Jesus came at the perfect time of history

Synthèse :

The context of the birth of the Church after Pentecost, i.e. the Jewish world of the 1st century, can be described from a few key points, around which the Mesopotamian culture, the oldest in the world, dominated the region: it was in this culture that writing, trade and the first scientific knowledge were born.

According to estimates, the Jewish people numbered between 4 and 8 million at the time of Christ, half of whom lived in Israel and the other half in a gigantic diaspora that was unique in the world, spread throughout all regions of the ancient world, from China to England, with particularly large communities in Rome, Egypt and Mesopotamia. It is estimated that the Jews represented between 5 and 10% of the Roman Empire, making them a large and influential community.

At that time, major trade routes crossed the ancient world around Israel's central location, on the "Silk Roads" in particular, from the Mediterranean to China, but also on the "Incense Roads" to the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, and on the "Tin Road" to Spain, Western Europe and England. The Jews were the organisers, driving trade from China to Spain with the help of their diaspora. Their ancient trade routes were highly organised and enabled the exchange and trade of spices, textiles, precious stones, precious metals, technologies and the sharing of religious and philosophical ideas.

The language spoken in Israel at the time of Christ was the oral version of Imperial Aramaic: this was the great trading language used throughout the East, from the shores of the Mediterranean to India, and on all the trade route networks of Antiquity.

At the turn of the first century, between 6 BC and 33 AD, the emergence of Christianity also took place in a political context dominated militarily by the Roman Empire, which stretched from Britain to Syria and encompassed parts of three continents, representing a power unprecedented in history. The period of the Pax Romana, between 27 BC and 180 AD, marked by relative stability, was the result of the Roman conquest, which unified the Empire under a single economic, military and linguistic system. This window of peace created fertile ground for the development of Christianity, offering clues as to why God might have chosen to send Jesus at this particular moment in history.

During this period, Koinè Greek emerged as the common language of the Mediterranean world. The conquest of Alexander the Great had spread this language, which is comparable to English today in terms of ubiquity. The universality of Greek proved providential for the spread of Christianity.

The contribution of the Greeks was not just linguistic, but also ideological. Concepts such as logic, reason and the search for truth also found a particular echo in the Christian message. As the sociologist of religion Rodney Stark points out, this encounter between Greek philosophy and Christian revelation provided a common intellectual platform, allowing the early Christians to express and share the teachings of Jesus in a way that resonated with mainstream Greek thought, making Christian revelation more accessible and understandable to a diverse audience in the first-century Mediterranean world.

"In addition, since they were committed to reasoning about God, the Jews were quick to embrace the Greek concern for valid reasoning. What emerged was an image of God as not only eternal and immutable but also as conscious, concerned, and rational. The early Christians fully accepted this image of God. They also added and emphasized the proposition that our knowledge of God and of his creation is progressive. Faith in both reason and progress were essential to the rise of the West."( Rodney Stark, How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity).

The emergence of the Roman Empire not only unified diverse regions under a single political system, but also created remarkable technical infrastructures, including Roman roads. These well-built and maintained roads played a key role in the rapid spread of information across the Empire. The travel facilitated by these roads enabled ideas, including the teachings of Christ, to spread efficiently from one region to another.

At the same time, the maturation of writing technology and its media, from its beginnings in Sumer (now Iraq), provided an ideal medium for the preservation and propagation of Christian teachings. The Gospels and other sacred texts were carefully transcribed and preserved, ensuring that the teachings of Christ were reliably transmitted down the generations. The combination of the Roman communications infrastructure and the maturity of writing technology thus created an environment conducive to the rapid dissemination and lasting preservation of Christian teachings in the ancient world.

In this respect, it is essential to stress that the vast majority of historians consider the Gospels to be legitimate material for illuminating our understanding of the time of Christ and the early Christians. Historical criteria, such as the style of writing, as well as the large number of copies that have survived down the centuries, make falsification virtually impossible, and guarantee the high reliability of these texts and their conformity to the originals. This documentary robustness enhances the credibility of the information transmitted and reinforces the idea that Roman roads and the technology of writing acted in concert to support the dissemination and preservation of Christ's teachings in the context of the Roman Empire.

According to estimates by the Population Reference Bureau, some 105 billion people have inhabited our planet over the course of time. Of these, only 2% were born before the arrival of Christ. As Eric Krapes of the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan points out, "divine timing could not have been more perfect". Indeed, Christ made his appearance just before the world's population entered a phase of exponential expansion. From a demographic point of view, the timing of Christ's coming seems perfectly placed to maximise his influence on humanity. If the divine incarnation had taken place at a time when the world's population was much larger, Christ's message might have had greater difficulty in reaching and touching large numbers of people. The geographic dispersion and complexity of societies might have made it much more difficult to spread his message.

In a perfect symphony, Christ's coming to earth seems to be a work meticulously orchestrated by a watchmaker. Every parameter, whether demographic, economic, political, sociological, ideological or linguistic, came together harmoniously to create an optimal framework. It's a celestial ballet where the divine calendar meets the twists and turns of human history, bringing forth Christian revelation with a power that transcends the centuries.

Au-delà des raisons d'y croire :

With hindsight, it is clear that Christ's coming to earth was not only optimal in terms of timing, but also had an extraordinarily positive impact on humanity. The ideals it instilled have been powerful catalysts, bringing out the best in human nature. From the emergence of charitable works to the adoption of universal values, Christ has shaped a trajectory of love, compassion and greatness. His teachings have been an inexhaustible source of inspiration and transformation, continuing to guide humanity towards ideals of human dignity and altruism. As biblical scholar Ernest Renan acknowledged: "Whatever may be the surprises of the future, Jesus will never be surpassed. His worship will grow young without ceasing; his legend will call forth tears without end; his sufferings will melt the noblest hearts; all ages will proclaim that, among the sons of men, there is none born greater than Jesus."

Aller plus loin :

Rodney Stark, How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity, ISI Books, 2015.

En savoir plus :

• Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.
• The Population Reference Bureau website.
• Video interview with Rodney Stark: "Jesus, the game changer"