Chapter 5: The Subversive Seed

That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. – Jesus

Author's Note:

I had no intention of writing about Jesus in this book. This was not because of any disregard I have for the man – I just didn't see how he played much of a role in this story. But as the text took shape, he kept appearing. Before long, I understood that he was a major figure in my analysis. I couldn't keep him out and still write an honest book.

None of this has anything to do with Jesus actually being the son of God (or not). I am not dealing with beliefs here; I am concerned with the recorded teachings of Jesus and the effects they had upon the Western world. If the story of Jesus were nothing but a fable, it would make no difference at all in this analysis.

The Western civilization that follows Jesus is unique. It has gone through several rises and falls, yet it has never failed altogether. This is something that Professor Quigley noted 50 years ago and that puzzled him. Why is it that this one civilization keeps resurrecting itself? I never worked on the question very directly, but it did remain in the back of my mind. Then, piece by piece, an answer began to form, and its threads kept leading back to Jesus.

So be it.

THE INSERTION

Jesus' teachings enter history in a very interesting spot. The place is the Roman Empire, where communication and travel are approaching a peak that was not re-attained for nearly two thousand years1. Literacy is very high by pre-modern standards. In the province when Jesus arises, literacy is fairly high and the inhabitants have their minds unusually open to ideas2. The moment is just after the Roman Republic has been replaced by the Empire. The first emperor is in place, and all the seeds of Rome's demise have been sown.

Jesus seems to have been a fairly secretive man, and one who even his closest students never understood. Jesus, himself, wrote nothing that we are aware of. Yet within ten years of his death3, his followers begin to spread far and wide, and to convince foreigners with their message. Within 40 years of his death, the vast majority of his now-many followers were forcibly removed from both the city of Rome (49 A.D.) and from their center in Jerusalem (66 A.D.) They spread Jesus' teachings "below the radar" – in towns, in the countryside, and in the mundane areas of cities. There were few restrictions on their travels and the Empire was a surprisingly open place to new religious ideas. Pagans did not seek to destroy other religions; rather, they allowed them. They did not think their gods had to be the only gods.

As is also well known, Jesus was a Jew and lived among Jews. Their culture was, by this time, one of the few remnants of the Semitic civilization that invented a good deal of modern life. We turn to them now:

THE SEMITES CREATE CAPITALISM

The Jews originated as a tribe of Semites in or around the region of Caanan, probably called Habiru. (Or, in modern language, Hebrews.4) As mentioned earlier, their rise and fall closely follows another group of Semites called Phoenicians. The Phoenicians, crucially, kept knowledge alive during the Dark Ages of 1200-800 B.C.