4th of series: "christian jewish timeline"

see 1st for series introduction.



This was the most difficult drawing to render in this series. The "rules" mentioned in the introduction forced me to reconsider and redesign every aspect of this drawing many times. It is my hope that it succeeds in being plain. It should plainly say what is beautiful, truthful, ironic, and tragic about the common history of Christians and Jews.

This drawing succeeds where the "arab jewish timeline" has no need to; in creating a progression of events that become building blocks to a singular and tragic event. It is unfortunate to summarize something so complex so abruptly, but that is how the story went.

Reading left to right.

Around year 1 CE:
The loosely cohesive "nation" of Jews is broken by the Romans. Having been broken before and experienced an exodus to Babylon that resulted in the codification of the Torah (Bible) and a strong initiation of the Talmud (An elastic Commentary on the Bible and guide for Jewish ceremony), Jews are better prepared for their renewed status of immigrant/refugee as they emigrate en masse over a period of centuries.

1st Century CE:
Towards the end of this century, many Jews have heard about a Jewish rabbi of special quality named Jesus. There are many stories being told about this man and widely diverse points of view regarding his importance. A significant segment of Jews consider him to be a prophet at least and many of these come to believe that he is a Messiah, God or Son of God. Preachers of these ideas find ready audiences and safety in Mediterranean Jewish communities because; often they themselves are Jewish, they preach about a Jew and the basis for this quickly evolving theology was the Torah. For some generations during this crucial incubation period (6th in series, incubator event), Jews and Jewish devotees of Jesus live side by side.

1st through 4th Century:
Being a devotee of Jesus is a new faith with accessibility and significant meaning for non-Jews as well. Many such people develop their faith in close relationship with Jewish devotees, sharing cultural and economic resources and forming new communities. At various points, early devotees of Jesus, particularly Jewish devotees, find it necessary to stop emphasizing what they have in common with Judaism and begin emphasizing their differences. It is a fateful psychological shift that will loose ties and help them to better assimilate into their new identity as Christians. Jews who resist this movement, note the phenomenon and react protectively by ignoring (probably even prohibiting) the story of Jesus and diminishing its importance in their communities. In spite of mutual theological and even familial origins, these events solidify separateness as a staple of Christian/Jewish relationship and becomes an enabler of future mistrust and conflict.

5th Century and beyond:
Jews have migrated widely into lands that have now officially embraced Christianity. Theological exchange is possible between Jews and Christians, and even necessary, as nascent Christianity borrows directly from Jews and local cultures in order to develop it's own traditions. With the codification of the New Testament and empowerment of the Church, the passionate diversity of theology that marked early Christianity is narrowed and becomes more dogmatic. It is also more focused on maintaining it's power. It is politically important for Rome to emphasize the Jewish role in the death of Jesus, thereby minimizing its' own. This has the effect of overshadowing core Christian traditions which hold that the Passion of Christ was a divine plan and all players merely a backdrop for this precious sacrifice. This would eventually become the "blood libel", and a Christian justification for Jewish Persecution for the next 1500 years. Jewish minimization and outright rejection of "Christ their King" would also continue to be a source of friction, just as the progressive theologian Martin Luther would later turn from learning with Jews to railing against them in his last years because they would not "save themselves".

Meanwhile:
The experience of Jews in Europe is by no means singular. Safety, culture and prosperity are possible for moments that last longer than our current distance from the Holocaust. However, this is always precarious and applied by the will of their hosts. Both the church and secular powers were capable of being protectors and persecutors of Jews.

Layer builds upon layer:
Theological competition and notions like the "blood libel" become church institutions and form the first building block of an irreversible trend. Institutional anti-Semitism begets cultural anti-Semitism which in turn supports conditional changes like political and cultural oppression and violence, beginning in earnest with the Christian Crusades. This would continue in various forms until the European "age of enlightenment", which would inspire emancipation efforts. However, the traditions of cultural violence had become so rooted it would eventually erupt exponentially again in the form of the holocaust.