What really happened? | Douglas Wilhelm Hard

To begin, a person by the name Joshua from Nazareth almost certainly existed. However, what really happened is up for scholarly debate. Here is a summary of what may have happened.

The Judean highlands or Judean mountains are not a nice place: they are much more rugged, more arid and much less fertile than the Samarian highlands to the north and the Shephelah foothills to the west and the coastal planes beyond those foothills. Hebron is located in the middle of these Judean highlands and Jerusalem is near the northern limits, closer to where the more rugged Judean highlands transition to the Samarian highlands.

With the rise of the Akkadian and then Egyptian empires, the fertile crescent was continually partitioned between ruling powers. The Levant was contested by the Egyptian and then the Hittite empires. It was not until the Bronze Age collapse, a period of decay between 1200 and 1150 BCE that the imperial powers vacated the Levant and smaller petty kingdoms took their place. Prior to the collapse, many Canaanites lived in cities, but others led a nomadic life herding sheep and goats, acquiring grain from the city dwellers in exchange for animals and meat. With the collapse, the cities, too, declined, and so the herders, needing a more stable source of grains, settled into the only regions that had not yet been fully inhabited: the Samarian and Judean highlands. The coastal planes including the Shephelah were conquered by the Sea People, Greek people migrating throughout the Mediterranean, a people later known to be the Philistines or Palestinians. North of the Samarian highlands and along the Mediterranean coast saw the establishment of Phoenicia, and other petty kingdoms emerged east of the Jordan and south of the Judean highlands.

The Canaanite herders organized into petty kingdoms in the highlands, with one notable king from Samaria being Saul, and another chieftain in the south, David, establishing another in competition with the Samarian kingdom. This saw the establishment of Judean independence from the Samarian kingdom, and no one really cared, either: anywhere else in the Levant was more fertile and more attractive for conquest. With the re-establishment of imperial powers in Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Levant again attracted attention. The Assyrians conquered the Samarian highlands and other regions, and deported many of its people, and brought in other settlers to replace them, but they left the Judean highlands alone: it was a region not worth the effort of taking. This, however, led to an exodus of Samarians into Judea, swelling the population of Jerusalem and other regions, and this led to the establishment of the Yahweh-centered Judean religion, one that attempted to harmonize the history of these highland settlers who suddenly found themselves forced to live together. The Judean petty-kingdom became a client kingdom of different empires throughout this time, until treachery against their neo-Babylonian rulers saw that empire conquer the Judean highlands and take captive the Judean ruling class and intelligentsia.

He would have been born in Nazareth and likely grew up in that village. The area of Nazareth appears to have been inhabited since the end of the bronze age or the start of the iron age, so for almost a millennium before Joshua was born. That gospels such as Matthew and Luke make such great efforts to ensure that Joshua was born in Bethlehem emphasizes that it is almost certain that Joshua was born and lived in Nazareth. At the time of Joshua's birth, it was likely already a small village in the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas, one of the sons of Herod the Great. Nazareth happened to be in close proximity to cities and larger villages, as Sepphoris and Cana, each perhaps an hours walk away, but it was not significant, as no ritual baths or synagogues have ever been unearthed from the time of Joshua. No developed roads passed through the village, and the village itself was set in a basin surrounded by the Galilean highlands, so it would not have been visited by any other than those who lived there or were travelling to the village for the purpose of commerce with the villagers. The basis did have a natural spring and terraces were built into the surrounding hills for grains and there were sufficient fields for maintaining herds of sheep or goats, but this was quite limited. The population it supported, however, was insufficient to even allow for the establishment of a synagogue: the denizens would have travelled to Cana or Sepphoris, instead. The denizens were sufficiently devoted Jews that there is evidence of trinkets and memorabilia brought back from pilgrimages to Jerusalem and the Temple.

There was, however, one aspect of Galilee that was also reflected in Nazareth, and that was a zealous one.

First, when King Herod died, one Judas son of Hezekiah revolted against the Romans and occupied the aforementioned Galilean city of Sepphoris. The Roman governor of Syria at the time, Varus (the same Varus who later died in an ambush by Germans in the Teutoburg Forest and subsequently lost three eagles) suppressed the insurrection. Herod Antipas decided to reestablish Sepphoris as the Ornament of the Galilee and renamed the city Autocratoris, the translation of Emperor into Greek.

