Book Description
The Jesus Family Tomb tells the story of what may very well be the greatest archaeological find of all time – the discovery and investigation of the Jesus family tomb. The tomb in question houses ossuaries (bone boxes) with inscriptions bearing the names of Jesus of Nazareth, the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Judas, the son of Jesus. This crypt has been overlooked and ignored for years and exists today under a patio just outside of Jerusalem. The authors have tracked down the location and been granted unequaled access to inspect the findings within the tomb. The artifacts were found, recorded and catalogued by professional archaeologists in a controlled setting. There is no question of their authenticity.
A fascinating combination of history, archaeology, and theology, the revelations inside the book will change the way we think about God, religion, and everything we have learned about the life and death of Jesus.
With a foreword by James Cameron.
Customer Reviews:
whose in the boxesThe Jesus Family Tomb.......2007-08-23
The Jesus Family Tomb
The Jesus Family Tomb by Simcha Jacobovici and Charles Pellegrino reads like a murder mystery or a cheap spy thriller. It is interesting and holds the reader's attention despite a glaring misrepresentation of accepted investigative procedures. Jacobovici and Pellegrino have an agenda and the facts are made to fit.
There are several misleading and non-factual theories presented. The alleged "Jesus, son of Joseph" ossuary may actually be inscribed "Hanan" according to Dr. Stephen J Pfann, a noted expert in Semitic languages who agrees with ancient phonetic writing scholar, Dr. Rochelle Altmann, about the inscription on the alleged Jesus bone box.
There are also experts in disagreement with the so-called Mary Magdalene ossuary inscription. Both Richard Bauckman of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and Ben Witherington, a professor at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky, believe the inscription speaks of two people placed in the same bone box, a common practice in first century Judea.
The authors state that by statistical analysis the chances are 600 to 1 in favor of this being the Jesus Family tomb. However, the reliability of the assumptions made prior to the analysis, along with the way they are stated in words, is critical to the acceptability of the results of the analysis. Any statistical analysis that accepts disputed data and rhetorical debris-"In"-; will produce garbage-"Out."- What are the numerous assumptions accepted as fact concerning the ossuaries? This is the relevant analysis question to be addressed before the statistics are reviewed.
The use of DNA analysis in The Jesus Family Tomb provides a popular appeal in addition to a scientific aura. The subsequent DNA analysis of two ossuaries in the Talpiot tomb showed that they were not linked by DNA. However, there had been looters in the tomb and in the ossuaries. Dr. Ian Barnes of the University of London says that there is a good chance that "the DNA belongs to someone who excavated the tomb." It is totally absurd to do a mitochondrial DNA analysis on two ossuaries that have disputed inscriptions, (out of the ten ossuaries present in the Talpiot Tomb), then theorize that Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene were married and had a son, Judah.
"Patina" testing is a method of analyzing mineral deposits, which build up on artifacts over years to determine the archaeological origin of those artifacts. The James ossuary, displayed in 2002, is linked by Jacobovici and Pellegrino to the Jesus tomb by patina testing. The James bone box has a forged inscription which says "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Dr. Ronny Reich of Haifa University in Israel says that the inscription patina of James ossuary is fraudulent.
The most disturbing inconsistency in The Jesus Family Tomb is the selective reliance on New Testament scriptures. The genealogy of Mary is cited (Luke 3:23-38) as an example of numerous "Matthews" in Jesus' family. It is an attempt to rationalize the Matthew bone box and its auspicious presence in the Talpiot tomb (p.78). Jacobovici also cites Acts 1:23-26 as though it carries historical authority (p.78). He also quotes Mark 6:3 which names Joseph as one of Jesus' brothers. Jocobovici and Pellegrino use this canonical scripture to reference Joseph as historical fact (p.77). The authors quote the New Testament as authoritative in saying Philip was the apostle to the Greek-speaking Jews (p.206). Jocobovici quotes Mark 15:26 saying the Romans referred to Jesus as King of the Jews (p.90). The authors quote John 2:19 about Jesus claim to rebuild the temple in three days (p.28). The aforementioned citing are a sampling of Jocabovici and Pellegrino's selective splicing of their tale with New Testament scriptures which are, historically, the only support for their background information. No justification is presented for trusting certain texts over others. As illustrated above, the authors rely on certain portions of the accounts of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John while simultaneously ignoring other portions. It is an attempt to "have it both ways." The authors use the New Testament text (especially historical data), as support for their hypothesis while at the same time ignoring the message and contradicting the world- view of the whole New Testament canon.
Archaeologist Dr. Jonathan Reed, Professor of Religion at the University of La Verne says, "It's what I would call archeo-porn. It's very exciting, it's stimulating, you want to watch it, but deep down you know it's wrong."
What do you do when your proof is shaky at best? Get a famous Hollyowood director to sign on!.......2007-08-12
First off, this isn't really a book about the alleged Jesus Family Tomb. Rather, it's about the making of the Discovery Channel special. If that kind of "behind the scenes" stuff interests you, you will probably enjoy this book.
I myself was rather disappointed with this book. I really wanted to see proof of a historical Jesus. Unfortunately the best the authors can come up with is the names on the tomb. Since the names "Jesus," "Joseph," and "Mary" were among the most common names at the time, that's not very compelling proof. Even the so-called "stastical analysis" presented is not very convincing. I felt like they brought director James Cameron aboard to lend some credibility to this project, knowing that they could not present any convincing proof.
A nice little read.......2007-08-04
A nice little summer read. Simcha is great, I love his enthusiasm. Not a hard-core scholarly book, but lots of info that will make you go hmmmmmmmm.
Fiction or fact?.......2007-07-26
I read to be informed, inspired, entertained, amused, shocked, and hopefully, enlightened. It is hard to find a book that can encompass all of the above. But this book did just that.
