It’s difficult to think now how a Christian conservative–as I once was–can read the Bible as “their” book. The condemnation of civilization now seems resounding and obvious. Was I then so wrapped in misdirection and obfuscation to miss it? Or is the text really that ambiguous, that we really do see in it whatever it is we wish to see in it–what we bring to it?

I’d like to give you a glimpse of my Bible, and why I maintain that Judaism and Christianity are not, at their root, the loathsome oppressors’ clubs their followers have so often made them. Why the core of Jesus’ teachings stands as such a stark condemnation of Christianity….

In the Beginning….

The Bible tells us that G-d created man in a perfect, idyllic state. Anthropology has borne out this Edenic state. As foragers, war, poverty and disease were extremely rare, if not unheard of. For the forager, the entire earth is a garden that freely gives up food–we would “eat from any tree in the garden” (Genesis 2:15), and enjoy an existence that, by comparison to today’s drudgery, stress, and uninterrupted misery, could only be called “utopian.”

G-d’s sole command was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is not knowledge humans can possess, because what is good for one thing is bad for another. If a lion catches a gazelle, that’s good for the lion and bad for the gazelle. If the gazelle gets away, that’s good for the gazelle and bad for the lion. We are part of this world, as much as any other animal; we are enmeshed and inextricable from it, so we can never make these judgements. We would always rule in our own favor. Judges cannot judge crimes they themselves are accused of, after all. Only G-d can truly know good from evil, for only the Creator can hope to ever distance himself from Creation.

To “eat of the tree of knowledge” is not to gain this power we can never have, but to presume we have it. The fruit nourishes gods, but passes straight through animals, leaving them with the hubristic illusion of apotheosis. In Genesis, G-d’s punishment is, quite explicitly, agriculture. (Genesis 3:17) We deemed that, always and everywhere, it was good for us to live, and others to die. That it was good for us to grow without limit, to fill the earth and subdue it. We grew so hubristic, so blasphemous, we even dared to put our own wishes in G-d’s mouth. The alternative–that G-d actually did command us to conquer and subdue the earth–requires us to accept either that he is fallible (and so, could not foresee the destruction we would wreak on his Creation), or that he is evil (and so, desired the destruction we would wreak on his Creation). I prefer to place the blame on blasphemous human authors, than call G-d stupid or evil.

The Torah

G-d called Abram to leave behind the only civilization on earth at the time–to walk away from it all, and follow him into the desert, there to found twelve tribes that would be his chosen people. They were enslaved by the wickedness of civilization–this time represented by Egypt–and required his rescue. When he did, he also gave those people the Torah.

The Torah is an amazingly subversive code. The sabbatical years constantly redistribute the wealth. It made it impossible for anyone to consolidate wealth or power. It also eliminated the idea of land as something that could be traded. Ultimately, land was tied to the bloodline of a given family; it was a gift of G-d, and could never be bought or sold. It was sacred, and though it might be rented for 49 years, it must always return to the ones G-d gave it to. Though slaves were permitted, basic standards were established–unheard of and revolutionary at the time. Where other cultures defined sexual identity on such notions as the Roman vir as the “impenetrable penetrator,” the Torah set strict rules about rape.

It is truly remarkable in its context. It is realistic enough to accept the pragmatic truths of its time and society, but at every turn seeks to mitigate and undermine every avenue of power, wealth, dominance and control. Power can only be exercised within delineated boundaries; dominance was always circumscribed and limited. Where other cultures worshipped and obeyed god-kings, the Hebrew Torah created a loose government that held, at best, a secretarial role to divine power.

The Fall of Judah & the Prophets

Eventually, the tribes demanded kings like their neighbors, and G-d cautioned against it. The tribes insisted, and so began a deleterious fall that still hounds and persecutes the Jews even today. However, the Bible makes clear that G-d never abandoned his people, no matter what. The Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans–each of the great civilizations have, in turn, been the Jews’ persecutors, and G-d’s enemies.

In those times, the prophetic literature came down. They were, in many ways, the first true liberals. More than anything else, they stressed social justice, caring for the sick, the poor, and the powerless. They heaped constant, unremitting scorn not only on the powerful, but on the very basis of power itself. They were fiery opponents of hierarchy, power, control, domination and wealth–in a word, of civilization.

The Gospel

Rome was a “brokered” society. Like most ancient states, it relied on a patronage system. Today, we think of giving position and power to your friends is an abuse of position, that position must be earned; in Rome, it was expected, and virtuous. It was working your way up that they found unethical. A system of patronage reached from the emperor to the lowliest slave, and the religious world came to reflect that; priests interceded with the gods, just as patrons interceded with rich men. It was a rigid hierarchy that never flowed as equitably as the myths insisted–just like all hierarchical societies, including our own.