Second, when Samaria, Judea and Idumea (Edom, the land of Esau, the brother of Jacob) were incorporated into the Roman Empire as the Roman province of Iudaea, a census was held within the province to establish a basis for taxation, for so long as the land was part of a client kingdom (as it was under King Herod) or a client state (as it was under Herod's son Herod Archelaus), the Romans left the lands alone so long as the appointed ruler paid the necessary tribute to Rome. With the regions being made a Roman province, it was now up to the Romans to establish the basis for taxation. This census occurred in 6 CE, but censuses were forbidden by the Judean scriptures, as King David held one and was punished by choosing his own punishment: one of

seven years of famine in his kingdom,
David himself must flee from his foes for three months, or
three days of pestilence in his kingdom.

King David, of course, chose that punishment that adversely himself the least: three days of pestilence after which 70,000 of his people are recorded to have died. Thus, when the Romans established a census, the most zealous of the Jews rebelled against this, and one of the leaders was Judas of Galilee (a different Judas from the aforementioned occupier of Sepphoris) and Zadok the Pharisee.

This is the zealous environment Joshua would have grown up in, and in addition, the basis within Nazareth sat had a foundation of chalk stone, a foundation that allowed the denizens to build caves into the ground. Not only were there caves dug into the chalk, but caves benight caves, and caves even benight those were dug. In these caves, the denizens could either establish shelters of refuge, or hide their wealth to evade the taxation of Herod Antipas (for in Herod's life, Galilee was never incorporated into any Roman province, but rather remained the client state of Herod Antipas).

However, Nazareth was only an hours walk from Sepphoris, and it is likely that Joseph and his son Joshua found employment in the public projects of Herod Antipas in the building of his ornament. No doubt, the contrast of the poverty of his home town of Nazareth and the opulence of Autocratoris and the monumental constructions occurring there likely left a lasting impression of Joshua's mind.

Another question is what was the language spoken. It was not Hebrew, but rather Aramaic, another Semitic language of the Levant. The priests and other religious individuals would have certainly spoken and been able to read Hebrew, it was a minority who could. Without mass communication, there were also much greater differences in regional dialects, and individuals like Simon and Andreia (both Greek names, incidentally) would have have spoken with Galilean accents that were easily recognized (as is even noted in some of the narratives). Joshua, being from an isolated town would have had an even stronger country accent. Joshua travelling with his disciples to Jerusalem would have been no different than two Scottish residences of the Scottish Borders travelling to London with a leader from one of the Western Isles. One need only travel throughout Germany to see how the local dialects change, even today.

Thus, Joshua is living in an isolated and impoverished village not large enough to even allow for the construction of a Synagogue. They are likely heavily taxed by Herod Antipas, although the community likely had a defiant culture that used the surrounding caves to squirrel away the little wealth they had. This may have led to conflicts between Herod Antipas's tax collectors and the locals, and Joshua would have been exposed to both this poverty and conflicts juxtaposed with the extravagant monumental constructions in Autocratoris one hour's walk away.

In addition to the Sadducees, the Essenes, the Pharisees, and the more zealous extremists, the latter of which opposed the occupation of Judea by the Romans, there were other itinerant preachers who claimed that the Romans would be expelled not through force, but rather through the coming of the Kingdom of Yahweh. Yahweh would come down, vanquish those who did not obey his laws, and establish a kingdom on Earth of eternal peace. The righteous dead would be raised. One must recall also that at this time, there was only the flat Earth, created when the salt waters below were split from the fresh waters above (for else, why is the sky blue and why does fresh water fall from it?) and above the firmament in which the stars were embedded was heaven, and finally Yahweh, whose throne was there, would come down to the Earth and establish his Kingdom there, as well. Those who preached the coming of the Kingdom of Yahweh did not advocate for armed rebellion like the Zealots, but rather, preached that this Kingdom was coming soon, and that it was necessary to prepare for this coming.

