Our Man in Judea

Our Man In Judea is a paradigm shift that is long overdue! Where scholarly methodology, together with the weight of the Christian tradition, has limited the scope of imaginative and alternative interpretations, this new and provocative book offers a refreshing change. By reading the Gospel According to John from the perspective of a first-century Israelite, many clues can be found that tell a very different story to that which we think we know so well. The gospel was intended for a select audience, Tyson argues; an audience that consisted of like-minded Israelites (not Gentiles!), who were keen to see the return to glory of the long-rejected northern tribes. It was not the last of the gospels to be written, but the first. Tyson begins with a look at the background to Jesus' campaign, i.e., the schism of the tribes, and the rationale for the campaign against the institution, and then follows the chronology of the gospel (except for the gospel's prologue, which is explained later), unravelling each scenario like a work of detection. The evidence suggests that Jesus was a middle-aged Samaritan with some nostalgic, yet revolutionary ideas about how Israel could find favour, once again, with God. His tactics were unorthodox and often rejected or misunderstood; he openly embarrassed and humiliated the priests and the Pharisees, gathered together bands of known rebels, had sympathisers within the establishment, became the thorn in John the Baptist's side, refused Peter the primacy of the new kingdom, was outlawed by Pilate long before the crucifixion, and fathered a son with Mary, though he was married to someone else at the time. The dynasty was founded at the strategically significant site of Shiloh, in Samaria. Shiloh was the site of the throne of the ideal King of Israel, according to a very subtle and little known prophecy in the Book of Genesis. The gospel, written by one of Jesus' disciples, is full of allusions and references to particular Old Testament passages and themes. Some are subtle, some obvious, but each fits so neatly into the narrative that it acts as a clue, pointing the reader in the desired direction. Double-entendres in the Greek or the Hebrew, inconsistencies that defy all mainstream attempts at explanation, symbolism, the meaning of names, specific ways of recording time, etc., make the First Gospel an incredibly sophisticated and apocryphal text. It has remained enigmatic, however, simply because we have been reading it from the 'wrong' perspective. The Christian perspective is that Jesus chose Peter to continue with the 'campaign' after the crucifixion; Peter thus became the leader of the early Church, and the embodiment of Jesus' ideals. Not so, according this gospel! Peter is actually depicted as a rather pathetic man, an easily swayed, ambitious, but disloyal disciple whom Jesus distrusted. The kingdom Jesus anticipated was far from what the Christian Church became, under Peter, but was maintained surreptitiously by a small group of believers scholars have come to call the Johannine Community. By following the gospel's clues, the devout Israelite could not only discover that someone had succeeded in returning the rightful King of Israel to his throne, but could actually find the physical site itself. The implications of this interpretation are extensive, for not only must we reconsider the Gospel According to John, in terms of authorship, date, and meaning, we must also take another look at how other biblical documents are affected - the Letters of Peter and Paul, for instance, but most especially, the apocryphal book of 2 Esdras. The Cult of Mary, the Holy Family, the fate of Judas, the "miracles," the Dead Sea Scrolls, the histories of Josephus, are all included in the analysis, with some surprising results! This account of Jesus has never been offered before. It is intended to spark debate and get each and every interested reader asking new and provocative questions!