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Title: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity by Paula Fredriksen ISBN: 0-679-76746-0 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 05 December, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.15 (26 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Allow One A Brief Rave
Comment: The book is so extraordinary as to be almost unique among the Quest for the Historical Jesus literature. Whatever one may think of its conclusions, it is powerfully written and exquisitely argued. But its strongest accomplishment for me was that it recreates the Jewish milieu of the First Century with cinematic power. The grandeur of Herod's enlarged Temple, the multitudes in Jerusalem for the various feasts, the impact of ritual and sacrifice upon the life of Jews not only in Palestine but throughout the Roman Empire -- all of this is beautifully described. Of course Jesus is placed within it, and our sense of him as part of this complex Jewish world is greatly increased and deepened. The bibliography is rich. The ideas are challenging. I don't personally agreed with the conclusions at the end, but I keep the book nearby, checking it on any number of questions as to purity laws, customs, etc. I actually check other biblical scholars against it. I hope Fredriksen gives us more books. Her gifts are great. Is this still brief? Ah, well, it's a rave. I was true on that score. Anne Rice, New Orleans, La.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very compelling and engaging human drama!
Comment: This is my first Paula Fredriksen book, and it proved delightful to read from cover to cover. She presents a very well reasoned and researched work exploring the life and times of Jesus, who came to be called Christ. Came to be called Christ because Paula digs deep into the heart of ancient Palestine and into the depths of the documentation we have of the time, primarily in the gospels and Josephus' works to explain how exactly this Jesus came to be the Christ.
She combs the Jewish scriptures to explain what was meant to label a person "Messiah" in the context of a disaffected and disheartened population subject to occupation and tyranny despite their promises from God to possess forever their promised land of milk and honey and live a life of peace and justice. One of the problems, of course, is its very location: Palestine was the heart and center of the ancient world and was a key strategic point between Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, Arabia, and the Far East. No foreign power could resist its temptations and the Jews were the victims of the never-ending struggle for imperial power for centuries. Out of these circumstances grew a religious idea of a conquering anointed one who would forever guarantee peace for God's people and extend peace and justice literally to the entire world from its heart, Israel. At the same time in the Gentile world, a religious vacuum was being created as old ideas grew just that, old, and opened people's minds to a new religion promising what these people craved: supernatural understanding of the cosmos, spiritual salvation, the revelation of mysteries. The time and place were right for an itinerant prophet, a peaceful man of God, a wise Son of Man to be proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles alike as the savior, the Christ, of the entire world.
The book addresses its main topic: why did Jesus die of crucifixion? Being inseparable from the label of Christ, Fredriksen begins by explaining from Paul's epistles and the evolution of the gospel material how the first Christians came to be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. No one knew of a suffering Messiah, so a reconstruction of the life and identity of Jesus as well as a reinterpretation of the Jewish scriptures was required. Being rich in poetry, history, and prophecy it wasn't difficult for the first believers to seek their answer to the experience of Jesus in their scriptures. In them they found justification for a suffering Messiah who became a servant, one who would first appear in peace but disgrace, yet return in glory and power. Paul's mission to the Gentiles and their ready response to it (refer to previous paragraph) was further confirmation that this Jesus was indeed the Messiah who would soon end the present world and usher in the kingdom of God.
After laying this solid foundation, describing ancient temple Judaism (Prelude 2, "The Temple" is absolutely a fantastic aside novella Fredriksen inserts), the Roman occupation, the early years of Christian teaching and writing, Fredriksen tackles her ultimate question: why was Jesus crucified? Crucifixion was reserved for political insurrectionists, violent revolutionaries; not peaceful "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" prophets. And why only him, why not his followers too? Jesus was in the mold of John the Baptist, calling for repentance, warning of supernatural judgment, proclaiming the coming kingdom; however he didn't take up arms, he didn't rally zealous revolutionaries, so what threat was he to Rome? Fredriksen narrates a growing expectation among the people about Jesus. They admired, were "astonished" at his teachings, flocked to hear him in the Temple, listened intently to this prophet. Did Jesus ever claim to be the King of Israel? Ultimately we cannot know, but the evidence suggests that he didn't, historical anachronism put this label into Jesus' mouth retrospectively. But the growing expectation among the people that a coming liberator, one "like a Son of Man", was indeed coming to free Israel caused more and more people to wonder if Jesus was the one, was this the one spoken of by the prophets. One fateful Passover this expectation and the accompanying chatter grew loud enough for the chief priests and Pilate to unequivocally notice and something had to be done before a riot of the people occurred. Neither Jesus nor his followers were perceived to be the direct threat, it was the people who loudly wondered whether Jesus could be their coming King.
The chief priests and Pilate decided to quickly silence this rumor and settle the people. On the Friday of Passover, these excited Jews, wondering about a supernatural Passover liberation from God, woke up to find their "King of the Jews" nailed to a cross outside the city. And so it ended.
The utter shock of the crucifixion of this peaceful prophet on the part of his followers led them to the scriptures. In them they became convinced that the crowds were right: this man was indeed the King of Israel and would soon return, bringing judgment to the world and freeing the people of God. They preached the message, many believed, and a new religion was born.
Fredriksen has written a wonderful book. I recommend it highly. Her chapter on the crucifixion is so well done and is such a beautiful narration of a compelling and emotional human drama, my spine was chilled and I too, like the crowd, was "astonished". You must read this.
Rating: 4
Summary: an excellent, if slightly flawed, scholarly work
Comment: Paula Fredriksen succeeds where so many of her colleagues fail: recapturing the Jewishness of Jesus. She accomplishes this feat simply by placing him within his Jewish context, accompanied of course by very in-depth and rigorous research into the historical settings of Judea and Galilee, collectively known to us as Palestine. She quite correctly criticizes scholars such as Crossan who Hellenize Jesus by making him into some sort of wandering Cynic sage, although at other times she is quite dismissive of arguments contrary to her own. However, given the scope of the subject and the limited time involved, perhaps we may forgive such a tendency as perhaps inevitable. ALthough I agreed with her main thesis, she immerses herself in overly rank speculation towards the end. I personally do not feel it necessary to posit John's itenerary rather than the Synoptics to explain why Jesus' followers were not crucified. Also, although all scholars do this, I seriously question the tendency to speculate far beyond what is necessary to explain the limited facts we have. Of course, some speculation (one might even say "much") is inevitable given the subject matter and the questionable nature of many of the facts involved, but to seek to explain every bit of questionable evidence just to fully flesh out one's theory seems wholly unnecessary to me. Either way, though, if you are interested in the actual Jesus of history, then you would be hard pressed to do better than this book.
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Title: From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Jesus (Yale Nota Bene) by Paula Fredriksen ISBN: 0300084579 Publisher: Yale University Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Historical Figure of Jesus by E. P. Sanders ISBN: 0140144994 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Jesus, Judaism, and Christian Anti-Judaism: Reading the New Testament After the Holocaust by Paula Fredriksen, Adele Reinhartz ISBN: 0664223281 Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Historical Jesus : The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant by John Dominic Crossan ISBN: 0060616296 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 26 February, 1993 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Changing Faces of Jesus by Geza Vermes ISBN: 0142196029 Publisher: Compass Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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