One such itinerant preacher was Johanan, and part of the preparation for the coming of this Kingdom was a ritual immersion in water. Now, Jews already perform ritual immersions on a regular basis (recall that Nazareth seems to have been even too small to support the construction and maintenance of a ritual bath), but Johanan performed his in streams and rivers, and this immersion seems to have signaled the acceptance of the individual of Johanan's narrative concerning the imminent coming of the Kingdom of Yahweh. Johanan seems to have developed a following of disciples, and others who accepted his narrative. Johanan seems to have modelled himself on a description of the prophet Isaiah.

One such individual who came to be immersed by Johanan was Joshua from Nazareth. While it doesn't seem Joshua became a disciple of Johanan, he was certainly a follower, however, he returned to Nazareth, perhaps wandering for a while in the interim. However, when Johanan antagonized Herod Antipas and was arrested, it seems that Joshua heard of this arrest and began his own ministry, reiterating the message of Johanan. Joshua seems to have left Nazareth for Capernaum where he himself seems to have developed his own following of disciples.

Now, one of the requirements of Judaism is that followers follow the Covenant; Yahweh's agreement with his people. These were laws written down almost a thousand years prior, and dealt with social issues, but also economic isolation for the benefit of the community, for example, laws prevented the importing of goods not made in the Judean highlands: shellfish was banned so that people would not import the Phoenician delicacies, the meat of pigs was banned to prevent the people from purchasing such meat from the surrounding Canaanite communities, as the Judeans were descended from herders who kept goats and sheep, and clothes of mixed fibers was banned to prevent people from purchasing clothes made in other communities, as the most abundant material in Judea was wool. There were hundreds of such laws where the "Ten Commandments" are just the first, well, ten.

Sacrificial offerings to Yahweh in Jerusalem

One aspect of this Covenant was the sacrifice of animals in Jerusalem. This was the focus of the Sadducees who, together with the Jewish aristocracy in Jerusalem, benefitted greatly from the Jewish pilgrims who visited the city together with their wealth, and most pilgrims would not come with sacrificial animals, and they would often come with foreign coinage that had images of personalities, money that was forbidden to be used within the Temple, and thus, this money must be exchanged for coinage that was acceptable: coins without images of humans. This exchange would of course come with a fee, as well.

Pharisees and the goal of maintaining the covenant

For most Jews, however, the Temple was a distant destination, and its did not not affect the day-to-day lives, yet they wanted to keep the Covenant with Yahweh. The commandments were sometimes vague: "But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns." Question: what is work? The Pharisees proceeded as follows: in case the commandment is vague, create rules such that so long as all the rules are obeyed, the commandments will not be transgressed. Sometimes, the rules are more restrictive than the corresponding commandment, but if the rule is broken, it may still be possible that the commandment has not. However, these rules were fluid and varying, and hence the Pharisees and others debated amongst each other over how to best ensure that none of the commandments are transgressed, and whether rules proposed by one are too strict, too difficult to understand, or not strict enough. One such scholar was Hillel the Elder who succinctly summarized the commandments as "That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow." That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary; now go and learn."

Onto this scene steps Joshua, and he is continuing to spread Johanan's message that the Kingdom of Yahweh is coming soon, and to repent and to be ritually immersed in water. However, Joshua also simplified the message of other Pharisees, reducing the number of rules to a smaller and more convenient collection; for example:

“The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'
The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these.”
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

A simplified message resonated with his listeners and he gathered a following of disciples and others, but it is certain that he never suggested that other Commandments could be disregarded: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” However, as the coming of the Kingdom of Yahweh was imminent, he seems to have stressed that preparing for this event took priority.

During his teaching in Capernaum, his family was so worried about what had been reported that his mother Miriam and his brothers came to try to retrieve him, believing him to have become mentally unstable.

Now while Joshua was teaching, the disciples of Johanan were also continuing to spread their teacher's message, and yet their teachings seem to have diverged, as the followers of Johanan did not flock to Joshua with the arrest and eventual execution of their teacher. What was taught by both was that this Kingdom of Yahweh would be led by an individual of significance, and one who would be anointed. Where they differed, however, is that Joshua seems to have had the idea that he was that anointed one and that he would be usher in the Kingdom of Yahweh.