Not only does the author claim to have found the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, but that we also now have Jesus' DNA. The first thing that went through my mind was, you guessed it, can we bring Jesus, or a copy of him, back to life? After all, both Christianity and Islam claim that Jesus will come back to earth! Will this be the way?
More fascinating is that in the tomb were supposedly Jesus' wife Mary Magdalene and their son Judah. So were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married as has been proposed by many recent scholars (as well as by Dan Brown in The Da Vinci Code)?
If this is really the tomb of Jesus, how will this affect Christianity? And how will this affect Islam? According to Islamic belief, Jesus Christ did not die on the cross, and both his body and spirit were lifted to heaven in order for him to return again to earth before the Day of Judgment. According to Islam, Jesus' body is not on Earth, but in Heaven together with his spirit.
There are many skeptics to the claims in this book. The names in the tomb are common names. In the era of Jesus many were called Mary, Joseph, and Judah (the author does calculate the possibility of these names together and comes with a very convincing probability). Why would Jesus have a family tomb when such tombs were a practice of the wealthy, which Jesus was not? Why would his tomb be in Jerusalem, and not in his home town of Nazareth? If this is really the tomb of Jesus, why was it kept a secret throughout the centuries? The author does give his own opinion to those questions, and they are very convincing, but a more important question is how were Jesus' followers able to keep Jesus' tomb a secret when they kept burying Jesus' descendants in it. First, Jesus was buried, then his brother, then his wife, and probably his son last. Regardless of the sequence to the burials, all those burials and the tomb were kept a secret, especially when we are talking about a city with only about 100,000 citizens?
However, one has to keep an open mind and come to his own conclusions. I found the book very convincing, but I also found other books claiming that Jesus was buried in Pakistan and India just as convincing. So who is right? Or is no one right? Or are the scriptures alone right? But which scriptures are right, the Christian scriptures or the Islamic scriptures, which came later and attempted to correct the earlier misconceptions and errors in past religions?
The documentary and the subsequent book did anger a lot of people, and that was expected. A quick visit to amazon.com in this book review section will reveal very hostile people towards the author, which I personally don't think is right or moral. Worse than the simple hostile reviews are the threats against the author which forced him to seek police protection. Those threats forced the entire second printing of the book to be pulled from the shelves of bookstores, and sent back to the publisher. According to the author, "this was the first time in the entire history of American publishing, that a book was pulled from distribution while it was still on the New York Times Best Seller List, and that a film was pulled from a network while it was still ranking in the Neilsons as the highest rated show that the network had aired in nearly two years."
God is great! I love God, no matter what name one gives Him and no matter who His prophets or chosen religion is. I live by the universal MESSAGE of all religions, and if one looks carefully, it is all one and the same. The MESSAGE! The rest is interesting and historical, but the message is the core. We should concentrate on the message of Jesus and all live together peacefully and in the pursuit of other's happiness and well being!
Good documentary.......2007-06-27
This book and The Jesus Dynasty by Tabor just about wrap up the story about the real Jesus.
Book Description
What if everything we have been told about the origins of Christianity is a lie?
What if a small group had always known the truth and had kept it hidden . . . until now?
What if there is evidence that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion?
In Holy Blood, Holy Grail Michael Baigent and his co-authors Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh stunned the world with a controversial theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene married and founded a holy bloodline. The book became an international publishing phenomenon and was one of the sources for Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code. Now, with two additional decades of research behind him, Baigent's The Jesus Papers presents explosive new evidence that challenges everything we know about the life and death of Jesus.
Download Description
"
What if everything you think you know about Jesus is wrong? In The Jesus Papers, Michael Baigent reveals the truth about Jesus's life and crucifixion. Despite -- or rather because of -- all the celebration and veneration that have surrounded the figure of Jesus for centuries, Baigent asserts that Jesus and the circumstances leading to his death have been heavily mythologized.
As a religious historian and a leading expert in the field of arcane knowledge, Baigent has unequaled access to hidden archives, secret societies, Masonic records, and the private collections of antiquities traders and their moneyed clients. Using that access to full advantage, Baigent explores the religious and political climate in which Jesus was born and raised, examining not only the conflicts between the Romans and the Jews, but the strife within the different factions of the Jewish Zealot movement. He chronicles the migrations of Jesus's family, his subsequent exposure to other cultures, and the events, teachings, and influences that were most likely to have shaped his early years. Baigent also uncovers the inconsistencies and biases in the accounts of the major historians of Jesus's time, including Josephus, Pliny, and Tacitus. The enduring influence of these accounts in forming our most common conceptions of Jesus reveals that spin is not a new phenomenon.
Taking us back to sites that over the last twenty years he has meticulously explored, studied, and in some instances excavated for the first time, Baigent provides a detailed account of his groundbreaking discoveries, including many never-before-seen photos. The evidence he has uncovered has lead him to make shocking new assertions that threaten the conventional account of Jesus's life and death and shake the very foundation of Western thought, based as it is upon the assumption of Jesus's divinity. Ultimately, his investigation raises the hope that we may gain a new understanding of Jesus.
"
Customer Reviews:
Garbage In - Garbage Out........2007-09-30
Another person trying to disprove something they don't want to beleive. Ovewhelming evidence proves that Jesus was crucified. Nothing in this book disproves it, because nothing in this book can stand on its own.
Compelling and fun, yet stretching at times.......2007-08-19
I would first like to state that I really enjoyed reading this book and the very original experiences the Mr. Biagent shares. As a truth seeker, I read every text as objectively as possible simply with the hope of learning, never to reaffirm my own beliefs or scour them in the hopes of criticizing others.
The fact is that Mr. Biagent is correct when he states there is little to no extra biblical evidence of Jesus. Perhaps there would have been more had the Vatican not destroyed any and every piece of evidence that didn't jive with the Gospel accounts. Christians often like to throw out Josephus as their trump card, but even the Christian apologist Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) admits that the infamous passage is at least partially interpolated. 2 centuries after the death of Christ there was no mention of this passage in the comprehensive debates we have on record between Justin Martyr and Origen. Not one mention of Josephus. Why? Probably because it didn't exist and was interpolated at a later time.
