ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Jesus’ purge of the temple (as related in the canonical gospels) as a paradigmatic case of fanaticism. This episode played a crucial “justificatory” role in organized Christian violence against perceived enemies. It is argued that entirely violence-free interpretations of the episode, as developed in the recent liberal-minded literature, are implausible. The chapter then investigates into the concept of “faith in Jesus” within which a fanatical and not entirely violence-averse Jesus is seen a justification for acts of organized violence, and thus as unacceptable for liberal Christians. It is suggested that a Platonic concept of the good might be operative here, a concept that both Christian and non-Christian liberals should overcome in order not to be fanatical in their anti-fanaticism.
