In this book, Stephen Wylen explores the history of the Jews and emphasizes the parts of Early Judaism that are significant to Christians who want to understand the state of the race during Jesus' life.

For us, the important part of Wylen's book is the chapter titled "Hellenism."  Here he describes the taking over of Judah by the Roman general Pompey.  The highlights circle around Pompey going into the Jerusalem Temple and claiming that the Jews' religion was fake because there was no idol to worship.  The Jews "thought of themselves as citizens, in every way equal," but they didn't participate in "public civil...ceremonies because all of these things were formally dedicatd to the gods of the city."  Wylen says that this fact led to a "constant source of tension between Jews and Gentiles." 

The tension remained in Jesus' time.  Wylen brings forward the stories of the New Testament to illustrate the feelings the Jews and Gentiles had for one another.  In 66-70 AD the Jews failed to rebel and in 115 a "full-scale war broke out between the Jews and Gentiles."  This was under the Roman emperor Trajan who was responsible for the expansion of the Circus Maximus. 

Relating all of this to my question, "How can one scene effect a studio?" we can start by looking at the basics of Ben-Hur.  First off, Judah is a Jew who is friends with a Roman, Messala.  The story starts off with the two being friends, but later Judah Ben-Hur is arrested and Messala, who now has power, makes sure Ben-Hur is casted away.  This follows the history mentioned above and brings the tension between the Jews and Gentiles into our film.  As a side note, Ben-Hur also encounters Jesus--an encounter any Christian would like to see visually through an art form like film.

But back to the tension between Jew and Gentile, being that there was a massive, well-documented war among the two, it would be great for a studio to capitalize on the magnitude of the recorded history.  To do so, a film would have to find a way to dramatize the conflict between its two developed main characters--enter the chariot race.  As noted in other articles in this bibliography, the chariot race in Ben-Hur was the climax of the film. 

So a studio had to decide whether or not to push for an epic scene with grand architecture, massive numbers, intense drama, and a showdown between two former friends who represent two races that historically fought.  While the saying goes, down put all of your eggs in one basket, the success of Ben-Hur in both the stage play (mentioned in the bibliography) and the film was based on whether or not the producers had the guts to go a scene that had a lot of positive qualities going for it.  The only downsides I see, have already been highlighted--time, money, and resources.

 

An annotated bibliography for the Sermon on the Mount (= SM) and the history of its interpretation

“A man comes forth in Israel to make today’s prophetic vision tomorrow’s agenda; one for whom the teachings of Mount Sinai do not suffice because he wished to penetrate beyond to the original divine intent; one who, despite war and tyranny, dares to pursue the biblical love of neighbor to its ultimate consequence in order to brand all our souls with an ideal of human possibility that no longer allows us to be content with the threadbare, run-of-the-mill persons we are but need not be” (7-8).

“What are all the imperatives of the Instruction on the Mount if not a concerted call to absolute fulfillment of the Torah in its original meaning, the concrete teaching of the all-encompassing love of God and love of neighbor?” (37).

Anton Kozlovic, talks about the Superman story from Superman and compares it to the story of Jesus from the Bible. He first begins by stating that the original story for the movie was more based on Greek mythology, but the director insisted that it be changed. He then goes on to elaborate and twenty Jesus-Superman parallels, including the three migrations that eventually led them to do their father’s work, their appearance as that of human beings even though they are both aliens, and the fact that they are both thirty years old when they begin their missions. Then Kozlovic elaborates on specific personal traits that both figures share. For example thought they both had great power, they were always willing to turn the other cheek and they both had dual identities. He then concludes by stating that it is no wonder Superman was so heavily enjoyed by so many movie goers—he is the modern day messiah. He also believes that the true meaning of films rest in the subtext, like it does in Superman.

The modern Hollywood blockbuster is not successfully just because of its extravagant special effects. One other important aspect—probably the most important—is the story. Without a compelling narrative a film has no chance of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster. Throughout history there has never been a story more captivating then that of Jesus Christ because it offers hope in a world of disorder. By emulating the Gospel, Superman again helped set the stage for future Hollywood blockbusters. Now many modern Hollywood blockbusters can be found that like Superman have modelled their plots on the story of Jesus Christ. Truly, there is no story more captivating and Hollywood writers now know what it takes to make a successful screen play, thanks to Superman.

Commentary by one of the founders of form criticism.

A simple introduction to critical scholarship of the Sermon.

This is an annotated bibliography of useful books and online resources for study of the historical Jesus. "Historical Jesus" is a term used to described what can be said of Jesus of Nazareth from a critical, historical perspective. Critical research into the historical Jesus is generally considered to have four phases.

1. The First Quest for the Historical Jesus was pursued primarily by nineteenth-century European Liberals, who sought to use gospel sources critically to write a biography ("Life of Jesus") to portray Jesus as he really was. Albert Schweitzer's research showed that most of this work tended to portray Jesus as a nineteenth-century European Liberal.

2. A period sometimes known as "No Quest for the Historical Jesus" followed, at least in Europe. Jesus scholars of this period typically considered it both historically impossible and theologically illegitimate to write a biography of Jesus. Rudolf Bultmann and Martin Dibelius are typical of this period.

3. The Second Quest (originally, the "New Quest") began in 1953. While agreeing that it was not possible to write a biography of Jesus in nineteenth-century terms, this quest considered it possible and necessary to discover what could be said about the historical Jesus. G|nther Bornkamm is typical of this period.

4. The Third Quest began in about the 1970s. Rejecting the anti-Semitism implicit in the Criterion of Dissimilarity, it places Jesus squarely within Judaism. It uses non-canonical texts as well as canonical texts, and it shows an interest in social history. While there is no real consensus in the Third Quest, there are noticeable tendencies. Some scholars (for example, E. P. Sanders and Gerd Theissen) see Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet and others (for example, Burton Mack and Dom Crossan) see him as a non-apocalyptic wisdom teacher. In addition, there are Third Quest dissenters (for example, Luke Timothy Johnson) who have a more conservative perspective.

This book is an early major study of the Third Quest of the historical Jesus.  It focuses on Jesus as a Jew. It emphasizes what Jesus did more than what he said.  In particular, it sees the "Cleansing of the Temple" as a key to understanding Jesus as an eschatological prophet who saw himself as God's last messenger before the coming of the kingdom.

This book was an early and influential criticism of the first Quest of the Historical Jesus. It is also famous for referring to the Gospel of Mark as "a passion narrative with an extended introduction."

This critical study is the climax of the First Quest of the Historical Jesus. It presents Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet who attempted unsuccessfully to bring about the Kingdom of God.

Dom Crossan is a member of the Jesus Seminar.  This is a third-quest study. It depends heavily on the Gospel of Thomas and argues that the Gospel of Peter contains the most original passion narrative.  It presents Jesus as a Jewish peasant cynic, a non-violent, counter-cultural protestor who tried to move people into unmediated ("unbrokered") contact with God and one another. 

This is a major third-quest study, presenting Jesus as charismatic, non-apocalyptic healer and sage promoting "holiness as compassion." Borg is a member of the Jesus Seminar, and this was the first book-length study to emerge from the Jesus Seminar.

This book is intended to be an introductory textbook in the area of historical Jesus studies. The authors take a critical approach, typical of the "Third Quest" for the historical Jesus. The textbook gives a good overview of scholarly approaches to the subject. It also provides a collection of primary sources in English translation. This book is a good place to begin one's own research into the historical Jesus.

The critical study is the classic text from the early Second Quest of the Historical Jesus. As a Second Quest study, it puts a high priority on the Criterion of Dissimilarity. It is written for a popular audience.