The Jesus Papers does seem to stretch in some areas while in others proposing fascinating theories as to the life of Jesus and his possible travels. The idea that he might have survived the crucifiction seems far fetched to me personally, but nonetheless there is confusion on the gospel accounts as to those final moments of his life and time thereafter. In my view, it's this type of confusion that leads the door open for such theories.
In a perfect world, I would read this book again for a more comprehensive review. But to sum up the first go around, it was quite enjoyable and well written. Unfortunatley, many readers are simply too slanted and grounded in their own belief system to consider such thinking.
If you have an open mind, read this book. If nothing else, you will be entertained, and even a get a little history lesson while you're at it. Perhaps you'll find the text more sound, as a whole, then I did.
Depends on if your open minded.......2007-08-17
My thoughts is that Baigent did do tons of research, and this is based on way more than a painting. If you are open to the possibly that Jesus may have been a wonderful "human" that could have been a great politician, this might be a good read for you. For those who can not go there, than this is not for you.
He got off track a couple times, and if he was next to me telling the story I would have smacked him. But when he got back on track I was back on board. It's a OK read, but not the greatest cover up in history.
Supporting illusions..........2007-08-10
So continues on the scheme to deface and devalue Jesus Christ. I say if you have something to write about, put it on paper and back it up with some facts and sound theory. Everything else, highlighting this shabby attempt to further a mudslinging campaign, is a unthinkable strech of unsupported faith.
Jesus Papers Review.......2007-07-24
This is at the least, an interesting book with ideas, proofs and things to consider and learn.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
The recent National Geographic special on the Gospel of Judas was a major media event, introducing to tens of millions of viewers one of the most important biblical discoveries of modern times. Now, a leading historian of the early church, Bart Ehrman, offers the first comprehensive account of the newly discovered Gospel of Judas, revealing what this legendary lost gospel contains and why it is so important for our understanding of Christianity. Ehrman, a featured commentator in the National Geographic special, describes how he first saw the Gospel of Judas--surprisingly, in a small room above a pizza parlor in a Swiss town near Lake Geneva--and he recounts the fascinating story of where and how this ancient papyrus document was discovered, how it moved around among antiquities dealers in Egypt, the United States, and Switzerland, and how it came to be restored and translated. More important, Ehrman gives the reader a complete and clear account of what the book teaches and he shows how it relates to other Gospel texts--both those inside the New Testament and those outside of it, most notably, the Gnostic texts of early Christianity. Finally, he describes what we now can say about the historical Judas himself as well as his relationship with Jesus, suggesting that one needs to read between the lines of the early Gospels to see exactly what Judas did and why he did it. The Gospel of Judas presents an entirely new view of Jesus, his disciples, and the man who allegedly betrayed him. It raises many questions and Bart Ehrman provides illuminating and authoritative answers, in a book that will interest anyone curious about the New Testament, the life of Jesus, and the history of Christianity after his death.
Customer Reviews:
Good, but not great: little bits missing.......2007-09-07
First, I like a few other commentators, find Ehrman too "conservative" in his estimation of the development of early Christianity. (I would put at least John, probably Luke and maybe Matthew as second-century products, I believe the Eucharist was purely a co-option by Paul from pagan ritual, and a few other things.)
That said, the highlights of this book are Ehrman's analysis of its place within Gnostic Christianity and, to me, the thrill of discovery, attainment, and repairing of the codex of which it is part.
That also said, without expecting Ehrman to rewrite Kurt Rudolph's Gnosis, I would have liked to seen even more analysis by Ehrman of where exactly in the Gnostic, or at least "Gnosticizing," stream this fits. Does the one mention of Seth show that much of a connection to Sethian Gnosticism? Does Judas as protagonist show any connection to the (Judas) Thomas Christianity of The Gospel of Thomas and other literature?
Perhaps we shall here more on this from some quarter.
Well written but flawed.......2007-08-27
Bart Ehrman can write very good books (Misquoting Jesus) and very bad books (Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code), so it's always a treat reading an Ehrman book and discovering who wrote it. In the case of The Lost Gospel of Judas, it seems to be co-authored. The "good" Ehrman showed up with his excellent writing skills and his attention to detail. But he obviously took long breaks, during which the "bad" Ehrman slipped in and did his damage.
On the positive side, Ehrman demonstrates the breadth and depth of his knowledge of early Christianity. He provides a detailed examination of the life of Judas, from all the available information, and places that information in perspective and in juxtaposition to itself. Chapters 2 to 4 (Judas in our Earliest Gospels, Judas in Later Gospel Traditions, Our Previous Knowledge of Judas) are extraordinary.
Ehrman also looks beyond the specifics of the Gospel and uses it as an opportunity to discuss Gnosticism in general, and Gnostic texts in particular. His discussion is interesting and illuminating, although I wouldn't throw away my Pagels and Meyers books just yet.
That being said, let's look at some of Ehrman's questionable comments:
- he claims that the gospels are from the 1st century (p. 13). That's a theory. There is quite a bit of research to indicate that at least 3 and possible all 4 gospels are 2nd century products, and there are several prominent authorities (e.g., Schonfield, Mack, Ellegard to name a few) who advance this alternate theory.
- he claims that Mary Magdalene "was one of three women who accompanied Jesus..." (p. 13) but that's clearly wrong. Luke 8:1-3 names only three of the women, but clearly states that were "many others."
- he claims that in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is "silent on the way to the crucifixion, while being nailed to the cross... (p. 35)." Search as you will, the Gospel of Mark, and you'll find no mention of Jesus being nailed to the cross. You will find mention of the nails in the Gospel of John (20:25), but not Mark. No big deal, you think, but in a section of the book where Ehrman criticizes others for conflating the gospels, Ehrman's own coflation is noteworthy.
