Indispensable Books--

[limetom]

1) Jesus known as the Christ (from the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah, a word which pretty much means king) was at some point in his mission staking as much a political as a religious claim.

Actually, the political angle is a pretty safe inference.  Jesus was crucified.  This was a Roman punishment for political crimes.  The Jewish punishment for religious crimes was stoning.

Sadducees[/url], and there's been some arguments that he was a Sadducee (and that he was an Essene and/or a Zealot, yada yada...), but this doesn't have to be the case.  The term was probably used to refer to any "superior" or "wise-man," so he needn't have been of these groups.  This is important because most Sadducees were married.  Essenes, on the other hand, as mystics, probably were not.  So was Jesus married?  It's possible, but at the very least, to early Christians, it was not important enough to write about.

Marija Gimbutas[/url]... ruining the name of Indo-European studies with your psuedo-feminist "goddess" babble...)  That's no reason not to speculate, but one must be careful, especially in making sure that other's know it is in fact speculation.

[Stargate525]

You know, I will eventually write about books in here...

Actually, the political angle is a pretty safe inference.  Jesus was crucified.  This was a Roman punishment for political crimes.  The Jewish punishment for religious crimes was stoning.

John 18:31

Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law."
"But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected.

I agree that the Jewish punishment was stoning. However, they were unable to kill anyone as they no longer had civil authority. Rome did. As three of the gospels attest, the crowd itself chose Jesus' fate, not Roman Law.

[limetom]

I really, really don't want to argue this topic (i.e. Jesus).  I hate arguing this topic.  But I am going to anyway.

Actually, the political angle is a pretty safe inference.  Jesus was crucified.  This was a Roman punishment for political crimes.  The Jewish punishment for religious crimes was stoning.

"But we have no right to execute anyone,[/b]" the Jews objected.

I agree that the Jewish punishment was stoning. However, they were unable to kill anyone as they no longer had civil authority. Rome did. As three of the gospels attest, the crowd itself chose Jesus' fate, not Roman Law.[/quote]who[/i] killed him, but why he was killed.

One recent criticism I read[/url] asserted that the trial of Jesus, like the other two I listed above, was an informal mob-like affair.  For whatever reason, the situation didn't devolve into a mob execution, and they took him to Pilate.  The main charge Pilate would have been interested in was the assertion that he was "the King of the Jews".  If he would have claimed this, it would have been a direct threat towards Roman power; and Romans don't take kindly to direct threats against their power (cf. the mass crucifixion of rebellious slaves after the Third Servile War).  According to the Gospels, he basically pled no contest.

I have to be skeptical of Pilate holding the sentencing up to the mob, however.  Pilate was the law in Iudaea.  And while the Romans enjoyed spectacle, the "tradition" the Bible cites for doing this isn't found in any other source.  It just seems out of character for a Roman Prefect in a Province that, throughout its entire history, had at least pockets of rebels to do something like that.

I don't think it's a good idea to entirely rely on the Gospels from a historical standpoint, either.  Just because they say something or don't say something, or even if more than one says the same thing, it doesn't mean that they are reliable as a independent source.  At some points, there are no other choices (a lot of Acts of the Apostles, for example).  But at others, they are not the only one (Josephus' probable mention of Jesus in the Antiquities of the Jews).  And sometimes, really only modern archaeology gives us any kind of clue (much of Gnosticism).  And a lot of the time, especially for things this old, its just plain inference, interpretation, and/or speculation (that the Kingdom of God may in fact, be a mystical state along the lines of Buddhist enlightenment).

[Mock26]

The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien.  Hands down (in my opinion) the best thing he ever wrote.

Inheret the Stars, James P. Hogan.

Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein.

The entire Herris Serrano and Esmay Suiza series of books by Elizabeth Moon (Hunting Party, Sporting Chance, Winning Colors, Once a Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, Against the Odds).

The Three Musketeers, Dumas.

[LordVreeg]

[blockquote=mock26]The entire Herris Serrano and Esmay Suiza series of books by Elizabeth Moon (Hunting Party, Sporting Chance, Winning Colors, Once a Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, Against the Odds).[/blockquote]
Hmm.  I don't know these at all.  quick synopsis?

[Mock26]

[blockquote=mock26]The entire Herris Serrano and Esmay Suiza series of books by Elizabeth Moon (Hunting Party, Sporting Chance, Winning Colors, Once a Hero, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command, Against the Odds).[/blockquote]
Hmm.  I don't know these at all.  quick synopsis?

I thought of a way to sum this up but everything I tried was just too cumbersome.  So, here's a blurb from Elizabeth Moon's website:

Heris Serrano is a disgraced Regular Space Service officer who takes a job as a rich old lady's space yacht commander. Set in a universe where longevity treatments are beginning to have an impact on society, this seven-book series combines political intrigue both internal and interstellar, space battles, military infighting, horses, hot-air balloons, and a fairly serious consideration of the effects of long life and immortality on any society which finds a way to have them. For new readers, the best entry points are book one, Hunting Party, and book four, Once a Hero. The first three books are now available as Heris Serrano; the other four are still out in separate editions.

Book four, Once a Hero, switches the main character from Herris Serrano to Esmay Suiza, a young and gifted officer who doesn't realize the gifts she has and who gets a bit of a bad repuatation due to some mistakes and some plots against her.  I am more partial to the Esmay Suiza books as they are the ones that I started first, but I enjoyed them all.  I think that the final four books are the best written of the 7 books and the story really comes together and I really like the character devolpment.  All of the books take place far into the future in a human only universe and in the main area (the Familias Regnant) there is a deep traditition of certain families traditionally being ruling class and there are long lines of military families who are strong in the military.

I recommend the entire series, but highly recomment the final four books.