Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§9.4 The Historical Context
be more precise, it is because there is a Judaism more generally recognizable as
constituting the life of the people (the Judeans/Jews) that we can go on to speak
of different versions of Judaism practised by different groups of Jews. As we
shall indicate shortly (§9.5), there was a common foundation of practice and belief
which constituted the constant or recurring or common factors unifying all
the different particular forms of first-century Judaism and on which they were
built.
However, before we turn to describe this Judaism, or, again to be more
precise, these common features of Second Temple Judaism, we have once again
to remind ourselves that our phenomenological description of the diversity of
first-century Judaism may not represent adequately the self-understanding and
perspective of any of the particular forms of first-century Judaism. Before proceeding
to 'common Judaism', therefore, we must try to step inside and see
first-century Judaism in the land of Israel 'from within', what these groups
claimed for themselves and thought of each other. Without taking some account
of an insider's view, a spectator's view of first-century Judaism will always be
inadequate. A spectator may be content to describe a Judaism which was richly
diverse in character; but did the insiders share that recognition of diversity, and
if not, how should that fact influence our perception of first-century 'Judaism'?
Here too there is probably sufficient evidence in most cases, though in comparison
with the first approach the issue here has rarely been addressed in modern
discussions.
9.4. Jewish Factionalism — Judaism from Within
How do we get 'inside' the Judaism(s) of our period? Obviously by reading
empathetically the documents which were written within Israel during our period,
particularly those that were written from a self-consciously insider perspective
and in defence of their self-perception, even if in the event they spoke for
what may have been only small and relatively unrepresentative forms of Judaism.
When we do so, at once a remarkable feature becomes apparent. For wherever
we have such documents from within the Judaism(s) of the second half of
the Second Temple or post-Maccabean period in the land of Israel we find a common
theme regularly recurring — firm and unyielding claims to be the only legitimate
heirs of Israel's inheritance, and sharp, hostile, often vituperative criticism
of other Jews/Judaisms. The same is true whether it be the Dead Sea Scrolls,
1 Enoch, the Testament of Moses, Jubilees, the Psalms of Solomon, or indeed
Christian writings. The period was evidently marked by a degree of intra-Jewish
factionalism remarkable for its sustained nature and quality of bitterness — a
factionalism which included some at least of the other groups from whom we
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