Serge Janouin-Benanti
Crimes in the Bible
Volume 5: PROPHETS AND MESSIAHS
26 AD to 135 AD
The fifth and final volume of Crimes in the Bible deals with the crucial period of the emergence of Christianity and its break from Judaism.
Serge Janouin-Benanti skilfully combines New Testament sources with historical accounts, giving depth to the characters who surround, accuse, or execute John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth.
Under increasingly oppressive Roman occupation, the Jewish religious hierarchy was discredited and cut off from the people. This gave rise to a mixture of fear and hope, and a yearning for a divine apocalypse that would bring about a new world.
This troubled period spawned many prophets who described the coming chaos and possible means of redemption. Many of these prophets were proclaimed Messiahs, that is, the ones who would liberate the land and usher in the reign of the LORD.
In this volume, we follow the famous fates of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth, not forgetting Dositheos of Samaria, Theudas, the Egyptian, Simon the Magus, Jesus ben Ananias, Elkasai and Simon bar Kokhba. All would suffer a cruel fate.
Faced with revolts and aspirations to new spiritualities, the response of the powers that be was violent and limitless. Pogroms, massacres, assassinations, executions, and martyrdoms bear witness to an era that had no regard for respect for life or human dignity.
A breathtaking tale that places all the characters in their historical context.
A fascinating and original reading of the Bible.
