64–67 Martyrdoms of Peter and Paul at Rome. Mark’s Gospel is written.
68–69 Galba emperor.
70 Destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans.
c. 80 Gospels of Matthew and Luke and the Acts of the Apostles are written.
81–96 Domitian emperor.
c. 95 Final text of the Revelation; soon thereafter, final text of John’s Gospel and the three letters of John the Elder.
Acknowledgments
To friends who read the first draft of the manuscript—my wife, Susan Cahill, John E. Becker, William Cassidy, John J. Collins, Michael D. Coogan, Paul Dinter, Herman Gollob, Madeleine. L’Engle, Stefani Michelson. Gary B. Ostrower, Thomas V. Peterson, Burton Visotzky, and Robert J. Whiter—I owe much by way of corrections both small and large. But what errors and imperfections remain are mine alone.
Within Doubleday and its parent, Random House, Inc., there dwell many who deserve my gratitude, my editor and publisher, Nan A. Talese, always topping the list; but I must mention also Peter Olson, Richard Sarnoff, Katherine Trager, William G. Barry, Stephen Rubin Jacqueline Everly, John Pitts, Sandee Yuen, Judy Jacoby, Mario Pulice, Maria Carella, and Sean McDonald. Beyond Doubleday and Random House, I owe many thanks to Marysarah Quirin, the book’s designer; Kathy Kikkert, the jacket designer; my assistant, Diane Marcus; my redoubtable agent, Lynn Nesbit, and her colleagues Cullen Stanley, Tina Bennett, and Eric Simonoff; the bookseller Henry Morren (till recently) of the Union Theological Bookstore in NewYork City; the research librarian Andrea Ginsky of the Selby Public Library in Sarasota, Florida; and James P. McCabe, director of the libraries of Fordham University. All these have been instrumental at one time or another, in one way or another, in enabling me to get a few steps further in creating this series of books and this book in particular.
No book can reach its readers without the help of the publisher’s sales force. Indeed, within the world of reading, the moment in which the sales rep tries to interest the bookshop buyer in a new title is even more crucial than the moment the reader pulls a new book off the bookshop shelf. The Doubleday sales reps have been essential to the success of The Hinges of History series, starting with the 1994 sales conference at which they insisted on tripling the initial print run for How the Irish Saved Civilization, thus tripling the house’s expectations for this quirky little title. They deserve to be thanked individually: Robert Allen, Carlos Azula, Barbara Barr, Warren Bost, Reed Boyd, Gail Browning, Philip Canterbury, Brian Cassin, Linda Chisholm, Michael Coe, Janet Cooke, Tom Cox, Michael Croy Deb Darrock, Bruce Dasse, Kelly Duffin, Karen Fink, Dennis Geare, Michael Gillies, David Glenn, Harvey Goodman, Ken Graham, Al Greco, Chris Grimm, Jim Hiscocks, Don Hoglund, Karen Hopkins, Evelyn Hubbard, Marian Jackson, Lauren Johnson, Sally Johnson, Constance Jump, Ann Kingman, Mary Lang, David Lappin, Scott Lepine, Britt Levine, Jerry Lex, Tom Lovett, Lisa McCormack, Marty McGrath, Constance MacKenzie, Brad Martin, Jim Masiakowski, Jay Melton, Wayne Miller, John Neale, Amy Nover, Annette Trial O’Neil, Helen Ortiz, David Persaud, Maura Phelan, David Phethean, Susan Reiheld, Ron Richardson, Heidi Sachner, Jack St. Mary, Linda Scott, Ron Shoop, Lome Sproule, Robert Standing, Robert Trail, Alan Trask, Lahring Tribe, David Underwood, Cinda Van Deursen, Leslie Vasilio, Valerie Walley, Don Weisberg, Margaret Winter, and James Young. (Because it is all too easy to omit someone from a list this long, I beg forgiveness from anyone so omitted and rush to assure you that the omission was inadvertent.) Lastly, I would thank those whose careers have now taken them elsewhere but who were so important in setting this series on its feet: Steve Atinsky, Aileen Berg, Kip Triplett, Jacqueline Updike, and the legendary, unforgettable Bruce de Garmeaux.