It was with this belief that Joshua travelled with his disciples and followers to Jerusalem during one Passover, and there Joshua was going to announce his message. He began by making a scene at the Temple where he disrupted the currency exchange and the sale of sacrificial animals, and this led him into conflict with those running the Temple. Joshua seems to have had his own narrative go to his head, as he also had himself anointed, apparently with a reasonably expensive oil, and this messiah complex seems to have caused one of his disciples, Judas, to become disillusioned. Judas went to the Sadducees and other priests and told them that Joshua had had himself anointed, and this gave them the piece of information that was required to allow the Romans to deal with Joshua: by having himself anointed, he was opposing the Roman occupation of the Levant, and when the Romans were told of this, he was arrested, tried and executed for sedition. The Romans emphasized this when they put his claim over the cross: "The King of the Jews."

That nicely summarizes Joshua's life: he was drawn into the apocalyptic narrative of an itinerant preacher and he himself came to preach this same message. He travelled to Jerusalem and when he angered those keeping the Temple and when it became known he had had himself anointed, this was sufficient to turn him over to the Romans for execution for sedition, the penalty for which was crucifixion.

This would have been the end of Joshua, like so many other messianic figures at the time, but for his followers: as is described in the text "When Prophesy Fails", if the cult following is sufficient large, this failing does not discourage the followers, but rather emboldens them. In this case, it seems that one of the followers of Joshua, a woman Miriam of Magdala claimed that she had seen a resurrected Joshua. Completely out of line with Joshua's claims that he himself would usher in the Kingdom of Yahweh, she seems to have claimed that Joshua's resurrection was the first of the coming of the Kingdom of Yahweh, the time when all those deemed righteous would be resurrected and the Roman conquerors vanquished. It seems that at least one of the disciples, Simon, either believed or also perpetuated this fantasy.

Thus, at least some of the followers seem to have returned to their communities continuing to perpetuate the message of Joshua, but also now claiming that Joshua himself was resurrected and was ready to usher in the Kingdom of Yahweh: this coming was imminent. Up to this point, the followers of Joshua were still all Jews, and they all continued to worship in their synagogues, but they held onto this additional apocalyptic belief.

Execution

One serious issue facing most followers that Joshua was executed for sedition: conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch, in this case, the Roman authorities. He was preaching an apocalyptic message and he had had himself anointed, essentially declaring himself to be a king. Unfortunately, he simultaneously interfered with both the Judean (at the Temple) and the Roman authorities and it seems that at least one of his disciples, Judas, became frustrated with the grandiose aspirations of his master. All he had to do was inform the Judean authorities that Joshua had had himself anointed, and the authorities went to the Romans, who dealt with him just like they do any other rebellious and subversive dissident: they had him executed by crucifixion. However, now every follower of Joshua is explicitly following an individual who was explicitly killed for attempting to incite a revolution against the Roman Empire, and no doubt they would expect treatment no different from followers of Quisling in Norway after its liberation in 1945 or staunch supporters of Shivaram Rajguru after his execution by the British. However, the trial and execution of Joshua as described in the earliest gospel is quite straight-forward, and is most clear in the description of the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews” but this is also shown by the treatment of Joshua by the Romans:

And they began saluting him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

Finally, he was recorded as having been executed together with two other traitors:

And with him they crucified two rebels, one on his right and one on his left.

The trial leading up to this was also short and abrupt: Jesus is brought before Pilate, the evidence of his sedition is presented and soon thereafter sentenced to death. The author of Mark adds a story emphasizing the motivations of the Judean authorities against Joshua, and adds lines such as "For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over." One must ask how the author gained such insights into the thoughts of Pilate, but the purpose is clear: the emphasize that he was not executed for sedition, but rather he was executed due pressure from the Judean authorities: pressure that anyone studying the character of Pilate would know would have no effect on him. However, the author attempts to mitigate the actions of Joshua for his own execution with statements such as:

Pilate asked them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him!”

