You shall have no other gods before Me

[Xenophon]

He definitely went ham on them that was a pretty crazy story. I think they were all like tax collectors and stuff though. I don’t recall his reasoning exactly but I sympathize with the tax thing

There were folks there changing money (for a modest fee, of course) so the temple tax could be paid by worshipers. Then there were also those selling sacrificial animals in the temple itself. Mostly Jesus seems to have been p.o.'ed that the precincts were becoming a scene of secular business dealings. Taxpayer revolt was no overt part of this, though that certainly could be a subtext. His actual teaching on taxes "Render to Caesar &c," seems to acquiesce in paying taxes. (Bertrand Russell claimed to see in that an adroit bit of double talk that sidestepped the question.)I tend to say you have here in embryo the notion of "City of God/ City of Man." The two-truths prestidigitation whereby one can treat the secular powers like a de facto God while consoling oneself that, in one's heart, YHWH remains #1.

 

[HoldAll]

Monotheism is all about spiritual exclusivity, about a divine monopoly, and like all monopolies, it's jealously guarded by the monopolist. It doesn't tolerate any opposition, and again like all monopolies, it tends to go stale after some time.

Just a reminder: This thread isn't about the alleged biography of Jesus alone, the Muslim and Judiast perspectives would also be interesting...