40% Growth Then, 5% Growth Now — What We Must Learn Anew

1. Review from Session 1

Last week we saw that even atheist and skeptical scholars agree on seven undisputed letters of Paul. These are the earliest Christian writings we possess, and they form the backbone of our historical knowledge of the first generation of the church. But that raises a crucial question: Can we be confident that the words we read in these letters today are the same words Paul actually wrote? Before we move forward in the Roman timeline, we need to look closely at how these letters were preserved.

2. Comparing Paul to Other Ancient Authors

When we compare the manuscript tradition of Paul’s letters with other works from antiquity, the results are striking:

Author	Work	Date Written	Earliest Copy	Time Gap
Josephus	Jewish War	75–79 AD	9th century	~800 years
Tacitus	Annals	~100 AD	~850 AD	~750 years
Pliny the Younger	Letters	~100–112 AD	~850 AD	~750 years
Suetonius	Lives of the Caesars	~121 AD	9th century	~700–800 yrs
Paul the Apostle	7 Undisputed Letters	48–64 AD	~175–200 AD (P46)	~125–150 yrs

Historians accept Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny, and Suetonius without hesitation, despite enormous gaps between the originals and our earliest copies. Yet Paul’s letters — with the shortest gap of all — are often treated with suspicion. That double standard says more about modern skepticism than it does about the evidence.

3. What Manuscripts Do We Actually Have?

When we talk about manuscripts here, remember: we are focusing only on the seven undisputed letters of Paul (Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, Philemon). If we were counting the entire New Testament, the totals would be much larger.

Approximate counts by language for these seven letters:

• Greek: ~900 manuscripts.
• Latin: 3,000–4,000+ manuscripts.
• Coptic: 200–300 manuscripts.
• Syriac: 200–300 manuscripts.
• Other languages (Armenian, Gothic, Ethiopic, etc.): ~500 combined.
  (By comparison, the entire New Testament is supported by over 5,800 Greek manuscripts, 10,000+ Latin, and another 10,000+ in other languages. But here our lens stays on the seven letters.)

Bart Ehrman, an agnostic scholar, concedes:

“We have more manuscripts of the New Testament than any other book from antiquity—many thousands. And many of these manuscripts date from quite early times.” (Misquoting Jesus, 2005, p. 88)

The Earliest Manuscript: P46

Papyrus 46 (P46), dated AD 175–225, is one of the earliest and most important witnesses to the seven undisputed letters. Originally 104 leaves; 86 survive.

Contents include:

• Romans 5:17–16:27 (Romans 1–5:16 missing)
• 1 Corinthians 1:1–15:58 (chapter 16 missing)
• 2 Corinthians 1:1–9:6 (chapters 9:7–13:13 missing)
• Galatians: fully preserved
• Philippians: fully preserved
• 1 Thessalonians: fully preserved
• Philemon: likely in the missing final leaves
• Also present: Hebrews, Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians.

This shows that by around AD 200, less than 150 years after Paul’s death, his letters were already being circulated as a collection, copied and bound together.

Manuscripts Between 200 and 325 AD

Other papyri confirm copying before the great codices:

• P30 (c. 225–250): 1 Thessalonians 4:12–5:18.
• P65 (c. 200–250): 1 Thessalonians 1:3–2:13.
• P87 (c. 250–300): Philemon 13–15, 24–25.

These show that Paul’s letters were copied across regions before Constantine.

The Great Codices (after 325 AD)

• Codex Vaticanus (c. 325–350): Preserves nearly the whole NT. Missing are 1–2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, part of Hebrews, Revelation. Most likely due to physical loss.
• Codex Sinaiticus (c. 330–360): Contains all 7 undisputed letters.

Though copied in different regions, they strongly agree with earlier papyri like P46.

