03-09-2018, 11:23 PM
In the discussion of religion as an opiate designed to control large numbers of people, we must examine the historic context of ancient religions which form the basis for what we now call modern worship. The earliest religions were multi-deity affairs, where different Gods controlled all aspects of daily life, each demanding sacrifice and obedience at all times. Egyptian, Nordic, Indian Subcontinent, the Americas, even the ancient Greek and Roman societies followed the same basic heirarchy of god-families as rulers, with specially ordained human representatives having "elite" access to divine wisdom. Not coincidentally, these shamans/priests/Caesars/holy men were revered as powerful leaders, with tremendous influence over their fellows and all the benefits of leadership.
The hierarchy of Jeshua's time was no different. The Roman God's representative was Caesar. Thru him Rome ruled its Empire by "divine right" including the subjugated middle eastern lands. In those lands, the Jews were a marginalized, monotheistic subset with the wild notion that there was only one God in charge, and that he assigned his Rabbis to conduct all sorts of business transactions and dictate laws for the Hebrew people. Again, a very elite few with near limitless power in their own little sect. At the bottom of this religious caste system, Jeshua and his motley followers espoused an even more heretical idea: that ALL men had the same ability to talk directly to YHWH (god) and that each man in turn was the son of god. This not only stripped the clerics of their elite status, it also called Caesar's divine status into questions.
So in the context of the day, Yeshua was a bottom tier member of a subset of a subset of a subset of Roman society. Literally the bottom of the barrel. His ideas would have appealed to others of no status and would have seriously irritated those in power.
The hierarchy of Jeshua's time was no different. The Roman God's representative was Caesar. Thru him Rome ruled its Empire by "divine right" including the subjugated middle eastern lands. In those lands, the Jews were a marginalized, monotheistic subset with the wild notion that there was only one God in charge, and that he assigned his Rabbis to conduct all sorts of business transactions and dictate laws for the Hebrew people. Again, a very elite few with near limitless power in their own little sect. At the bottom of this religious caste system, Jeshua and his motley followers espoused an even more heretical idea: that ALL men had the same ability to talk directly to YHWH (god) and that each man in turn was the son of god. This not only stripped the clerics of their elite status, it also called Caesar's divine status into questions.
So in the context of the day, Yeshua was a bottom tier member of a subset of a subset of a subset of Roman society. Literally the bottom of the barrel. His ideas would have appealed to others of no status and would have seriously irritated those in power.
Thank god I am oblivious to the opinions of others while caught in the blinding splendor of my own cleverness.