The author has endeavored to credit all known persons holding copyright or reproduction rights for passages quoted and for illustrations reproduced in this book, especially:
Art Resource, NY, for the image of Orpheus with the animals and the bronze profiles of Peter and Paul.
David Higham Associates for “Still Falls the Rain” from Collected Poems by Edith Sitwell, published by Sinclair-Stevenson, copyright © 1957, 1993.
Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY, for the image of the Good Shepherd.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the head of Christ, attributed to Rembrandt (1606–69), from the Mr. and Mrs. Isaac D. Fletcher Collection, Bequest of Isaac D. Fletcher, 1917.
Orbis Books for “Room for Christ” from Dorothy Day: Selected Writings, edited by Robert Ellsberg, copyright © 1983, 1992 by Robert Ellsberg and Tamar Hennessey.
Random House, Inc., for the closing lines from For the Time Being by W. H. Auden, copyright © 1944 and renewed 1972 by W.H. Auden. Reprinted from W. H. Auden: Collected Poems.
Saskia Ltd./Art Resource, NY, for the fresco portraits of Peter and Paul.
Scala/Art Resource, NY, for the image of the Eucharistic Banquet, Catacomb of S. Callisto, and the image of the orans figure, Catacomb of S. Priscilla.
Vernon Miller, Brooks Institute, for photographs of the Shroud of Turin, Copyright © 1978, Vernon Miller.
Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc., for “The Adversary” by Phyllis McGinley, from her Times Three, copyright © 1959 by Phyllis McGinley.
Weidenfeld and Nicolson Archives for the fresco portrait of Peter.
Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY, for the funerary portrait.
Index of Biblical Citations
This list, which is offered as an aid to those who would explore the Bible more fully, is confined to those biblical passages quoted in the main text that contain a full sentence or more. For those unfamiliar with the conventions of biblical citation: each citation begins with the title (sometimes in shortened form) of one of the books to be found in the Bible, followed by the chapter number, followed (after the colon) by the verse number(s).
CHAPTER ONE
1 Maccabees
1:1–9
1:34–35
3:18–22
2 Maccabees
7:6
7:27–29
Job
19:25–26
2 Maccabees
7:11
Wisdom
3:1–9
1 Maccabees
8:1
Isaiah
40:1–5; 45:8
7:14; 9:2; 9:6; 11:1–3
11:6–9
CHAPTER TWO
Mark
1:15
1:11
1:19–20; 1:22
Matthew
5:3–10
5:17–48
Mark
10:17–22
Matthew
11:28–30
11:18–19; 15:3
Mark
2:27
Matthew
10:14; 11:25
15:11–19
Mark
2:18–20
Luke
1:26–38
Job
1:21
Luke
1:46–55
2:1–7
John
16:21
Matthew
13:54–55
CHAPTER THREE
Matthew
16:13–19
26:34–35
26:75
Mark
15:45–16:8
Acts
9:4
Galatians
1:16–17
Romans
11:1
Philippians
3:4–6
Galatians
1:14
2 Corinthians
11:24–29
5:19
Galatians
4:4–7
Romans
6:3
6:4–11
Galatians
6:1–2; 5:13–14
Matthew
22:36–39
1 Corinthians
12:31–13:13
1:20–29
5:6
11:2
11:11–12
11:17–2
1
1:23–29
12:12–31
Galatians
3:28
Ephesians
4:4–6
Galatians
5:1
2:11–14
Romans
9:1–5; 11:29
2 Timothy
4:6–8
Romans
8:38–39
Revelation
1:18
5:5
11:3–4; 11:7–10
12:1
13:1–18
1 Corinthians
2:7–8
Revelation
21:3–7
CHAPTER FOUR
Luke
4:16–21
10:29–37
10:39–42
11:2–4
11:5–13
12:16–21
16:19–31
12:22–31
14:10
Mark
10:29–30
Luke
18:29
15:11–32
7:39–47
9:51
19:41
13:34; 22:15
23:34; 23:39–43
Romans
5:8
Mark
6:50
Luke
7:22–23
CHAPTER FIVE
John
20:13–16
Luke
24:19–32
Acts
2:1–4
2:13
2:14–18
2:36
3:6
7:60
Colossians
3:18–4:1
1 Corinthians
7:39–40
Philemon
in toto
1 Thessalonians
3:6
Acts
20:37–38
