The Jews under Roman Rule
all in sequence of time. The related studies also give contribution to the related background of this research as they also share some important historical data. The
related studies in this research are used as the starting point from where the writer begins to develop the postcolonial biblical study.
There are also some related theories used in this research to answer the research questions. As this research discusses about a struggle of defending
national identity of a nation which lived in the context of imperialism, the theory used here is Postcolonial theory. Avoiding any jumping observation to the main
problem, the writer uses two intrinsic theories as the beginning to make this research fully understandable. The first intrinsic theory is the theory of
characterization. This theory gives contribution in giving the writer understanding of how to know the characteristic or quality of a character, which in this research
is Jesus, using some methods. This theory, used in the first research question, helps the writer to determine the characteristics of Jesus which show his
reinterpretations of Torah. The second intrinsic theory is the theory of conflict. This theory gives
contribution in giving the writer understanding of what makes conflict, how the different ideas can lead to clash. This theory, used in the second research question,
helps the writer to know how Jesus criticism of Torah can trigger a clash with the Jews, especially the Jewish authorities.
After that, in the third research question, the writer uses Postcolonial theory. This theory gives contribution as a whole about the impact of imperialism
experienced by the Jewish people. There are three specific parts of this theory related to the problem in this research. First part is the theory of identity. This
theory gives contribution in giving understanding of the Jewish identity; who they are and how they are related to others. This theory explains how the Jewish people
identify and enunciate their selves as they are in the hybrid situation, contaminated by the colonizer‟s culture. The theory of national identity is also
used here. This theory gives contribution in giving understanding of what makes a national identity, how it emerges and why it is so important for the Jewish people.
The last theory is the theory of hybridity. This theory gives contribution in giving underst
anding of the mix of culture. This theory explains how the colonizer‟s culture can be internalized by the colonized people. This theory is used to see the
status quo of the Jewish people who in fact have contaminated by the colonizer‟s culture and ideology.
As this research uses Postcolonial theory, it certainly needs some historical data or background to understand what happened in the past that influence the
problems in this research. The writer takes some historical studies and data from some reliable sources about the history of the Jewish nation which are mostly
about living under imperial rule. In this part, there are for different eras of imperialism; Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman era. This part gives
contribution in sharing some specific colonial influence of each era to the construction of Jewish as a nation. This background certainly gives the reason of
why the Jewish authorities defend their national identity and decide to persecute Jesus.
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