The Market of the Gods

2,000 years ago, Judaism was becoming an attractive product in the market of Mediterranean religions. Yet it was Christianity that won the day. Innovation anthropologist Dominique Desjeux offers an unexpected solution to this oft-revisited enigma. In the year 70, the Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed. The Jews were in danger of disappearing, even though they represented nearly 8% of the empire's population. To survive, the Jews had to make a strategic choice between several controversies: the resurrection of the dead, proselytism, the application of circumcision and dietary prohibitions. One school of thought proposed refocusing on the purity of rules. This later gave rise to Rabbinical Judaism. Another Jewish current favored globalization. It proposed a religious product that was easier to disseminate. It did away with circumcision and kashrut, included eternal life, which reassured against the uncertainties of the future, and baptism, which simplified the rituals of purification. This current was excluded from synagogues. A few centuries later, it gave rise to Christianity. Any resemblance to today’s innovations and crises is not accidental.