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Title: Excavating Jesus : Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts: Revised and Updated by John Dominic Crossan, Jonathan L. Reed ISBN: 0-06-061634-2 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.53 (19 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Excellent partnership
Comment: Both Dominic Crossan and Jonathan Reed are experts in their respective fields who also happen to specialize in Bibical era explorations. Crossan deals with sociological and theological subjects whereas Reed handles the archeological aspects. Crossan has been on a crusade for what he sees as the truth - namely that what we know of the historical Jesus and the first Church is unfavorably or untruly colored by most people's sole source of knowledge, the Bible.
This book tries to carry both sides of the discussion forward but it does so unevenly. Still, the idea was quite original and the discussions within are food for thought. Both men are convinced that one cannot interpret Jesus without knowing his times and this involves physical as well as religious study. How did Jesus's past influence his life? What was the effect of Roman architecture on Jewish thought and more important, how did the material and social compositions shape their views? How were Jews affected by the various social movements that were rampant in those days?
There are, of course, many conjectures but almost much detailed reasoning and findings. I found the flow a little uneven and sometimes the details ran to boredome but overall, a fine read.
Rating: 4
Summary: Excavating Ambiguity
Comment: Crossan and Reed have produced a very interesting book. Reed's archeological discoveries shed a lot of light on the world of Jesus. For Christian believers, these discoveries add another dimension to the credibility of the faith. The Biblical 'discoveries' were not as helpful. Crossan tries to delve into the mind of Jesus and his contemporaries.
Crossan is identified as a 'premier historical Jesus authority'. Christians believe that Jesus was not only a historical Jewish wandering preacher, but also truly God at the same time. Ordinary scholars, who subscribe to the philosophic position that only things verifiable by empirical data are to be affirmed, cannot affirm any actions that are caused solely by God- any such actions are to be attributed to natural causes or any other alternative explanations which do not include God.
Yet does not the title of 'historical Jesus authority' connote the willingness to additionally include divine actions as really affirmable? Crossan seems not to see it that way. He is therefore forced to explain whatever Jesus and his followers did as at best their own subjective interpretations of reality. Alleged miracles, accordingly, should be explained naturally. The definitive miracle in the New Testament, and in the minds of Christians, is the actual resurrection of Jesus. Crossan can only muster a 'stipulation' (p 255) that the actual resurrection occurred so that he can interpret the 'resurrection' as a 'corporate event' rather than the traditional interpretation of a 'singular event'. These views do not, to this reviewer, prove very helpful to Christians.
Nevertheless, this book opens up plausible glimpses of what Jesus and his followers faced during their lives. These glimpses do anchor the New Testament in our flesh and blood reality. Augustus, Herod, and Caiaphas come to life in their own right. This book takes us to places most of us will probably never get to visit. It certainly is worth the price.
Rating: 3
Summary: It was ok
Comment: The first few chapters really grabbed me. But they lost me at the part where they began writting as if the theoretical "Q Gospel" was a reality. Several lengthy chapters dedicated to an imagined reality. And one might miss the single sentence that says "let's suppose..." Biblical scholars know Matthew's gospel is longer because Matthew was likely the only apostle who could write. He was a tax collector and probably knew shorthand. Luke's gospel varies because he learned second hand. Mark's gospel varies further as he learned from Luke. But what do I know? ;)
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Title: The Historical Jesus : The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant by John Dominic Crossan ISBN: 0060616296 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 26 February, 1993 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Birth of Christianity : Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus by John Dominic Crossan ISBN: 0060616601 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: February, 1999 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: Jesus : A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan ISBN: 0060616628 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 18 February, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First Archaeological Link to Jesus & His Family by Hershel Shanks, Ben Witherington III ISBN: 0060556609 Publisher: Harper SanFrancisco Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Who Is Jesus?: Answers to Your Questions About the Historical Jesus by John Dominic Crossan, Richard G. Watts ISBN: 0664258425 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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