Earliest Translations

• Old Latin: The Freisinger Fragment (VL 64, late 2nd or early 3rd c.) preserves Romans 15:3–13.
• Coptic (Sahidic): Papyrus Bodmer XIX (early 3rd c.) preserves Romans 1:1–2:3; 3:21–4:8; 5:8–13; 6:1–19.
• Syriac: By the early 4th c., Paul’s letters circulated in Syriac. Aphrahat (c. 280–345) quotes them; the Peshitta included them.

So within 200–300 years of Paul’s life, his letters were available in Greek, Latin, Coptic, and Syriac.

4. What About Textual Variants?

For the seven undisputed letters, scholars count 7,000–8,000 variants. If we included the NT as a whole, the number would be much higher.

Most are trivial.

“Most of the textual changes in our manuscripts are completely insignificant.” (Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus, 2005, p. 208)

Examples of insignificant variants:

• Romans 12:11 — “Serve the Lord” vs. “Serve the Spirit.”
• Galatians 1:3 — “God our Father” vs. “God the Father.”

The Five Most Significant Variants in the Undisputed Letters

1. Romans 8:1
Short: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Long: “… who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The longer phrase is almost certainly borrowed from verse 4 — a case of scribal harmonization. Either way, the chapter teaches both truths: freedom from condemnation and Spirit-led living.

2. 1 Thessalonians 2:7
“We were gentle among you” (ēpioi).
“We were like children among you” (nēpioi).
The difference hangs on a single Greek letter (eta vs. nu). Both readings make sense in context: Paul could be stressing either his gentleness or his childlike humility toward the Thessalonians.

3. Galatians 2:12
With the phrase: “… before certain men came from James…”
Without the phrase: “… before certain men came…”
Some manuscripts omit “from James,” likely to soften the perceived conflict between Paul and the Jerusalem leadership. The confrontation with Peter remains central in either reading.

4. 1 Corinthians 14:34–35
“Women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.”

• In some manuscripts, these verses appear after verse 33.
• In others, they are moved after verse 40.
• In several, scribes marked the passage with symbols, signaling doubt about its original location.

This passage also creates tension with 1 Corinthians 11:5, where Paul assumes women are praying and prophesying aloud. Some scholars think the verses were originally a marginal note that later entered the text. Regardless, scribes preserved them — they did not erase what they weren’t sure about.

5. Romans 5:1
“We have peace with God…” (echomen, indicative).
“Let us have peace with God…” (echōmen, subjunctive).
A single vowel changes the sense from statement to exhortation. Both are ancient readings, and both are consistent with Paul’s theology — either declaring peace as a fact or urging believers to live in that peace.

Conclusion on Variants: Variants are real, but they are not a threat. None overturn Paul’s teaching. Our faith does not rest on the exact form of a single word — it rests on the total message Paul delivered about Christ. And that message comes through with clarity across the manuscript tradition.

5. Internal Evidence from Paul’s Own Letters

Even within the NT, Paul’s letters show awareness of being circulated and read widely:

• 1 Corinthians 1:2 — “…with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.”
• 2 Corinthians 1:1 — “…with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia.”
• Galatians 1:2 — “…to the churches of Galatia.”
• 2 Corinthians 10:10 — “‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.’”
  Even Paul’s opponents recognized his “letters” (plural) as influential.

But the most striking evidence comes from 2 Peter 3:15–16:

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

This is extraordinary. The text not only names Paul directly, but refers to “all his letters” — a collection already known to the wider church — and explicitly places them alongside “the other Scriptures.”

The question then becomes: when was 2 Peter written?