While these are relatively small matters, one of the continuing serious problems in this book was also reflected in Ehrman's Peter, Paul, and Mary. In both books he claims that the ancient material gives us a window not into history but into the minds of the people who wrote this material. I agree fully. Unfortunately Ehrman does take himself seriously enough to follow through with this hypothesis. He spends very little time telling us what he thinks was going on in the lives of the people who wrote the Gospel of Judas. Instead he focuses on the historical data and discusses its probable historicity, when in fact it is his underlying thesis that the Gospel should be read more for the dynamics of the writers than the historical validity of the principals. We get very little about the dynamics of the writers and their society.
Another problem with the book is Ehrman's conclusion that the Gospel of Judas offered some new perspective on the life of Judas. While it's true that the traditional view of Judas as the betraying, "money-grubbing thief and Christ killer (p. 180)" has been the main view, the idea that Judas was serving the greater need was not first advanced in the newly discovered Gospel.
Finally, I confess to being interested in the contents of a book and having no interest whatsoever in the behavior of the writer. I know some people enjoy these personal touches, but quite frankly if I wanted auto-biographical information about Ehrman or any other author, I would read their auto biography. To my understanding of the Gospel of Judas, does it matter that Ehrman received unexpected phone calls, or that he sat in the back seat of a van, or that the weather was cold and dreary on the day he first saw the Gospel? I think not.
On balance, this is a good book. The writing is well done and there is a wealth of material here for beginning and advanced students.
The first Christian? .......2007-08-08
As Ehrman notes, it's hardly necessary to introduce Judas Iscariot to readers. The many allusions to betrayal or deception: the kiss, the "thirty pieces of silver", the "one among you" reference are scattered throughout our literature, politics and daily circumstances. Even the fratricide of Cain receives less attention. However, a long-lost text providing an alternate view of this man, known to scholars but never seen in its original form, is likely to change all that. Ehrman, who was among the first to study the remants of it after it was found in Eygpt over thirty years ago, here provides an analysis of its contents. In a well-written account, he traces the document's history as known, and what it might mean for Christianity.
Judas, Ehrman notes, is portrayed in various ways in the "Synoptic Gospels", the accounts of Jesus that are the standard fare of Christian teachings. They range from a man driven by greed to an instrument of Satan. "The Gospel of Judas", originally written at about the same time as those stock accounts, depicts somebody else altogether. Not written by Judas, the writer tells the story of a man specially favoured by the teacher. According to the text, Judas was the one among "the Twelve" who actually "got" the message. Instead of "betraying" the teacher, Judas is actually given the task of freeing him from the "man who clothes me". Jesus, then, is but a spirit occupying a human body. Judas thus becomes the first Christian.
The foundation of this shift of role lies in a religious philosophy known as "Gnosticism". Although much debate has raged around the term as well as its tenets, its underlying thesis is that the material world is inherently evil, created by corrupt gods. The god revered by the Jews and transferred to Christianity is a false deity. Ehrman launches into a discussion of Gnostic Christianity, beginning with its complex creation myth with a pantheon of gods. There are ranks and hierarchies of them, some good and some bad, but all residing under a superior Great Invisible Spirit. The point of his presentation is to indicate that a minority of humans enjoy the potential to join with the greatest of these gods. Those are the "knowing" [Greek "gnosis"] of which Jesus is one and who "recruits" Judas to be another. Judas' assignment to "betray" Jesus to the authorities in order to restore him to the spirit realm, sets Judas apart from the other Apostles. They naturally resent this situation, but aren't "knowing" enough to change it. Ehrman reminds us that all the Apostles but Judas abandoned Jesus at the arrival of the arresting officers.
Gnosticism isn't for those seeking simple answers. It required the "knowing" to take a stance in direct contradiction to those accepting the Jewish god as paramount. Jesus does not make demands of his followers. Indeed, it's fundamental to Gnosticism that each individual find the route into the realm of the divine on their own. Over time, that would lead to clashes with those who sought a more hierarchical church system - the "proto-orthodox" who were later vindicated by Constantine. The early "Church Fathers" railed against Gnostic ideas - in fact, it is their writings that preserved the thoughts of the Gnostics in ranting against their ideas. Once in ascendency, the "orthodox" saw to it that Gnostic texts were destroyed. The Gospel of Judas, Ehrman reminds us, was known chiefly by a reference to it in the works of Irenaeus in his polemics against "heresies".
To Ehrman, The Gospel of Judas' importance lies in what it can contribute to our understanding of the early forms of Christianity - "Christianities". He leaves unaddressed the inevitable comparison with the doctrine of the Trinity, an issue that has split the faith numerous times. In fact, beyond describing how the Gnostics viewed their spirit realm, he avoids theological discussion. His aim here is to describe the history and words given in the newly found Gospel and put them in perspective. He does a fine job of that in language that must keep his students enthralled. It is a engrossing account at many levels, and deserves your close attention. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Fascinating, informative and readable.......2007-06-12
Ehrman begins by relating the story of how the abused codex finally made it into the hands of experts who could preserve the ancient work and his own role in that authentication as well as discussing the gospel itself and its context in the ancient world. What is fascinating for those of us who are interested in Gnosticism is the way this text adds to the current growing understanding of the movement. Ehrman gives the historical context of the gospel and Gnosticism as well as presents some fascinating suggestions as to why Judas might have betrayed Jesus so long ago. This is a highly readable and informative work that I recommend for anyone interested in Gnosticism as well as the historical context of the Christian faith in its early centuries.