2 Corinthians
1:19
Matthew
25:31–26:1
CHAPTER SIX
John
1:1–5; 1:10–12; 1:14; 1:16
9:58; 11:25; 14:6–7
1:45–50
4:7–26
4:29; 4:39–42
12:5; 12:6
13:1–5; 13:14; 18:31; 19:12
19:13–16
Luke
23:46
John
19:30
3:16; 13:34; 15:5–9
1 John
4:16
John
21:15–17
8:2–11
Mark
15:39
15:34
John
15:13; 3:16–17
6:51
2 Corinthians
1:5
Colossians
1:24
Philippians
2:6–8
John
19:34
CHAPTER SEVEN
Zechariah
12:10
Isaiah
41:9
John
15:16
General Index
Abomination of Desolation, 1.1, 3.1
Abraham, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 7.1
Acts of the Apostles, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 6.1
Adam, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1, 6.1, 6.2
Adultery, 2.1, 6.1
Afterlife, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1
Agape, 3.1
Age of the Church
Age of the Spirit, 5.1, 5.2
Alexander the Great, 1.1, 1.2
Alexandria, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 4.1
Altar of Augustan Peace, 1.1, 1.2
Altar of Sacrifice
Amos, 2.1, 2.2
Ananias, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1
Andrew, 2.1, 2.2
Angels, 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 6.1
Antichrists
Antigonus II
Antioch, 1.1, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2
Antiochus Epiphanes, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4
Antiochus III (King of Syria)
Antipater, 1.1, 1.2
Anti-Semitism
Antonia Fortress
Apocalypse, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2
Apocrypha
Apostola Apostolorum, 4.1
Aquila, 5.1, 5.2
Ara Pacis Augustae, 1.1, 1.2
Aristotle
Ark of the Covenant, 1.1, 4.1
Armageddon, 2.1, 2.2
Assyrians
Atheism
Athens, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
Augustine of Hippo
Augustus (Octavian Caesar Augustus), 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1
Aung San Suu Kyi
Axial Age, 1.1, bm1.1
Baal Shem Tov
Babylon, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
Babylonian Captivity, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1
Baptism, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 6.1
freedom
inner transformation and
salvation and
Barnabas, 3.1, 5.1, 5.2
Bartholomew
Basilica of Santa Maria
Battle of Actium
Battle of Chaeronea
Battle of Gaugamela
Battle of Issus
Beast, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2
Beatitudes, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 5.1
Beloved Disciple, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5
Benjamin
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bethlehem, 2.1, 2.2
Bible
Hebrew, 1.1, 1.2, 4.1, 6.1
New Testament, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4
Septuagint, 1.1, 4.1, 4.2
See also individual books
Birkat ha-minim, 6.1
Blasphemy, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1
Book of the Consolation of Israel
Book of Wisdom
Brigid of Kildare
Brotherhood, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1
Brown, Raymond, 4.1, 6.1, 7.1, bm1.1, bm1.2, bm1.3
Caesar, Julius, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 3.1
Calvary
Campus Martius
Canaan
Canaanites
Capernaum, 2.1, 2.2
Cassius, 1.1, 1.2
Catholic Worker movement
Celibacy, 1.1, 1.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1
Charity, 4.1, 4.2, 6.1
Chloe, 3.1, 5.1
Christianity
compromised
divinization of possessions of
dogma in
early, 3.1, 5.1, 6.1
expulsion from synagogue and
growth of, 6.1, 6.2
idealism of
Jesus’s role as savior in
origins of, and Judaism, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1
pacifism in
