Author:
James Crossley St. Mary’s University CenSAMM

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Abstract

This essay provides a comparison between the historical Jesus and the medieval English priest, John Ball. This heuristic comparison focuses on the ways in which their socioeconomic contexts are important for understanding the ideas of both apocalyptic (or millenarian) prophets. Particular attention is given to the idea of their shared apocalypticism as a “pre-political” phenomenon in order to avoid the anachronistic and romantic interpretations both have received (especially as supposed “egalitarians”) and to locate the study of apocalypticism in broader discussions of materialism and historical change. This does not mean, however, that both Jesus and Ball avoided providing hard socioeconomic critique of their respective societies or that they tell us little about the stark socioeconomic inequalities of their time. On the contrary, both use the language of apocalypticism as a vehicle for popular protest and agitation. While the teaching of both may be fantastical to modern audiences, both show they are acutely aware of the strength of the power structures of their times.

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