Scholarship, Intrigue and Adventure! Oh My!.......2007-06-08
While doing research for our own writing we have read a great many scholarly works, but we have rarely had the opportunity to enjoy material that does such an admirable job of combining impeccable scholarship with intrigue and adventure. In "The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot," Bart Ehrman invites the reader to join him in the delicious moment of discovery when he first sees the lost manuscript. He lays out the history of the document like a skilled novelist without sacrificing the scholarship his readers have come to expect. Ehrman further enlightens the reader with a review of early writings that document the steady downward spiral of Judas' reputation from disciple to monster. This is a book that is not to be missed by anyone interested in early Christianity, however, we must agree with several other reviewers who were disappointed by Ehrman's somewhat dismissive handling of Gnostic Christianity.
Ehrman points out that, "Some have argued that Jesus was principally a Jewish rabbi who taught others to love one another. Others have insisted that he was a political revolutionary out to overthrow the Roman Empire. Others have claimed that he urged a social revolution." Ehrman then goes on to establish his own theory, stating, "The most important thing to know about the historical Jesus is that he was a first-century Jew who lived in Palestine. The second most important thing to know is that, like so many other Palestinian Jews of his day, he held views of God, the world, and humans' place in it that were deeply and thoroughly apocalyptic." Rather than rigidly placing Jesus in any one of these categories, we could not help but ask if Jesus might be better served if we understand him as someone who went through many changes during his lifetime. Nothing in the scriptures, or Ehrman's research, precludes the possibility that Jesus could have begun his ministry with an apocalyptic view, and ended it as a Gnostic. This may explain why so many contradictory scenarios are presented in early Christian writings. Unfortunately, Ehrman remains true to his apocalyptic theory and fails to give credibility to the possibility of a Gnostic Jesus who was completely misunderstood by his apocalyptic followers.
There is one clear message that Ehrman threads through each of his very worthwhile books: There never was, and never will be, one Christianity. Ehrman points to the significance of the Gospel of Judas by stating, ". . .this text gives us additional hard evidence that Christianity in the early centuries of the church was remarkably diverse. . . and the boundaries between these Christian groups were not hard and fast." Whether we believe Judas to be betrayer or favored disciple, we cannot help but benefit if we use the material presented to see early Christianity in this light.
Lee & Steven Hager are the authors of Quantum Prodigal Son: Revisiting Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Perspective of Quantum Mechanics
Average customer rating:
- Good Background Information
- A Christian history teacher's review
- Surprisingly historical
- A Must read.
- Interesting, non-biased work by a scholar of ancient history
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In the Fullness of Time: A Historian Looks at Christmas, Easter, and the Early Church
Paul L. Maier
Manufacturer: Kregel Publications
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ASIN: 0825433290 |
Book Description
This engaging and beautifully written narrative sheds a brilliant new light on the life of Jesus and the courageous men and women who carried His message throughout a hostile empire. Full-color photos and illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Good Background Information.......2007-10-01
Maier does a good job putting Christmas and Easter into their appropriate historical contexts. Lots of good information that helps to place both into perspective.
The third part of the book, on the early church, is not as well done. There is less historical and archaelogical information brought into play. It was still pretty good, just not as good as the first two sections.
Still, I would recommend this book as one to help build a foundation.
A Christian history teacher's review.......2007-05-14
Paul Maier is a truly gifted lecturer. I've had the pleasure of watching two of his videos and if I lived anywhere near Western Michigan University, I'd sneak into the back of his classroom (he is a member of the history faculty there) on a regular basis - he has a gift for making the First Century A.D. accessible.
"In the Fullness of Time" continues this tradition. Maier has basically consolidated 3 other books into one larger volume (with a few changes) and he discusses the first Christmas, the first Easter and the ministries of the early Apostles, especially Paul and Peter.
Maier does a great job of bringing actual documentation that supports the stories of Christmas, Easter and the Book of Acts. He includes the works of Roman and Jewish historians, explains Roman and Jewish religious and political practices and deals with alternate theories that have been proposed. While this could be dry reading, Maier makes it lively and this volume reads more like a novel than a textbook.
So, who is this book for? If you are a well-read Christian who has looked into many of the facts that back the New Testament as it is written on your own, you won't find much new ground covered in this book. The internet has lots of this information scattered about. However, you are unlikely to find sources as concise and as well-written as this one. Plus, if you are interested in further research, it is well-documented with tons of footnotes.
If you are a new Christian or are newly interested in the history behind Christianity, this is a powerful introduction.
I give this one a grade of "A"
Surprisingly historical .......2006-07-30
Maybe it's because I enjoy reading historical literature... or maybe I am facinated by the notion the Gospel accounts are historical in nature. Paul Maier has done a wonderful job combining backround historical context, archeological artifacts, and a clear logical approach into a credible and refreshing look at what is was like to: experience the first Christmas, the first Easter, and what it was like for the early Christians after the resurrection. This is surprisingly enjoyable read.
A Must read........2005-05-20
Pail Maier, a expert in ancient history, has written a great book. from my understanding is that, this book was three different books now put into one. If you are a new Christian, you need this book. If you read this book as a new believer, you will have a better grasp of the background of the NT in reading this book, than going to a expositional preaching church for two years. It will lay a great foundation for your walk with the living Christ. If you a long time believer, and have not read this book, you should, for it will open your eyes, to the NT. Dr. Maier goes into the Christmas story, Easter Sunday and the early church. Great book.
Interesting, non-biased work by a scholar of ancient history.......2002-03-14
When I saw Paul Maier interviewed in a documentary on the life of Jesus, I searched for titles by this author, and when this book was listed, I immediately ordered it. I wasn't dissappointed.
Maier is a professor of ancient history at Western Michigan, and brings credibility and scholarship to a subject that is frequently approached with bias, often from polar perspectives. Professor Maier is one of the leading scholars on the writings of first century Jewish historian Josephus, and this book includes appropriate and informative references to this ancient source. As a student of history and an attorney, I found the book stimulating and thought provoking. However, the book most certainly does not read like a history text, and is interesting to both the historian and the person simply looking for some information on the historical context of the birth of Christ, his crucification and the biblical account of his resurrection. The book also examines the early church and the spread of Christianity. Anyone with an interest in these topics should read this work.