patriarchy and, 3.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 7.1
Paul as inventor of
power politics in
realism of
theological hatred and
Christmas
Church
birth symbols
early
hierarchy in
Johannine, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4
positions of responsibility in
structure of
Circumcision, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4.1
Claver, Peter
Cleopatra, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4
Colosseum
Colossians
Colossians (Paul’s Letter), 3.1, 4.1, 5.1
Communion, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1
Communism, 5.1, 5.2, bm1.1
Community of Sant’Egidio, 7.1, bm1.1
Compassion, 4.1, 7.1
Constantine
Convivium, 3.1
Corinth, 1.1, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 5.1, 5.2
Corinthian League, 1.1, 1.2
Corinthians, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2
Corinthians, First, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4
Corinthians, Second, 3.1, 3.2
Cosmic Code
Crassus, 1.1, 1.2
Creation, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1
Crossan, John Dominic, 2.1, 6.1
Crucifixion, 2.1, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 6.1, 6.2, 6.
3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 7.1
Custom, 3.1, 4.1
Cyrus (King of Persia), 1.1, 1.2
Daniel, Book of, 1.1, 3.1, 6.1
Darius III (King of Persia), 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
David, itr.1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 4.1, 7.1
Day, Dorothy
Day of Pentecost
Day of Preparation, 6.1, bm1.1
Day of the Lord
Dead Sea Scrolls, 1.1, 1.2, 6.1, bm1.1
Democracy, 1.1, 1.2, 7.1
Demosthenes, 1.1, 1.2
Deutero-Isaiah, 1.1, 2.1
Deuteronomy, Book of
Disciples. See individuals
“Disciple Whom Jesus Loved.” See Beloved Disciple
Divorce, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
Dragon, 3.1, 3.2
Ecstatics
Edict of Cyrus
Egypt, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 3.1, 3.2
Elijah
Elizabeth, 2.1, 2.2
Elizabeth of Hungary
Emmaus, 1.1, 5.1
Emotion
Ephesians (Paul’s Letter)
Ephesus, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1
Epicureans
Essenes, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 6.1, bm1.1
Eternity
Eucharist, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2
Evil, 3.1, 4.1
Exodus, Book of, 2.1, 2.2
Exorcism, 4.1, 4.2
Ezekiel
Ezekiel, Book of
Faith
Feast of the Assembly
Feast of Weeks, 5.1, 5.2
Festival of Lights, 1.1, 1.2
Field of Mars
First Council of Jerusalem
Forgiveness, 4.1, bm1.1
Fox, George, 7.1, 7.2
Francis of Assisi
Gabriel (angel)
Galatians, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5
Galatians (Paul’s Letter), 3.1, 3.2
Galilee, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.1, 4.1, 4.2
Garden of Gethsemane, 6.1, 6.2
Gaza, 1.1, 1.2
Gehenna, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3
Genesis, Book of, 1.1, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1, 6.2, bm1.1
Gnostics, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4
proto-, 3.1, 3.2
God
adoption by
Covenant with
equality of man before
goodness of, 2.1, 2.2
indirect reference to, 1.1, 1.2
interventions for mankind
Kingdom of, 2.1, 2.2, 4.1
Mother of
promises to Israel
Son of, 3.1, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
special love of
Spirit of, 1.1, 5.1
of the Unspeakable Name
Voice of, 3.1, 5.1
Word of, 2.1, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
Golgotha, 6.1, 6.2
Good Samaritan, 4.1, 6.1
Gospels
eyewitnesses and