• If it is genuine (written by Peter before his martyrdom in AD 64), then Paul was still alive at the time, and his letters were already being gathered and treated as Scripture while he was still writing them. Notice the Greek verbs: Peter says Paul “wrote” (past tense) but also “he speaks” (present tense) in his letters, suggesting Paul was still actively writing. This would also imply that Peter himself, an Aramaic-speaking Jew, likely worked through a secretary (an amanuensis) to produce a polished Greek letter, as was common. Peter explicitly mentions Silvanus serving this role in 1 Peter 5:12. If Silvanus could serve for 1 Peter, then another amanuensis could easily explain the high-quality Greek of 2 Peter.
• If it is not genuine but an early 2nd-century pseudepigraphon, it still proves that by that time Paul’s letters were being universally read and revered as Scripture. A forger could not have successfully passed off such a claim unless the churches already accepted Paul’s writings as Scripture and already knew them as a collection.

Either way, the conclusion is the same: 2 Peter 3:15–16 gives us decisive evidence that Paul’s letters were recognized as authoritative Scripture very early — whether during Paul’s own lifetime or within a generation after his death.

6. Early Christian Witness (95–180 AD)

Clement of Rome (c. 95 AD):

“Take up the epistle of the blessed Paul the Apostle. What did he write to you at the time when the Gospel first began to be preached? Truly, he wrote to you in the Spirit concerning himself, and Cephas, and Apollos, because even then you had formed parties.” (1 Clement 47)

Clement writes as if the Corinthians still physically possessed Paul’s letter — either the original or a faithful copy preserved in their church. His command to “take it up” makes no sense otherwise. Clement himself was also clearly familiar with the letter, meaning he too had access to a copy in Rome. Within one generation of Paul, his letters were present in multiple churches, available for reference and correction.

Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 AD):

“You are associates in the mysteries with Paul, who was sanctified, who gained a good report, who is right blessed, in whose footsteps may I be found when I attain to God, who in every letter makes mention of you in Christ Jesus.” (To the Ephesians 12.2)

Ignatius assumes that the Ephesian Christians knew Paul’s letters well — they had them in their possession, whether in original form or in copies kept in the church. Ignatius himself had also read them, since he confidently appeals to “every letter” Paul wrote. This shows that by the early 2nd century Paul’s writings were already circulating widely and were accessible to multiple communities at the same time.

Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 110–140 AD):

“And when he was absent, he wrote you letters, which, if you study them, you will be able to build yourselves up in the faith that has been given you.” (To the Philippians 3.2)

Polycarp presumes that the Philippians still had Paul’s letters in their possession — originals or faithful copies carefully preserved in the church. And Polycarp himself had clearly read them too, since he urges them to “study” what he also knew. The fact that he treats these writings as ongoing sources of instruction shows they were viewed not as temporary notes but as enduring Scripture.

Theophilus of Antioch (c. 180 AD):

“And in another place, Paul says: ‘If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.’” (To Autolycus 3.14, citing Romans 10:9)

Theophilus directly cites Paul’s words and calls them Scripture. This shows that by the late 2nd century Paul’s letters were not only preserved but already recognized as carrying the authority of the Word of God.

Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180 AD):

“And Paul, too, says: ‘There is one God, the Father, who is above all, and through all, and in us all.’ And again, ‘There is one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.’” (Against Heresies 3.12.12, citing 1 Corinthians 8:6)

Across Against Heresies, Irenaeus cites all seven undisputed Pauline letters — Romans, 1–2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. He names Paul explicitly, weaving his words into theological arguments, treating them as binding Scripture. Irenaeus knew them; the churches he wrote to knew them; and he expected his readers to recognize the authority of Paul’s letters immediately.

7. Reconstructing Paul’s Letters from Quotations

Between Clement of Rome (c. 95 AD) and Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180 AD), every one of Paul’s seven undisputed letters is quoted or referenced. Even if all manuscripts had been lost, the content of Paul’s letters could still be reconstructed from these citations.

It is true that the Fathers sometimes paraphrased or quoted from memory, so not every line would be preserved word-for-word. But the essential message, theology, and teaching of Paul is fully present.

Bart Ehrman’s central challenge is this: since our earliest manuscript of Paul’s letters (P46) comes from around AD 175–225, how can we know the text was copied accurately in the first 100–150 years?

