we tend to remember herod as the herod of the nativity scene, as the evil herod from the new testament. we know it from christmas plays in schools. we know it how it s retold in churches. it s very much the christian imagination, rather than the totality of who he was. to understand the man behind the legend, we need to look at the writing of jewish historian josephus. jose josephus is a priest of suppose ed li hasmonean stock. also of the great jewish war. within those histories of the jewish people, herod receives prominent attention. josephus fills in all sorts of fascinating details about herod and tells us the details of his family, his political successes, political disasters and so on. josephus describes in detail
the gospel writers motives were not to document jesus life and works as history but to make them meaningful in a world of competing theologies. when matthew is going to have jesus give a sermon on the mount, he s going to model him on moses, even as he is being born. so as moses was almost killed by the evil pharaoh, jesus is going to be almost killed by the evil herod. the number-one message from roman imperial theology was that the emperor was divine and that the emperor had a divine right to rule. and reed takes note of the symbols caesar used throughout his empire and how they were seized by the new christian religion. after julius caesar died, halley s comet flew over the sky in rome, and his adopted son, augustus, proclaimed, that is, in fact, my father. julius caesar it s his soul ascending into heaven. and caesar augustus used that
religious studies, california state university. and muslims believe, just like christians do, that jesus was born to mary, who was a virgin, and mary, interesting enough, is the only woman who s mentioned by name in the qur an in fact, she is mentioned more by name in the qur an than in the new testament. [ men singing ] of the four new testament gospels, only two feature the nativity story. the gospel according to luke tells of the roman emperor augustus caesar s census and the journey from nazareth to bethlehem and jesus birth, where he is wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn. but in the gospel according to matthew, there is no mention of a census, a journey, an inn, or a manger. joseph and mary are already living in bethlehem. and some details in matthew the star, the magi, herod s massacre of the innocents are not mentioned in luke. for many, the details and the differences in the gospels just
john dominic clawson believes the gospel writer s motives are not to write list but to make the world of theology. when matthew is going to have jesus give a sermon on the mount he is going to model him even as he has been born so moses was almost killed by the evil pharaoh jesus is going to be almost killed by the evil herod. the number one message from roman imperial theology was that the emperor was divine and the emperor had a divine right to rule. he takes note of the symbols used through out his empire and how they were received through the new christian religion. after julius caesar died haley s come met flew over the skies in rome. augustus claimed that was in fact my father julius caesar it s his soul ascending into
form the child. john dominic crossing believes the motives were nots document of jesus life and worw as history but to make him ake meaningful in the world of competing theology.. when matthew is going to have jesus give his sermon on the mount he s going to model him on moses even as he is being born, so as moses is almost killed by the evil pharaoh, jesus is going to be almost killed by the evil herod. the number one message from roman imperial theology was that the emperor was divine, and that the emperor had a divine life to rule. note of the ses symbols caesar used throughout his empire and how they were seized by the new christian religion. after julius caesar died, halley s comet flew over the skies in rome and his adopted s son augustus proclaimed that iss in fact, my father, julius cae