Reclaiming the first century as common ground rather than the origin of entrenched differences, this work challenges conventional readings that pit Athens against Jerusalem, with Athens symbolizing "reason" and Jerusalem representing "faith." Susan Buck-Morss highlights how recent scholarship has dismantled this dichotomy, arguing that designating the first century as a zero point—"year one"—is an arbitrary convenience lacking empirical significance. She liberates this era to engage with us differently, aiming to dismantle conceptual frameworks that have shaped modernity and led to unproductive postmodern dilemmas. Buck-Morss examines the first century through the writings of three often-overlooked thinkers: Flavius Josephus, the historian of the Judaean war; Philo of Alexandria, a neo-Platonic philosopher; and John of Patmos, author of Revelation. The narrative also weaves in figures such as Antigone, John Coltrane, Plato, and many others, including Descartes, Kant, Hegel, and Derrida. By doing so, Buck-Morss argues against the need to partition history, suggesting that those from the first century share a collective existence that transcends our modern separations.