However, subsequent authors seriously embellished this narrative, trying with each step to diminish the actual justification for his execution, and to demonstrate that Joshua was not actually executed for sedition, but rather he was executed due to pressure from the Judean authorities. Recall, however, that Pilate is recorded as having first used monies from the Temple treasury to pay for a new aqueduct into Jerusalem, and when a riot ensued, Pilate ordered his soldiers to charge and club the rioters, with many dying from either being trampled by the horses or blows from the the soldiers.

The story written by the author of Matthew closely follows that in Mark, but adds two particular statements:

While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for today I have suffered a great deal because of a dream about him.”

Then he asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.”

First, now Pilate's wife apparently has had dreams about Joshua, and the author of Matthew is able to describe this private conversation between Pilate and his wife, just like he was able to describe the dreams of Joseph. The author of Matthew has Pilate declaring Joshua to be innocent, as well, and giving, once again, the Judean authorities and crowds as the reason for his execution. Never-the-less, the narrative includes the hints of the actual reason for Joshua's execution: the soldiers mock him as the king of the Jews, he is executed with rebels, and the sign over his head declares the reason for his execution: having declared himself "King of the Jews."

The author of Luke goes even further: Now Pilate sends Jesus to Herod Antipas, as Jesus is a Galilean. The story of the Roman soldiers mocking Joshua end up being Herod Antipas's soldiers putting a robe on him. In this case, Pilate explicitly declares Joshua as being innocent. The story of Pilate offering to release one prisoner is changed to the crowd simply demanding the release of the other. Remember, the author of Luke had access to Mark, so every change is deliberate; for example, the entire character of one of those executed with Joshua changes for the positive. The author of Luke explicitly read the text of Mark, and explicitly changed this narrative to suit the purposes of the author of Luke. However, in the end, it is all the same: it was necessary for the followers of Joshua to convince the Roman authorities that Joshua was not executed for sedition, but rather at the imposition of the Judean authorities and mobs.

In the gospel of John, the interactions between Joshua and Pilate now become a discussion:

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

Compare and contrast this interaction with that recorded in Mark:

Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “You say so.” Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, “Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you.” But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

However, it did not end there: subsequent followers of Joshua authored even more absurd tales of Pilate, such as the Acts of Pilate contained at least in part in the Gospel of Nicodemus. Again, the earliest followers of Joshua had strong justifications for trying to demonstrate that the man they followed was not a traitor to the Roman state and that his execution was not for sedition, but rather related to his relationship to Yahweh.

A Passover sacrifice?

Another association that appears to have quickly come up was the temporal relationship between the execution of Joshua and the Passover. Of course, the fact that Joshua was not burned at the stake, but rather crucified, and therefore cursed under Judean scripture, doesn't make much difference. Three of the four gospels record that Joshua was executed on the day after the Passover lamb was eaten, but the last moves his execution to the day of sacrifice of that lamb.

As for the divinity of Joshua, there were three early interpretations of who Joshua was, and neither of these were that he was the incarnation of one third of Yahweh, both separate but different from the "father":

The first was that Joshua was simply a good person, and he was just a human.
A second is that Joshua was adopted the Son of Yahweh at his baptism, at which time the Spirit of Yahweh entered into Joshua. Then, during the execution, this spirit left Joshua again.
The third is Paul's interpretation that Joshua was some form of divine being, perhaps an angel.

The evidence for the first is that the Ebionites continued to cling to this idea for centuries after the execution of Joshua.

The evidence for the second is found in Mark: no mention is made of Joshua's birth, the Spirit of Yahweh descends on Joshua during his baptism, during Joshua's ministry, his mother Miriam and his brothers seek him out to bring him home believing he was mentally unstable, and then during the execution, he yells “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Shepherd of Hermas contains narratives regarding Joshua being adopted by Yahweh, and Theodotus of Byzantium espoused this idea, although including the idea that Jesus was born of a virgin. The idea that Joshua was adopted the son of Yahweh held such sway that it was still deemed necessary to declare it a heresy at the end of the third century after Joshua's execution at the Synods of Antioch and the First Council of Nicaea.