I very much recommend this book, and look forward to reading other works by Paul Maier.
Amazon.com
"Why did Jesus happen when and where he happened?" is the question that drives Excavating Jesus, a collaboration between the leading historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan and noted Galilean archeologist Jonathan Reed. Excavating Jesus is a groundbreaking work of popular biblical scholarship, an extraordinarily mature and accessible integration of textual study with archeological research. "Words talk. Stones talk too. Neither talks from the past without interpretive dialogue with the present. But each demands to be heard in its own way," the authors write. True to this principle, Crossan and Reed consider archaeology and exegesis "as twin independent methods, neither of which is subordinate or submissive to the other." The bulk of the book identifies, analyzes, and integrates what the authors believe to be the "top 10" archeological discoveries pertaining to the life of Jesus (such as the house of the apostle Peter at Capernaum), and the top 10 exegetical discoveries (such as the Dead Sea Scrolls). Their excavation of the most important sites and texts, accompanied by stunning illustrations and photographs, provide perhaps the most precise picture of the world in which Jesus lived. For many readers, this information will also shed light on the central themes of Christianity. For instance, in the first century in Galilee, "the Kingdom" meant the Roman Empire. "When, therefore, Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, he chose the one expression most calculated to draw Roman attention to what he was doing. Not the 'people' or the 'community' of God, but the 'Kingdom' of God." That's why the Baptism movement of John and the Kingdom movement of Jesus started there and then." --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
Can the stones of ancient Palestine speak to us about the real Jesus and his message? Are there ways to discover the historical Jesus by sifting through the layers of the Gospels and other early texts? In Excavating Jesus Bible expert John Dominic Crossan and Galilean field archaeologist Jonathan L. Reed take an exhilarating look at Jesus and his world from their two different perspectives. While the phenomenal advances in our historical and textual understanding of the origins of Christianity are well known, the equally significant archaeological discoveries are much less familiar. Drawing on evidence from the
ten most significant textual discoveries of biblical studies and the
ten most significant archaeological digs in the cities and villages of ancient Palestine, Crossan and Reed provide a fuller portrait of Jesus, his teachings, and his followers. Together they bring to life the struggle between Roman power and the people's passionate belief in a just God.Join Crossan and Reed as they explore sites such as the house of the apostle Peter at Capernaum, a first-century fishing boat from the Sea of Galilee, and the skeleton of a crucified man -- plus textual discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospel of Thomas. The authors reveal a world where life could end instantly and violently on the whim of a king, a governor, or an ordinary Roman soldier. They show us a people willing to fight, and even die, for the right to live according to their beliefs.Excavating Jesus includes a full-color insert featuring twelve drawings by Balage Balogh, the best archaeological artist in Israel today, and black-and-white illustrations throughout. These historically accurate recreations of first-century sites reflect the most recent archaeological discoveries, telling us more about the world Jesus, his followers, and his enemies inhabited than we have ever known before. This fresh examination of the world of the Gospels offers readers a unique and fascinating opportunity to examine the evidence and decide for themselves what they believe about the nature of Jesus and his message.
Customer Reviews:
A Helpful Contribution, But Beware.......2007-07-28
Perhaps the most exciting development in western religious thought in the past twenty years has been the rise of what is sometimes termed "a new quest for the historical Jesus." The last one, centered in western Europe and America in the early twentieth century, attempted to use archaeological discoveries to "prove" the historicity of Biblical narratives. Given the times, when the piety that had dominated the last half of the nineteenth century was encountering a rising scientific secularism, this is understandable. As secular universities established departments of religion, the form-critical approach to Biblical texts arose. Now that secularism is firmly in the saddle and, while it puts enormous pressure on established religion, it also offers the opportunity to look at the archaeological and textual records through new glasses. In recent years, John Dominic Crossan, along with Marcus Borg, Walter Wink, and others, has led the effort.
What makes the work of Crossan, et al, compelling is their attempt to understand the cultural, religious, political, economic, and philosophical currents that flowed through the time and place of Jesus. Just as archaeologists need to examine artifacts in situ, they attempt to examine Jesus the same way, to the extent that's possible. Excavating Jesus represents the first attempt I've seen to apply archaeological methodology to the Biblical and extra-Biblical texts. The approach is basically this: What conclusions can we honestly draw from the archaeological evidence, and how do those affect our reading of the texts? The most immediate answer is that, just as archaeologists excavate several layers of a site, we must excavate the layers of the texts. At this, Crossan and his collaborator, Jonathan L. Reed, are mostly successful. They should be. It seems to me nonsensical to assert, as many Christians do, that the Biblical writers produced the texts while God guided their hands. The gospels, the epistles, the noncanonical books like Gospel of Thomas all were produced by and for particular communities in particular places at particular times with particular concerns. While this is faithful to human experience, it doesn't deny that a historical Jesus lies behind the texts. Given what we know of the times, he was a Galilean peasant who lived in a country dominated by Greek cultural forms and Roman imperial power. Crossan and Reed ask: Given that reality, what sort of ministry would Jesus have had? Their answer: He would have been an itinerant preacher who proclaimed the Kingdom of God, in contrast to the kingdom of Rome. It was this that: distinguished him from John the Baptist.....got him killed by the Romans.....meant that none of his followers were similarly killed.
Makes sense to me. Where the rubber hits the road for anyone trying to understand who Jesus is (or was): The witness to his resurrection. C/R take an approach I have never seen before. They argue that when Constantine located the Church of the Holy Sepulcher over the traditional site of Jesus' death and burial in the fourth century C.E. he got it right. (I agree with them. While in the cemetery below the church, I was overcome with the feeling that this was indeed the spot, something that seldom happens to me.) The question is: Why does the resurrection make any difference? The answer: Because Jesus' resurrection is the beginning of the advent of God's reign of justice and peace. This claim, by the way, makes no sense if we use the traditional meaning of apocalypse: An Armageddon-style end of the world. As they use it, apocalypse is merely the advent of God's Kingdom in the here and now. Jesus' resurrection is the opening act in the apocalypse that fascinates Mark, Luke, Daniel, and Revelation, not to mention countless conservative Christians of our own time.