Ehrman himself concedes the point this way:

“Strictly speaking we can never know anything like this with 100% certainty. … we can’t know with absolute complete certainty what was said in each and every passage of the NT. … But that doesn’t mean that we cannot know with relative certainty what is said in most parts of the New Testament.” (The Accuracy of Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, ehrmanblog.org)

We agree: we cannot have mathematical certainty. We do not have the originals. There were surely variants in the earliest copies, maybe even more than in later ones. But the evidence we do have shows the same pattern century after century: variants exist, but they rarely affect meaning, and none change the core of Paul’s message.

And the positive case is strong:

• The time gap between Paul’s writing and our earliest surviving copies is remarkably short compared to other ancient works that historians accept without hesitation.
• The number of manuscripts is massive and unparalleled, giving us a wide base of comparison.
• The variants that do appear rarely affect meaning, and none overturn any core doctrine of the Christian faith.
• The writings of the Church Fathers confirm stability, since every one of Paul’s letters is quoted by the end of the 2nd century, providing an independent line of evidence alongside the manuscripts.
• Most importantly, there is no plausible way the text could have been altered wholesale. By the end of the 2nd century, Paul’s letters had been copied and carried across the Roman world — from Rome to Corinth, from Antioch to Alexandria, from Asia Minor to North Africa. They were quoted in Greek, translated into Latin, Coptic, and Syriac, and cited by leaders as far apart as Clement in Rome, Ignatius in Syria, and Irenaeus in Gaul. To change Paul’s words in any significant way, someone would have had to gather up every copy, alter them in exactly the same fashion, and redistribute them across dozens of cities and multiple languages — without leaving any trace of disagreement. That never happened. The geographic spread of manuscripts and quotations itself is evidence of the stability of the text.

Taken together, this evidence shows that what we read in Paul’s letters today is the same message the earliest Christians received, studied, and preserved as Scripture.

8. Canon Lists and Heretical Canons

The Muratorian Fragment (c. 170–200 AD)

“As to the epistles of Paul, they themselves make clear to those desiring to understand which ones they are. First of all, he wrote to the Corinthians, addressing them in two letters. Then to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Galatians, to the Thessalonians — twice, and to the Romans. It is plain that he wrote these letters for the sake of instruction. There is yet another addressed to Philemon, one to Titus, and two to Timothy in affection and love. These are held sacred in the esteem of the Church and form part of the universal Church’s discipline and teaching.” (Muratorian Canon, lines 47–59)

The Muratorian list is the earliest surviving canon catalog. It carefully names nearly every Pauline letter — including all seven undisputed ones — and defends them as “sacred” and as part of the “universal Church’s discipline.” By around AD 180, Paul’s letters were not only being read but were already being formally recognized and defended as Scripture.

Marcion’s Canon (c. 140 AD)

Marcion, a heretic who rejected the Old Testament and much of Christianity, still accepted Paul as the true apostle. His canon included ten Pauline letters.

Ehrman comments:

“Marcion’s canon shows that the letters of Paul were already being collected and circulated as a group by the early second century.” (Lost Christianities, 2003, p. 104)

Even heresy confirms Paul’s letters were a recognized collection.

9. John’s Long Life

Irenaeus testifies that John lived until the reign of Trajan (Against Heresies 3.1.1). If John was a young man when he followed Jesus, he could have lived well into his 80s or 90s — stretching the apostolic witness into the closing years of the 1st century and the dawn of the 2nd.

Richard Bauckham notes:

“The Beloved Disciple… may well have been quite young during Jesus’ ministry. This possibility makes good sense of the tradition that he lived to extreme old age.” (Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 2006, p. 390)

Even Bart Ehrman acknowledges:

“It is certainly possible—indeed plausible—that John was very young when he followed Jesus, which would help explain the later traditions about his longevity.” (How Jesus Became God, 2014, p. 124)

John’s long life bridged the gap between the first generation of apostles and the church of the 2nd century, anchoring the transmission of apostolic teaching.