The evidence for the third is in Paul's own letters: Therefore God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, ..." Nowhere in any of the writings from the first century is there any suggestion that Joshua was the incarnation of a part of Yahweh that was never-the-less distinct from Yahweh the "father." Instead, Paul is suggesting that Joshua was somehow sent from heaven and that after he was executed, after returning to heaven he was exalted "even more highly" by Yahweh. If Joshua was Yahweh as understood today, being equal to the "father", how can he be "even more highly exalted"? However, if Joshua was the incarnation of a Spirit of Yahweh or other divine being such as the Word of Yahweh or an angel, then it makes more sense for such a being to be increased in rank and exaltation.

The next interpretation as to who Joshua was came by a mistranslation of a Judean scripture. A passage suggested that an individual was to be born to a young woman, but followers of Joshua began to search through any passage that may hint at one who is anointed, and they found in the Septuagint a mistranslation suggesting that this individual was to be born of a virgin. Another passage suggested that an individual of significance was born in Bethlehem and of the line of David.

Thus, we now have stories introduced to get Joseph and Miriam to Bethlehem, and another narrative that Joshua should actually be born of a virgin. Of course, if Joshua is from the line of David, then if he is not the son of Joseph, then Joshua is not of the line of David, so what did it matter that he was born in Bethlehem? In trying to fulfill two different prophesies, the story tellers stumbled on another contradiction.

Now, as we have seen, the authors of Matthew and Luke copied from Mark, and yet now they have Miriam giving birth as a virgin to Joshua. Under this narrative, how could she not know that Joshua was something special. Thus, when it came to copying the narrative that Miriam and her other sons were coming to take Joshua home (assuming him to be mentally unwell), both subsequent authors left this out. However, they continued to include Joshua's reaction when his mother and brothers were at the door, just no reason is given for this appearance.

Additionally, the authors of Matthew and Luke give an interesting interpretation that once again differs from the adoptionist interpretation and today's interpretation: Joshua was born the son of Yahweh and came into existence upon being born. Neither text suggest that Joshua existed as a being prior to being born, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ..."

Joshua being worshiped by angels

The book named Hebrews also contains “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” and “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son” and “Let all God’s angels worship him.” If Joshua is Yahweh, then he existed prior to the creation of the angels, so why would there be any point at which the angels were not worshiping Joshua while worshipping Yahweh?

A parallel to the belief of Paul, that Joshua was some sort of divine being sent to Earth in the body of Joshua (how this is is not described, for they knew nothing of synapses, axions, or even the significance of the brain, nor do they suggest how the soul and the body are linked, so perhaps Joshua was a body that was linked with a divine being as opposed to being linked with a soul. But carrying on: the author of John suggest that Joshua is the incarnation of the Word of Yahweh. This idea of the word of Yahweh is reflected in another passage: “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.”

Absence of text supporting the equality of Yahweh, Joshua and the Spirit of Yahweh

Thus, we now have that Joshua is the incarnation of a divine being, or perhaps was born the son of Yahweh. References to the Spirit of Yahweh are understood in the Judean scriptures to indicate the presence of Yahweh, as opposed to a separate entity. There guidance given in Matthew with respect to the ritual immersion in water where this immersion is said to be done "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." However, this appears only once, and Paul and none of the other authors give any real evidence for Joshua being equal and the same as Yahweh, and indeed, most passages place Joshua as being subordinate to Yahweh. By 110 AD, Ignatius of Antioch requires obedience to "Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit," but this again does not suggest these are the same entity.

In either case, this does not yet make Joshua equivalent to Yahweh, but that idea now began to cross the minds of Christian scholars in the second century: the first scholar to suggest that Joshua was Yahweh, and that Joshua was the son of Yahweh, and yet they were the same person together with a third component was Origen who lived at the end of the second and start of the third century, so it too scholars almost two centuries to conceive of this idea that Joshua was Yahweh together with a third. Later, a century after Joshua was executed, Justin Martyr also says "in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit" but only describes the "Father" and the "Son" as being the same and yet distinct, leaving out the Spirit. He does, however, suggest a hierarchy: "we worship [Joshua] with reason, since we have learned that he is the Son of the living God himself, and believe him to be in second place and the prophetic Spirit in the third."

