The Messiah of the Defeated: Vol. II - The Addendums(The Messiah of the Defeated)

"Messiah of the Defeated" Volume 2 is a collection of twenty-eight essays that expands discussion on some of the critical points raised in the first volume. Initially the materials covered were included in Volume I. However, it was determined by myself and my editor that having this information in main body tended to take the reader into some "cul-de-sacs of information." In editing the main body, the expanded information was extracted and used as the foundation of this second volume. The creation of the addendum volume allowed for additional information to be added to the extracted information for even greater clarification concerning the points in question. The criteria for what stayed and what was transferred tended to be whether issues were either looking at things far in the past, or far into the future of the focus of the work (the political, religious, and psychological impacts of the three main Jewish-Roman wars which occurred between the years of 66 and 145 CE.) There is a statement in the main body saying that almost all information offered was "somewhat inaccurate" based not the facts, but on the limitations created by not having "enough space" to provide the full picture of the events covered. The main purpose of this collection of essays is to attempt to provide the space needed that can take the main body of the work to "better heights of accuracy." Overall, this collection of essays helps to show the validity of the claims projected in the main body that much of the initial religious conflicts between Jews and the developing religion that came to be Christianity was over the two differing roles offered by each religion concerning "the Messiah." In the main work, and in this addendum companion volume, it is shown that the Jewish version was that of a "earthly warrior" who would liberate Jews from the oppression of foreign rulers. The soon to be Christians' version of the Messiah was one that resembled a far more traditional non-Jewish god, who as in many cultures, was a spiritual force that was vastly more concerned with the "afterlife." Christian version of the man/God also promised the fully non-Jewish concept of the "democratization of heaven" or a Messiah that allowed for the previously un-heard of concept of the entry into the "abode of God" of almost all humans. Some of these addendums include discussions on: The right to rule" in this world, and the rule of the afterlife. On the various forms of resistance that appear in the first volume such as that "activist violent resisters" and right on through to those who were "violent activist accepters." Showing how some Jews rejected the kingship of both the Hasmonean and Herodian dynasties due to their lack of direct connection to the line of King David. Exploring the little-known relationship of Jews with the Persian Empire, and the dramatic consequences of those relationships on the Roman effort to expand east, Several issues related to James the Just (the brother of the lord) and his conflicts with Paul (of the Book of Acts, ) and contradictions that exist about both of their deaths. Events that happened with the Jewish/Roman wars echoes across time even to the creation of tactics of resistance used in modern times, and how they influenced such people as Tolstoy, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. How the issues of sacrifice, as framed by the Christians, also echoes a long-held belief in the need for child sacrifice, that goes back thousands of years. As noted, each essay included in the addendums only expands the main arguments of the Messiah of the Defeated to a limited degree. Hopefully both the main text and these essays can serve as a gateway for the reader to exploring any or all of these issues discussed in far more detail.