Josephus relates fully the story of John the Baptist, but does not mention Jesus of Nazareth! This would seem to indicate that, prior to the coming of Paul, Jesus left but a slight impression on his age. This omission seems to have so disconcerted some members of the Church that one actually inserted a paragraph about Jesus in the History of Josephus. But the clumsy forgery was later discovered. _Theme for discussion_: Should Josephus be regarded as a traitor? [Illustration: THE ARCH OF TITUS. RAISED TO COMMEMORATE THE OVERTHROW OF JUDEA.] BOOK IV. THE TALMUDIC ERA. CHAPTER XXIV. JOCHANAN BEN ZAKKAI. The Jews now belonged to no land, yet for that very reason, they, in a sense, belonged to all lands. They were cosmopolitans, citizens of the world. To follow their history after their dispersion by Rome, we shall have to turn to all the settled parts of the globe. What henceforth became the link to hold together their widely scattered members and preserve them from being absorbed by their surroundings? Their religion. Religions outlive states and spiritual bonds are stronger than temporal. But now that Judaism's centre, the Temple, was no more, now that the sacred capital, Jerusalem, the only sanctioned place for sacrificial worship, was lost--how could they maintain their continuity and what would become of their priesthood? Just here will we witness the wonderful adaptability of Judaism in the hands of this deathless race. It only awaited a genius to revive the Faith, apparently in the throes of death, and to endow it with new strength and vitality. The hero who undertook this sacred task was named Jochanan ben Zakkai. The Academy at Jamnia. Jochanan ben Zakkai had been a leader in the Sanhedrin, in the last days of Judea. When many were urging war he had stood for peace and he became the exponent of the Peace Party. For he saw that the madness of the Zealots in blindly plunging the country into conflict could end only in ruin. He may have felt, too, that the fulfilment of Israel's mission did not rely on national independence and that it could preach its message in a way other than in bloody conflict. So when the war was at its height, he managed to escape from Jerusalem in a coffin, since the Zealots treated all peace advocates as traitors. Welcomed by Vespasian, who saw the value of so influential a pleader for surrender, he was allowed to ask a favor. His reply showed that he was not of the Josephus, but of the Jeremiah type. He asked naught for himself, but pleaded for the privilege of establishing an _Academy_, where the principles of Judaism might be taught. This small request was granted, perhaps contemptuously at its apparent insignificance. Yet by that grant Judaism was enabled to continue its development--aye, to outlive the great Roman Empire at whose mercy it now stood.