The heart and soul of everything Jesus did and preached was an unremitting, head-on assault not just on Roman domination, but the very concept of domination. Jesus didn’t just oppose Rome in the most systematic, effective manner possible–he opposed the very essence and soul of civilization itself.

Consider the miracles. The Torah makes it quite clear the healing comes from the Temple. By healing others, Jesus sent a different message: that G-d could be approached directly, without need of a hierarchy of intercession. And if G-d can be approached directly, what human authority must we possibly acquiesce to? In a patriarchal society where the emperor’s power as based on his image as the Pater gens–the great father of all the Roman people–Jesus said to call no man on earth “father,” for our only father is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9) This was more than a decree to renounce family. The Pater familias was an emperor in miniature, with absolute power over his family. Jesus was commanding a rejection of power and hierarchy in all its forms; to call no man on earth father was, for his time and place, a command to reject the very idea of family–and the very idea of government. There is no clearer call to anarchy in Roman literature.

Jesus told his disciples to leave behind their normal lives, to walk away, and join him. To put their faith in G-d’s Creation to provide, as it did before civilization, and continued to do so for those beyond it. (Matthew 6:26) His disciples lived in small, cooperative communities. The Book of Acts helps to show what these communities were like. They worked together, reciprocally, relying on one another to survive on a “give support/get support” basis. Jesus commanded his followers to leave behind civilization, walk away, and live together in, essentially, tribes. Precisely as G-d created us, the Eden he intended for us from the beginning. Jesus tried to point the way to return to that state, and the Romans recognized the danger.

In many ways, Jesus echoed the cries of the Greek Cynics, but because he added the element of community he was a much graver threat. As an anarchist and a revolutionary, his execution by the Roman administration was unavoidable.

Paul’s Betrayal

We are told that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, yet he is almost certainly a myth of Second Temple sectarianism. Christianity was a Second Temple Jewish sect, likely a form of Essenism (see Godesky 2002), and like all Second Temple sects, they blamed their woes on the other sects. “Iscariot” refers to the Sicarii, the most dangerous and violent of the Zealots–another Jewish sect. He was the only apostle from Judea. Essentially, he is Jew the Jew from Jew-land. How much mythical could you ask for?

But I have no doubt Jesus was betrayed. Not at the crucifixion; Pilate needed no excuse to kill him, and the Gospels may just as easily recount fictions to fit prophecy, since they themselves admit that all the witnesses scattered–in accordance with prophecy–so who could set down a reliable witness testimony of the event? No, Jesus was betrayed by Paul. Paul was a Pharisee, a persecutor of the early Jesus Movement who saw an opportunity for his own advancement. If Paul could make Christianity the religio licita form of Judaism, then he could ascend to great power in the empire. But first, the Jesus Movement would need to be whitewashed. Everything Jesus stood for would need to be stripped away and stood on its head to make it acceptable to Rome–to make it “Christianity” as we know it. In fact, Christianity has very little to do with Christ, and very much to do with Paul. On every point where Jesus and Paul diverge, Christians take Paul’s command over Jesus’. They do not believe in Jesus; if they did, they would not so consistently prefer Paul. Like Paul, they like to use his name, and forget everything he ever said or did. Christians do not follow Jesus’ teachings; they do not leave behind civilization to live together in peace and cooperation, they do not reject hierarchy, control and domination. They do not put their lives back in G-d’s hands, beyond civilization.

Tradition tells us Paul was executed for professing Christ, yet it is only a tradition from second-century martyrologies. We do not know if Paul actually died for Jesus or not. What we do know is that the Epistles contradict the Gospels time and time again, and where they contradict, Christians consistently side with the mortal Paul over the professed son of G-d. They consistently reject Christ. Paul never writes about Jesus’ life or teachings; he merely cites the name to back up his arguments. He never discusses what Jesus stressed and urged and taught, he only uses the name to advance his own agenda.

And in so doing, Paul’s betrayal created Christianity.

The End

The Bible ends with the Apocalypse of St. John: the Book of Revelations. It is the tale of the end of the world–how religious and secular power will ally to create Babylon. The last war, Armageddon, the final confrontation between two vast, evil empires for final control of the world. It is a reasonable prediction. All civilizations must grow or die; the logical end-point of that is a single, global civilization. It is the epitome of the “all your eggs in one basket” problem, though; when the world is ruled by a single empire, you’re just one good revolution away from being truly free.

That is precisely what the Bible predicts. After damning civilization, calling us to abandon it, fighting it and plaguing it for six thousand years, G-d predicts he will come to destroy it. Those who remained faithful to him–who walked away–will be restored to the Edenic existence he had in mind for us from the start.

Suggested Reading

Godesky, Jason. “Subversion Incarnate: Asceticism as Political Resistance in Roman Judea, 6-66 CE,” 2002. [PDF]

Crossan, John Dominic. The Historical Jesus : The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.