10. Conclusion to Part 1

By the end of the 2nd century, Paul’s letters were:

• Collected together in manuscripts like P46.
• Quoted extensively by church leaders across the empire.
• Preserved faithfully despite persecution.
• Formally recognized in canon lists.
• Respected even by heretics who tried to twist them.

The earliest Christians treated Paul’s writings not as casual correspondence but as sacred Scripture. They copied them carefully, spread them across the empire, quoted them as authoritative, and defended them in the face of challenges.

We do not have the originals. We cannot claim 100% certainty on every word. But the evidence — manuscripts, variants, patristic quotations, canon lists, and the geographic spread of witnesses — gives us extraordinary confidence that the letters we read today are the same message the earliest Christians received and preserved: the gospel of Christ through His apostle Paul.

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Julius Caesar and the Jews

Now that we have seen why we can trust the preservation of Paul’s letters, we can step back into the wider Roman world where Christianity was born. To understand the setting of Jesus’ life and the early church, we begin with Julius Caesar and the unique place of the Jewish people in the empire.

1. Jewish Support for Julius Caesar (47–44 BC)

The Jews were not a marginal group in Caesar’s world — they were a significant presence across the Mediterranean, and their loyalty mattered.

During Caesar’s campaign in Egypt around 47 BC, Antipater, the father of Herod the Great, brought 3,000 Jewish troops to aid him:

“When Caesar had settled the affairs of Syria, he made his expedition against Egypt… Antipater brought three thousand armed men, partly Jews and partly foreigners. This force was very helpful to Caesar.” (Antiquities 14.8.1 §190)

Not long after, during Caesar’s campaign in Asia against Parthian-aligned forces, another 3,000 Jews under Hyrcanus II, the high priest, rallied to his side:

“The Jews in Asia also came to his assistance, being about three thousand armed men, and joined themselves to him. They did this, not only out of the goodwill they bore him, but also by the command of Hyrcanus the high priest, who at that time was in great friendship with Caesar.” (Antiquities 14.10.22 §295)

And when Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, the Jews demonstrated their devotion in a way that astonished Roman observers:

“The Jews also mourned for him, and they even crowded about his house for many nights together bewailing their loss.” (Antiquities 14.10.1 §213)

The picture is consistent: the Jews fought for Caesar in Egypt, aided him in Asia against the Parthian threat, and grieved deeply at his assassination. Caesar, in turn, rewarded them richly and secured their privileges in the empire.

2. Size of the Jewish Population (1st century BC–1st century AD)

Why did Caesar value Jewish loyalty so highly? Quite simply, because the Jews were numerous, organized, and strategically placed across the empire.

Josephus emphasizes their strength in Rome itself:

“As for the Jews, they had already increased in numbers so greatly that it would have been hard to expel them from the city.” (Antiquities 14.7.2 §110)

Elsewhere, he insists their influence stretched across the entire Mediterranean world:

“There is not any city of the Grecians, nor any of the barbarians, nor any nation whatsoever, whither our custom of resting on the seventh day hath not come, and by which our fasts and lighting up lamps, and many of our prohibitions as to our food, are not observed.” (Against Apion 2.39 §282)

Philo of Alexandria, writing just after the time of Jesus, painted the same picture of their global dispersion:

“Countless myriads of Jews are in every region… in Asia and Europe, in the islands and mainland, in the East and the West.” (Embassy to Gaius §281, c. AD 41)

By the 1st century AD, Jews made up an estimated 7–10% of the Roman Empire — millions of people. Their largest concentrations were along the eastern frontier near Parthia, Rome’s greatest military rival. For Caesar, Jewish loyalty meant not just local support in Judea, but stability along the empire’s most contested border.