As is true with many novels, the ending is ultimately a letdown. Apocalypse or no apocalypse, God's Kingdom of justice and peace has obviously not come. James-Christians, Peter-Christians, Paul-Christians all argued with each other to such an extent that Christian communities could not even manifest the Kingdom in their life together. No wonder, they say, pagans turned away and Jews headed back to the synagogue.
Well, maybe. While tensions have always existed between Christians, it's easy to understate or overstate those. C/R overstate them, I think, perhaps blinded by their desire to make a statement about the so-called James Ossuary in this second edition. Given the normal arguments that defined first-century Judaism, most Jews would have felt right at home. Aristocratic pagans had no reason to embrace a faith that was gaining adherents from among the lowest classes of Roman society--slaves, women, the poor. Since C/R love to pose questions and attempt to answer them, here's another: What if Jesus' resurrection were a surprise to HIM? By extension, what if God were up to something greater than even Jesus could fully comprehend until after his resurrection? Far from decrying the negative response of most Jews to Christianity, there is textual evidence that suggests that Christianity supplants Judaism in God's dealings with humankind. It does so because Christianity has the ability to transcend Judaism and appeal across cultures and ethnicities. I don't mean to be anti-semitic, because Judaism can and should exist. But Christianity, it can be argued, did what Palestinian Judaism never could: Embrace all kinds of people in that apocalyptic hope and vision. Even with all of its many, many flaws.
Like any book on the subject..........2007-03-06
Like any book on religion, people's views on the message of the test will be based mostly on their prior notions. In Chapter 1, the book says as much when discussing the James ossuary. Crossan and Reed seek to excavate the archaeology and the text of the Gospels. Crossan is a founding member of the Jesus Seminar, so his interpretation of the Gospels is predictably liberal (theologically). He also quotes from the much-debated Gospel of Thomas and other non-canonical sources. The basic thesis is that the Gospels reflect the biases of the authors (the four evangelists as well as the epistles) retrojected onto the life of Jesus and the early church and that some of the events may not have happened exactly the way that they are written about in the Good Book. On that basis alone, you might already have an opinion of what you'll read. I dare not step into the argument of whether this is the proper hermeneutic to use, as that one never seems to end.
Instead, let me focus on the layout of the book. To me, it's more of a 3.5 star book, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt for being on an interesting topic. The content on archaeology itself is pretty good (a little heavy on architecture and light on material culture, but you can't have everything in life). The content on the textual criticism is well-presented and fairly well-argued. The problem is that the authors promised that the two would be synthesized, and they do not deliver. 20 page treatises on ancient architecture in Jerusalem are followed by textual criticism. It's not quite synthesis, but rather the authors alternating turns. Sometimes, it's not clear why a certain piece of architecture was paired with a critique of a certain passage. At times, the text seems to ramble with no specific point. There's enough in here to recommend it as a thought-provoking read, but there's a lot of clutter to cut through.
You'll have to make up your own mind on theological content, but the presentation leaves something to be desired.
Almost Perfect, but Be Careful of this One.......2006-06-16
This book, ironically, is filled with information that verifies the Bible as historical fact despite the authors' sneaky attempt to have Jesus appear as just a wise and controversial man (see page 228 where they claim the ressurrection was a myth.)
If you blacked out all the anti-ressurrection comments you'd have a book that supports the Bible as entirely factual (unless I missed something.) It isn't the most attractive book internally (it's not well laid out), and might actually turn saved Christians off to wanting to get to know the Bible better, but for someone with patience you may pull out some new facts as I did, so it is defintely not worthless, but I wouldn't stick it in my personal library even after having blacked out the parts I didn't like.
On a side note, reviewer Readalots claims that there is little evidence to support a synagogue being in Nazereth, but he is wrong because there is a huge amount of indirect evidence (such as the Bible having been shown repeatedly to be historically accurate: see my other reviews, including the one on Noah's Flood.)
A New Look @ Jesus.......2006-05-31
Crossan and Reed (C & R) bring an interesting and unusual study with "Excavating Jesus" (2001 paperback). The subtitle of the book suggests that the authors will attempt to search for Jesus "beneath the stones and behind the texts". Their methodology focuses around their so-called "top ten" archaeological discoveries (page 2) and "top ten" exegetical discoveries (page 7). The book's 330 pages are dedicated to reviewing these findings to the authors' well-sourced (by scientific notation method which offers the source in the text face) satisfactions.
Beginning the book by considering the 2002 introduction of the "James ossuary" (with its controversial inscription "James the son of Joseph the brother of Jesus"), the authors declare the small bone box authentic (page 25). The following chapters direct readers to extensive archaeological findings and a general rethinking of the biblical witness at some key points. For example, no Nazareth synagogues existed, they say, during Jesus' life time thus bringing Luke 4:16-30 into question (page 59-63). C & R decide on the evidence before them that the virgin birth means St. Mary maintained virginity only until after Jesus' birth (page 87). These authors are challenging, but not always convincing, in their presentations.
C & R's review of 1st century Capernaum is helpful to their study (pages 119 to 135), but the purpose for their comprehensive examination of Caesarea Maritima (a city that Jesus is never said to have visited) is unclear. Later, the reader is subjected to considerations of "the villa of an aristocrat" (page146) and "houses of the elites" (page 149)- places where Jesus never went. Although such discussion is enlightening one wonders what it has to do with the book's topic. The authors bring a formidable study of Jesus' life and ministry among the poor and socially out cast (page 150 to 160). C & R's suggestion that "Jesus created a Kingdom franchise" is fresh and provocative (page 161).