Illumination and the delivery of enlightenment

Some followers of Joshua seem to have adopted ideas from mystical interpretations of Judaism, as exemplified by Merkabah mysticism. Within such circles, there was a focus on visions and accents to the palaces of heaven. Such narratives came into prominence about a century before the birth of Joshua, but continued for almost a millennium. You may be aware of the Merkava, the Israeli tank, given the same name as chariots, specifically the chariot described in Ezekiel:

As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north: a great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually and in the middle of the fire something like gleaming amber.

In the middle of it was something like four living creatures. This was their appearance:

They were of human form.
Each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.
Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot, and they sparkled like burnished bronze.
Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands.
And the four had their faces and their wings thus:
1. their wings touched one another;
2. each of them moved straight ahead, without turning as they moved.
As for the appearance of their faces: The four had the face of a human being, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle; such were their faces.
Their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.
Each moved straight ahead; wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went.
In the middle of the living creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright, and lightning issued from the fire.

The living creatures darted to and fro, like a flash of lightning.

As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction:

their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl, and
the four had the same form, their construction being something like a wheel within a wheel.
When they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without veering as they moved.
Their rims were tall and awesome, for the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.

When the living creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them, and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.

Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for a living spirit was in the wheels. When they moved, the others moved; when they stopped, the others stopped; and when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for a living spirit was in the wheels.

Over the heads of the living creatures there was something like a dome, shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. Under the dome their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another, and each of the creatures had two wings covering its body. When they moved, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of mighty waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army; when they stopped, they let down their wings. And there came a voice from above the dome over their heads; when they stopped, they let down their wings.

And above the dome over their heads there was something like a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and seated above the likeness of the throne was something that seemed like a human form. Upward from what appeared like the loins I saw something like gleaming amber, something that looked like fire enclosed all around, and downward from what looked like the loins I saw something that looked like fire, and there was a splendor all around. Like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day, such was the appearance of the splendor all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

Someone had an overactive imagination, and one must wonder why a all powerful being requires a chariot as described above pulled by four things as described above. Of course, one also wonders why the god of Year N always has the accoutrements of Year N. It is like the description of Goliath wearing the dress of a hoplite, and while the Philistines were Greek settlers and likely had hoplite dress at the time the story of David and Goliath was written down, the dress of Greek soldiers during the time David lived was most certainly not that of the hoplites who fought centuries later. It is not, however, the description of a car, a tank, a helicopter or an aircraft. It seems that Yahweh, the god that knows all, seems to be very interested in the queens of the battlefields of 500 years before the birth of Joshua: the Romans used them strictly for racing.

Anyway, carrying on, relying on such stories and stories of palaces in heaven, these followers strongly distinguished the physical bodies and the spiritual souls. Following this period, there was a period of apocalyptic literature, the literature that inspired Johanan and subsequently Joshua.

It seems that some of these followers of Judean mysticism became followers of Joshua, and thus they took with them their stories and beliefs and transferred those to their understanding of Joshua.

Yahweh is not the supreme being

Up until the middle of the second century, over 100 years after Joshua had been executed, there was no concept of a trinity, and in trying to determine the relationship between Joshua and Yahweh, numerous ideas were proposed. One that was actually most reasonable, looking at the Judean scriptures and early writings of Joshua's followers, was that Yahweh of the Judean scriptures was not the "father" who sent Joshua, but rather, Yahweh was a malevolent creator being who fashioned and maintained the physical world. This was the response to contrasting the message of Joshua and, as Dawkins describes the Yahweh of the Judean scriptures: “jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” Instead, Marcion proposed that there was higher "father" being ruled over all, and it was this being that sent Joshua to reveal how humans could escape the world of Yahweh. This interpretation of Joshua relationship to Yahweh was significant enough that authors wrote against such beliefs for almost a century thereafter, and yet communities adhering to Marcion's teachings continued for another eight centuries.

First hints at a trinity: Yahweh and the Word and Wisdom of Yahweh?

It is not until the late second century, 150 years after Joshua was executed, that the term trinity is even introduced, but Theophilus of Antioch used this term to describe Yahweh, the Word of Yahweh, and the Wisdom of Yahweh (Logos and Sophia, respectively). Finally, Tertullian who also lived 150 years after the execution of Joshua, formulated the trinity as the "Father, Son and Holy Spirit;" however, he also noted that the majority of followers did not use this approach. Thus, for almost two centuries, the concept of the trinity was formulated and fermenting in the minds of the followers of Joshua. One would think that an all-loving, all-knowing, ever-present entity may have given much clearer direction while on Earth.

