiness and great power. They wished a coming messiah to restore powerful David's kingdom. Secular and sacred components were not entirely separated in the Jewish society. The Jewish messianism was so strong that Palestine was a great trouble to the Romans and their clients. So they made attempts to destroy the military-messianic consciousness of the Jewish people. The writings of Josephus tell us that the guerrilla activities in colonial Palestine were closely connected with the military-messianic consciousness of the Jewish people. Popular messiahs in Palestine during the Roman colonialism seemed to be always guilty of a political-religious crime, never merely a religious crime. The Jewish military messianism ultimately led to the Jewish revolution and by 66 AD the Jewish people in Palestine issued a kind of declaration of independence. But the Romans slowly regained control of Palestine and finally by 73 AD subjugated the last Jewish fortress of Masada. The historical setting in which gospels were written was the aftermath of the failure of Jewish revolution and the geographical setting in which gospels were written was not Jerusalem but many Jewish communities in major cities and towns of Roman Empire. Though the gospels reveal that Jesus and his followers were not always peaceful, a purely peaceful messiah became a practical necessity after the unsuccessful Jewish war against Rome and the political and military components in Jesus' teachings were purged by Jewish Christians living in Rome and other cities of the empire.

This study examines the life of Jesus Christ and the beginning of Christianity with special reference to Marvin Harris' research. Especially during the time from the late first century BC to the seventies AD, Jewish people had strong belief in the coming of a messiah, any person possessing sacred holiness and great power. They wished a coming messiah to restore powerful David's kingdom. Secular and sacred components were not entirely separated in the Jewish society. The Jewish messianism was so strong that Palestine was a great trouble to the Romans and their clients. So they made attempts to destroy the military-messianic consciousness of the Jewish people. The writings of Josephus tell us that the guerrilla activities in colonial Palestine were closely connected with the military-messianic consciousness of the Jewish people. Popular messiahs in Palestine during the Roman colonialism seemed to be always guilty of a political-religious crime, never merely a religious crime. The Jewish military messianism ultimately led to the Jewish revolution and by 66 AD the Jewish people in Palestine issued a kind of declaration of independence. But the Romans slowly regained control of Palestine and finally by 73 AD subjugated the last Jewish fortress of Masada. The historical setting in which gospels were written was the aftermath of the failure of Jewish revolution and the geographical setting in which gospels were written was not Jerusalem but many Jewish communities in major cities and towns of Roman Empire. Though the gospels reveal that Jesus and his followers were not always peaceful, a purely peaceful messiah became a practical necessity after the unsuccessful Jewish war against Rome and the political and military components in Jesus' teachings were purged by Jewish Christians living in Rome and other cities of the empire.

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Jesus, Christianity, Messiah, Jew, Palestine, New Testament, Gospel