The Market of the Gods: How religious innovations emerge. From Judaism to Christianity

2,000 years ago, Judaism was becoming an attractive product on 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 favors globalization. It proposed a religious product that was easier to disseminate. It does away with circumcision and kashrut. It includes eternal life, which reassures against the uncertainties of the future, and baptism, which simplifies the rituals of purification. It was excluded from synagogues. A few centuries later, it gave rise to Christianity. Any resemblance with today innovations and crisis is not accidental.