However, this is awkward at best, for Judaism is, after the Babylonian exile, a monotheistic religion (being , and monolatrist prior), and yet now there are multiple gods, and scholars at the time attacked such beliefs. After all, it was the monotheistic nature of this new branch of Judaism that attracted so many of its adherents from Greek, Roman and other cultures. Those who believed that Yahweh was one indivisible being were described as monarchianists, meaning "one ruler." Praxeas was one such individual who suggested instead that Yahweh, Joshua and the Spirit of Yahweh were just three presentations of the same being. Such individuals were attacked, for if Joshua was not distinct from Yahweh, then it was Yahweh who suffered pain and Yahweh who was executed. It is difficult for a Christian to understand the absurdity of this idea that "Yahweh is three in one" or "the three are one and the one is three" or other such tripe statements because children of Christians are simply told this from a very early age, and they simply accept this. It was, however, not until well over a hundred and fifty years (six generations) before such absurd concepts were even contemplated and put to paper. This idea that a single monotheistic entity is actually three distinct entities that somehow are still a single entity was one that was rejected by Mohammed and is simply described as one of the "mysteries" of Christianity by the preachers of this religion.

Once it was decided that Jesus was Yahweh, but not, and the Spirit of Yahweh was Yahweh, but not, it was therefore necessary to justify this, so just like the earliest followers scoured the Judean scriptures for any verse that could even remotely be interpreted as suggesting that Joshua would be the anointed one, similarly, over one hundred years after Joshua's death, his followers scoured the early scriptures and writings of Paul to try to find any verse that could be interpreted as suggesting that Joshua was Yahweh, but not. The issue is that in many references to Yahweh and Joshua, Joshua is subordinate to Yahweh: either Yahweh sent Joshua, or Joshua was subsequently exalted above his previous positions. The only real verses that could possibly be used simply list Yahweh, Joshua and possibly, but not always, the Spirit of Yahweh.

However, to continue describing what actually happened, this one branch described above ended up evolving into what is today the dominant Christian branch, although some branches such as Jehovah's Witnesses recognize the absurdity of this concept of a trinity and revert Joshua to his position as a prophet of Yahweh. At the time, however, there were numerous other much more bizarre branches, each of which considered itself to be the true interpretation of the events from two centuries before.

Well over two centuries after the execution of Joshua, one elder, Arius from Alexandria, championed the rejection of the idea that Joshua "the son of Yahweh" somehow had existed together with Yahweh forever; after all, if a father is to have a son, that son should reasonably be born at some point. Initially, Joshua was simply adopted the son of Yahweh at his ritual immersion by Johanan, and soon thereafter, Joshua was born the son of Yahweh and Miriam, and later yet, Joshua already existed before his incarnation on Earth, and Joshua was the spirit or soul of the offspring of Yahweh and Miriam, but now the son was supposed to have existed as long as the father had existed, which begs the question why the contradictory titles: If Joshua is the "son", then that means that Joshua must at some time have come into existence, and that is exactly what Arius said. This, however, was unacceptable to the supporters of the trinity, for if Yahweh was the one and only god, and this Yahweh had two other presentations as Joshua and the Spirit of Yahweh, then both of these must, too, have existed for all time, as well.

The teaching of Arius continued in strength, dominating the western Roman Empire, or the remnants thereof, now occupied by the Germanic tribes of the Goths, Visigoths, Lombards and Vandals, in strength for five-and-a-half centuries, and still surviving for another century until the death of Geribald, King of the Lombards in 671. This was not a fringe view, and it was only the Eastern Roman Empire that nurtured and championed the trinitarian concept of Yahweh, Joshua and the Spirit of Yahweh. For centuries, half of the Roman Empire believed Joshua came into existence at some point in time in the past.

Anything by Bart Ehrman

https://www.timesofisrael.com/listen-what-do-we-know-about-nazareth-in-jesus-time-an-archaeologist-explains/