The Logical Atheist

The Hebrew prophets are often portrayed as the voices of justice and compassion in opposition to the corrupt kings of Judah and the Children of Israel. But is that really accurate? My reading (so far) detects no focus on justice and compassion. Yes, there is a rare sentence about widows, orphans, and poor people, but those read like something a later editor added. ("This could use a mention of widows and orphans here.") And I see no evidence that the prophets were disturbed by the fact the Ten Commandments say bupkis along this line: "Thou shalt look after widows, orphans, and poor people." (This is not to endorse altruist ethics or the commandment/submission framework of Judaism and its derivatives. I prefer instead the rational egoist Greek philosophical tradition.) So what are the prophets actually upset about? They are upset that the kings and the Children of Israel have consistently disobeyed Yahweh. How so? By worshiping other Canaanite gods, like Baal and Ash...

Creating Christ: How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity  (2018), by James S. Valliant and Warren Fahy, a fascinating interpretation of history indicating that Christianity was the Roman empire's way to repackage separatist, rebellious, anti-Roman Judaism into a peaceful movement that would acquiesce in Roman rule ("Render unto Caesar..."). The Jewish War , by Flavius Josephus (37 – c. 100), the classic account of Judea's first rebellion against the Roman empire, written by a Jewish general who was captured and became a member of the Roman emperor's household and a historian.