3. Caesar’s Decrees in Favor of the Jews (47–44 BC)

Julius Caesar did not merely thank the Jews with kind words; he issued a series of formal decrees guaranteeing their freedoms across the empire. Josephus preserves several of them in Antiquities 14, showing just how far Caesar was willing to go to secure Jewish loyalty.

Sabbath protection:

“It is not permitted to bring them before the tribunals on the Sabbath day, nor to require them to bear arms or to march, or to labor, on the Sabbath day.” (Antiquities 14.10.6 §213)

Right of assembly:

“They shall be permitted to assemble together according to their ancestral laws and ordinances, and to do so unhindered.” (Antiquities 14.10.8 §216)

Exemption from temple tribute taxes:

“They shall not be required to pay taxes on the sacred money which they send to Jerusalem, nor on their sacred offerings.” (Antiquities 14.10.8 §§213–216)

Provincial enforcement: Caesar repeated these protections in letters to governors in Asia Minor and Cyrene, instructing them to allow the Jews “to observe their own laws, and to enjoy the sacred money they collect for Jerusalem.” (Antiquities 14.10.8 §§223–225; 14.10.10 §235)

Taken together, these decrees amounted to a charter of Jewish privilege under Rome. Judaism was legally recognized, protected from interference, and granted rights unmatched by most other groups in the empire.

This made Judaism unique: an ancient religion formally safeguarded by Caesar’s laws. But it also created a problem for the future — because once Christianity emerged, the question would become: Does this new movement share in Jewish protections, or is it something new and therefore illegal?

4. Rome’s Respect for Ancient Religions

Why was Rome willing to tolerate the Jews? The answer lies in how Romans thought about religion. They admired what was old and distrusted what was new.

Pliny the Elder wrote in the 1st century AD:

“What is ancient is more holy; what is new is suspect.” (Natural History 28.3)

Tacitus, writing around 100 AD, echoed:

“Whatever their origin, the antiquity of their rites gives them credit.” (Histories 5.5)

Judaism, with its ancient laws and Scriptures, commanded a respect that protected it. Christianity, however, was seen as new — and therefore dangerous. Already, the seeds of conflict were planted.

5. Augustus: The Divine Son (27 BC–AD 14)

After Caesar’s assassination, his adopted son Octavian rose to power as Caesar Augustus. He carried his father’s legacy further, presenting himself as divine.

Suetonius records:

“He added the title ‘Son of a God’ to his name.” (Divus Augustus 94.1)

Augustus himself, in his Res Gestae (completed AD 14), boasts:

“After my death… the Senate decreed that my name should be included in the hymns of the Salii and be consecrated as a god.” (§35)

And the Priene Inscription (9 BC) celebrated him in language that should sound familiar to Christians:

“Since Providence… has filled [Augustus] with virtue so that he might benefit mankind… sending him as a Savior (sōtēr)… The birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning for the world of the good tidings (euangelion) that have come through him.” (OGIS 458)

Mark’s Gospel begins deliberately:

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1)

This was not just theology. It was a direct counter-claim to Rome’s imperial ideology.

6. Herod the Great and Mass Cruelties (37–4 BC)

Into this Roman world of Caesar’s decrees and Augustus’s divine claims came Herod the Great, Rome’s client king in Judea. He ruled from 37 BC until his death in 4 BC.

Josephus paints Herod as a man driven by paranoia and ruthless violence:

“His whole life was a continual scene of bloodshed; even his own sons were not spared.” (Antiquities 17.6.5 §§191–192)

“He gave orders to kill a great number of the most illustrious men of the whole Jewish nation.” (Antiquities 17.6.5 §204)

Among Herod’s victims was Hyrcanus II, the very same high priest who had once supported Julius Caesar and had brought troops to his aid. The execution of Caesar’s old ally showed that loyalty to Rome did not guarantee survival under a client king’s suspicion.

