50 Things You're Not Supposed To Know: Religion by Daniele Bolelli Page A
Authors: Daniele Bolelli
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modern day Turkey under the shadow of the Ottoman Empire. Among both Christians and Jews, many were those looking for signs of a coming Messiah ushering humanity into a new age and/or the end of the world. After battling for much of his early life some serious manic-depressive tendencies, Sabbatai promptly stepped up to the messianic plate ready to claim the title. In case his proclaiming he was the Messiah wasn't radical enough, Sabbatai also scandalized many fellow Jews by breaking traditional customs by eating nonkosher food and speaking the forbidden name of God. While he was at it, he also took as a wife a beautiful former hooker who in infancy had survived the massacre of Jews in Poland, and who believed she was destined to marry the Messiah. According to his followers (which at the beginning weren't that many), these violations were signs that the old laws no longer applied now that the Messiah had arrived. Many of the higher ups in the Jewish religious hierarchy didn't buy it and opposed him fiercely (which is exactly the same way in which the Jewish religious elite had reacted to Jesus).
Unlike Jesus, however, Sabbatai managed to gain thousands of followers rather quickly from both Europe as well as from the Ottoman Empire. The desperation felt by many Jews because of the extreme anti-Semitism they faced made many ready to embrace this new Messiah, since they felt he couldn't have come at a more opportune time. In 1665, Sabbatai pushed his luck by predicting that within a year he and his right hand man—who, incidentally, was supposed to be a new incarnation of the prophet Elijah—would conquer the world and lead all Jews back to Israel. This bold prediction spurred thousands of Jews to begin selling everything they owned in preparation for their trip back to the Promised Land.
This kind of bravado, however, didn't sit well with the Ottomans, who controlled that part of the world. The grand vizier promptly had him arrested. And this is where Sabbatai found out that being the Messiah was not as fun as advertised.The grand vizier, in fact, told him that the only way he would be freed would be by performing a miracle. First he would be stripped naked, and then the court archers would use him as a target. If his messianic powers could deflect the arrows, then he would be free to go. Faced with the archers, Sabbatai suddenly remembered that his passion for martyrdom had run out, and that he had actually always wanted to convert to Islam. Satisfied with having exposed him as a charlatan, the Ottomans let him live. Some diehards among his followers tried to spin the whole thing as part of a super complicated messianic move to redeem the whole world by sacrificing his convictions—and, by the way, there are a few thousand people who still believe this today—but clearly this was a hard sell. Had Sabbatai been a little crazier or gutsier, it's likely that a fourth major Western religion would have joined Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
19 IF YOU ARE POOR, IT’S BECAUSE GOD HATES YOUR GUTS
The history of Christianity is like a treasure chest for anyone who is fond of contradictions. The Gospels bicker with each other by relating similar tales in very different ways. But even more obviously, Christianity has often so dramatically departed from the words attributed to Jesus as to make you wonder how these glaring contradictions can be justified. Jesus tells you to “Love yourenemies” and “Turn the other cheek”? So let's show how much we love Jesus by waging crusades, inquisitions, witch-hunts, and brutal campaigns of repression against anyone who doesn't love Him as much as we do. Jesus's pacifism has drowned in the hyper-violence that has characterized much of Christian history.
But—we may object—most Christians alive today seem to have lost the bloodthirsty enthusiasm of their ancestors, and are no longer inclined to exterminate non-Christians. Even though it is true enough that chopping
Unlike Jesus, however, Sabbatai managed to gain thousands of followers rather quickly from both Europe as well as from the Ottoman Empire. The desperation felt by many Jews because of the extreme anti-Semitism they faced made many ready to embrace this new Messiah, since they felt he couldn't have come at a more opportune time. In 1665, Sabbatai pushed his luck by predicting that within a year he and his right hand man—who, incidentally, was supposed to be a new incarnation of the prophet Elijah—would conquer the world and lead all Jews back to Israel. This bold prediction spurred thousands of Jews to begin selling everything they owned in preparation for their trip back to the Promised Land.
This kind of bravado, however, didn't sit well with the Ottomans, who controlled that part of the world. The grand vizier promptly had him arrested. And this is where Sabbatai found out that being the Messiah was not as fun as advertised.The grand vizier, in fact, told him that the only way he would be freed would be by performing a miracle. First he would be stripped naked, and then the court archers would use him as a target. If his messianic powers could deflect the arrows, then he would be free to go. Faced with the archers, Sabbatai suddenly remembered that his passion for martyrdom had run out, and that he had actually always wanted to convert to Islam. Satisfied with having exposed him as a charlatan, the Ottomans let him live. Some diehards among his followers tried to spin the whole thing as part of a super complicated messianic move to redeem the whole world by sacrificing his convictions—and, by the way, there are a few thousand people who still believe this today—but clearly this was a hard sell. Had Sabbatai been a little crazier or gutsier, it's likely that a fourth major Western religion would have joined Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
19 IF YOU ARE POOR, IT’S BECAUSE GOD HATES YOUR GUTS
The history of Christianity is like a treasure chest for anyone who is fond of contradictions. The Gospels bicker with each other by relating similar tales in very different ways. But even more obviously, Christianity has often so dramatically departed from the words attributed to Jesus as to make you wonder how these glaring contradictions can be justified. Jesus tells you to “Love yourenemies” and “Turn the other cheek”? So let's show how much we love Jesus by waging crusades, inquisitions, witch-hunts, and brutal campaigns of repression against anyone who doesn't love Him as much as we do. Jesus's pacifism has drowned in the hyper-violence that has characterized much of Christian history.
But—we may object—most Christians alive today seem to have lost the bloodthirsty enthusiasm of their ancestors, and are no longer inclined to exterminate non-Christians. Even though it is true enough that chopping
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