Chapter 6: Gospels of Jesus the Christ Summary and Analysis

War began in Palestine between the Greeks and the Jews in the year 66 C.E. and continued until it was suppressed by the Romans in 70 C.E., when the city of Jerusalem was leveled, and the Jewish Temple destroyed.

For followers in Jesus movements who still identified strongly with the tradition of Israel, the destruction of the Temple was devastating. The early Christian congregations had by this time already formed a strong independent identity, however, and capitalized on the destruction of the Temple by interpreting it as God's judgment on Israel. One community, called the "Markan" community after the author of the gospel of Mark, took the opportunity to reinvent the character of Jesus.

The book of Mark was the first appearance of a life story of Jesus. Borrowing mainly from...