It is in this context that Matthew records Herod’s order to slaughter the infants in Bethlehem:

“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16)

Some modern critics question this account because Josephus does not mention it. But considering what Josephus does report — the executions of Herod’s own sons, the planned massacre of Jerusalem’s leaders, and his general record of bloodshed — the killing of children in a small village is tragically consistent with his character. For Josephus, who focused on political and military events, such an atrocity may not have been considered significant enough to record. For Matthew, it carried theological and prophetic weight.

This also helps us with the dating of Jesus’ birth. Since Herod died in 4 BC, and Matthew describes Jesus as up to two years old at the time of the slaughter, most historians conclude that Jesus was born around 6 BC.

When Herod died, Judea erupted in revolt. The Roman governor Publius Quinctilius Varus marched swiftly from Syria to suppress it. His response was brutal:

“Varus… crucified about two thousand of those that had been the authors of the revolt.” (Jewish War 2.5.2 §75)

The roads around Jerusalem lined with crosses, the infants of Bethlehem slaughtered at a king’s command — these were the realities of the world into which Jesus was born.

7. The Census and Judas the Galilean (AD 6)

In AD 6, Rome removed Archelaus, Herod’s son, and made Judea a Roman province under direct rule. A census for taxation was ordered.

Josephus says:

“Coponius, a man of the equestrian order, was sent by Caesar to govern the Jews, and he had the power of life and death put into his hands by Caesar.” (Antiquities 18.1.1 §2)

A Galilean named Judas stirred rebellion:

“Judas of Galilee… said that this taxation was nothing less than slavery, and exhorted the nation to assert their liberty.” (Antiquities 18.1.6 §4)

Josephus describes their conviction:

“They say that God alone is their ruler and lord… and they do not value dying any more than living.” (Jewish War 2.8.1 §§117–118)

And he marks this moment as the beginning of a movement that would plague Rome for decades:

“This was the beginning of great disturbances.” (Antiquities 18.1.8 §27)

Jesus was about 12 years old at this time. He grew up in Galilee, the very region where Judas had raised his banner of revolt, and where memories of Rome’s response — arrests, crucifixions, suppression — were seared into the minds of families.

8. Rome Never Forgets (AD 46–48)

Rome did not forgive rebellion quickly. Even decades later, the family of Judas was hunted down. During the procuratorship of Tiberius Alexander (AD 46–48), two of Judas’s sons were captured:

“Two of his sons, James and Simon, were taken and crucified.” (Antiquities 20.5.2 §102)

This shows Rome’s long memory. Not only rebels, but their families were targeted. Even after Jesus’ crucifixion, Judas’s line was still being crucified.

9. Other Revolts, Other Crosses (1st century AD)

It is important to remember that Judea was not the only province to resist taxation. Tacitus records that in AD 21, the Gauls protested a census:

“The Gauls… declared they were being reduced to slavery under the guise of a census and taxation.” (Annals 3.40)

And in AD 60–61, the Britons under Boudica rose up violently against Rome’s abuses and tribute demands:

“The Britons… outraged by abuses and tribute, rose in fury to throw off the Roman yoke.” (Annals 14.31)

But there was a difference. For Gauls and Britons, taxation was political slavery. For Jews, taxation was also a theological affront. To pay tribute to Caesar was to confess him as lord, something only God could be. That is why resistance in Judea carried such intensity — it was not just about politics, but about worship.

10. Conclusion to Part 2

From Caesar’s decrees to Augustus’s divine titles, from Herod’s paranoia to Varus’s mass crucifixions, from Judas the Galilean’s revolt to Rome’s relentless vengeance, the Jewish world into which Jesus was born was dominated by imperial propaganda, oppressive taxation, and violent suppression.

The first Christians grew up in this environment. They knew what Rome demanded: loyalty, taxes, sacrifice, even worship. They also knew what Rome did to those who resisted: crosses by the thousands.

So when they proclaimed Jesus as Lord and Savior, they were not speaking safe religious words. They were directly challenging the claims of Caesar himself.