Revolt In The Desert?

Abstract

The task of the critic who attempts to pierce behind the written Gospels to the events which they record is notoriously hazardous and, in the opinion of some scholars, unrewarding and futile. In the case of the Feeding of the Multitudes the difficulties are particularly acute but not necessarily insuperable. Usually the debate has centred on the miraculous nature of the feeding, but it is the aim of this paper to show that the real importance of the historical incident underlying this tale lies elsewhere.