Ehrman argues love in the Greco-Roman world was directed at those who were close to you either socially or biologically.  In the Hebrew bible it is commanded toward one’s fellow Israelite, even if they are strangers to you.  This need not include an emotional component, though it could, and refers to an action of treating people well when they are in need.  You do things for them that you would do for yourself, regardless of whether you like them or not.  For those who are not Israelites, in Numbers Moses says to take the promised land and kill those in it, so love of neighbor was a limited mandate.  The exceptions are those who immigrate into Israel, they are to be treated as Israelites. 

Jesus says the whole of the Law depends on loving, worshipping, and obeying God above all else, and loving your neighbor in the same way you treat yourself.  In the ancient world “Might makes right” was a moral principle, and Jesus argues against this.  There was no moral objection to things like war and slavery and the subservience of women in the ancient world, because it was thought the powerful ought to dominate.  Jesus taught a life of service, you serve others rather than dominate them.  Ehrman summarizes:

• The two greatest love commandments (Mark 12:28-34)

▪ The golden rule (Matthew 7:12)

▪ Service over domination (Mark 10:41-45)

A real innovation of Jesus is that my neighbor is no longer my fellow Israelite, but all of humanity.  Ehrman summarizes:

• The good Samaritan, who are traditionally seen as the enemy of the Jews, helps the Jewish man, and so your neighbor is also your enemy, whoever is in need (Luke 10:25-37)

▪ The sheep and the goats – the King of the Earth addresses all the people of the earth and welcomes in the sheep because the least of people were in need and they cared for them, and he excludes the goats because they did not help.  Ehrman says Jesus probably taught this because it does not advance the Christian gospel of cross and resurrection needed to gain eternal life  (Matthew 25:31-46)

▪ Love your enemy (Matthew 5:44)

Ehrman argues in the Greco-Roman world, the problem with wealth in antiquity wasn’t that they weren’t giving enough to the downtrodden, but that wealth made people bad: greedy, self-centered.  To deal with this you “do a good thing” with your money, like privately helping out a relative or friend; or publicly – but not giving to charity as there were no charities.  The rich person would fund their community and get recognition and notoriety in return, like a rich person today donating a stadium to a college and getting their name on it in return.  It’s good because it keeps the people happy and you compete for status with other rich people doing the same thing.  In Greco-Roman thinking you don’t give to the poor because they are unworthy.  On the other hand, in the Jewish tradition God was the God of the poor and needy: he saved slaves from Egypt and made them his people.

Ehrman explains Jesus was apocalyptic and thought the kingdom was imminent, so you should start behaving now as though the kingdom was here.  There would be no poverty or sickness in the kingdom, so you should fight poverty and heal the sick/cast out demons now.  God’s kingdom was coming to the whole world, not just the Jews, so you should care for everyone, including with your money.  Jesus wasn’t concerned with your happiness/contentment eudaimonia as the Greco-Roman philosophers were, but rather that you inherit the kingdom by picking up your cross and being crucified: suffering for the sake of others.

Ehrman continues that the historical Jesus told the rich young man to gain eternal life he needed to keep the commandments, which is not what later Christians thought because if that could be gained through works Jesus died for nothing.  The epitome of this was selling all your possessions and giving the money to the poor.  This was horribly difficult, and the rich young man fails here, which is why Jesus said it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich person enter the kingdom of God: Jesus says it is possible if God helps the rich person see clearly so that they willingly give everything away.  Jesus and his disciples did this when they left everything and everyone behind.

Clement of Alexandria taught a watered-down version of Jesus’ radical ethics, arguing as most Christians do today that Jesus didn’t literally mean you had to sell everything to give to the poor, even though this was Jesus’ teaching however uncomfortable it was.  Ehrman notes this watered- down version of Jesus’ teaching grew throughout the empire and basically gave birth to the current ethical paradigm of altruism.

Ehrman Notes Some Important Implementation:

▪ From euergetism (e.g., rich person gives a stadium for notoriety) to almsgiving

▪ The salubrious results

o Hospitals

o Orphanages

oPoorhouses

o Homes for Elderly

o Governmental assistance

oPrivate Charities