"Excavating Jesus" offers a multitude of maps, colored photographs, drawings, and a handy archaeological sources section (near the back of the book). The writing style is somewhat technical. The authors assume a certain academic learning level. This book ought to be read with a copy of the Bible in hand (for example, the Paul vs. James controversy, on page 40- 41, should be thoroughly understood from the Scriptural source before attempting to comprehend C & R's potentially controversial position). The book's seven chapters average over 40 pages each. It is not a quick read.
By the book's conclusion the authors seemed more archaeological than exegetical. They simply raise more questions than they answer. (It could be argued, with some accuracy, that this book is an archaeological text with a Jesus title.) Perhaps that's the purpose for compelling history. C & R are often fascinating, sometime unconvincing, but always stimulating. They challenge conventional wisdom to renew itself by reviewing the archaeological and exegetical sources. This is a good read for a new generation of biblical scholars and those willing to test former learning.
A lot of potential unrealized.......2006-03-10
I read this book for a class on the Greco-Roman world. The book looks very interesting from the outset, attempting to do what is not done very often: combining the efforts of archaeology and Biblical exegesis to gain a more accurate picture of what is happening specifically in the Gospels. They cover what they believe are the ten most important discoveries (or so, they kind of smudge the lines a little bit by combining certain discoveries together, but they're up front about that, so it's ok) of both archaeology and biblical exegesis. Using these examples and many others, they attempt to show what Jesus was about and how his "kingdom movement" compared to that of John the Baptist's as well as the current empire of Rome at the time. They come to some controversial conclusions, but they attempt to back everything with evidence they give.
There are two major problems with Excavating Jesus. One problem is the form of the book. To put it bluntly, it is a poorly written book. In an attempt to put as much information into the book as they can, they tend to get lost in the information and the point they are trying to make is lost within the plethora of evidence and information. If you're looking for a casual read that will not require much effort on the part of the reader, this is not a book to pick up. The reader is required to sift through a lot of information and sometimes guess at what the authors are trying to get at because their point is not stated clearly enough. The chapters are very large, usually around 80 pages, and though each chapter is trying to focus on a specific point, by the time the reader is finished, they are somewhat lost as to what point the authors were trying to make. The thesis of the book itself is not easily discernible. The method is made very clear, but ultimately overshadows what the authors are trying to do. So the important messages that the book is trying to get across are lost in poor writing and direction.
The other major problem with the book is the conclusions. They are not bad because they are controversial; the authors make it a point to try to back everything they present with evidence. What makes the conclusions problematic is that they are all fairly extreme. If there is any room to doubt something, the authors immediately jump to the farthest conclusion. For example, there is little evidence to suggest that there is a synagogue in Nazareth at the time Jesus would have lived there as Luke records. The authors automatically conclude that the events that take place in chapter 4 of Luke didn't happen. That's a fairly extreme jump to make, and there are other plausible explanations that can be made. The book does this quite a bit.
Overall, the book is not good. It's worth reading if one is willing to take the time to sift through the poor writing, but if you're looking for a simple book about how archaeology and exegesis can work together, I would look elsewhere, though the selection is somewhat thin.
One positive aspect of the book is in the discourse of the first chapter about the James Ossuary. This is a fascinating discussion and I think an important on when it comes to good archaeology and exegesis. However, it'd be better to check the book out from a theological library and read that selection rather than purchase the book for that section.
Book Description
It’s finally here – world-renowned scholar and best-selling author Robert Eisenman’s long-awaited sequel to James the Brother of Jesus. Is there an interconnecting code behind the New Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls? 1,000 pages of new research shows that there is. There are many ‘Code’s and ‘Code’ Books – some imaginary, some products of wishful thinking, and some even fraudulent; but ‘the Code’ in Professor Eisenman’s new book The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ really exists.
In identifying the Scrolls as the literature of “the Messianic Movement in Palestine,” Robert Eisenman – who broke the monopoly over the Dead Sea Scrolls and was the first to identify “the James Ossuary” as a fraud – demonstrates the integral relationship of James the brother of Jesus to the Righteous Teacher of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ‘decoding’ many famous and beloved sayings in the Gospels, such as “Every Plant which My Heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted,” “Do not throw Holy Things to dogs,” “A man shall not be known by what goes into his mouth but, rather, by what comes out of it,” “Even the dogs eat the crumbs under the table,” and “These are the signs that the Lord did in Cana of Galilee.”
In doing so, he deciphers the way the picture of “Jesus” was put together in the Gospels, in the process clarifying the real history of Palestine in the First Century and, as a consequence, what can be known about the real “Jesus” of that time. At the same time he unravels the real code behind a pivotal New Testament allusion like “This is the Cup of the New Covenant in my Blood,” connecting it to “the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus” and “drinking the Cup of the Wrath of God” in the Dead Sea Scrolls; and uncovers the Truth about what really happened in Palestine at that time, not what the enemies of those making war against Rome wanted people to think happened.
Offering a thorough point-by-point analysis of James’ relationship to the Dead Sea Scrolls, he illumines such subjects as the “Pella Flight,” “the Wilderness Camps,” and Paul as “Herodian,” exposing Peter’s true historical role as “a prototypical Essene” who was used in the Gospels and the Book of Acts as a mouthpiece for aboriginal Anti-Semitism. In making these arguments and exposing these overwrites, a crucial new point that emerges is his identification of the Dead Sea Scrolls document known as the MMT as a ‘Jamesian’ Letter to the person the Early Church Fathers identify as “the Great King of the Peoples beyond the Euphrates.”
The crowning point of his arguments is his final exposition of the relationship of “the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus” of the Dead Sea Scrolls to “the Last Supper” in the Gospels and “the Cup” connected to both. Did Paul know the meaning of the famous Damascus Document (discovered in a Synagogue Repository in Old Cairo in 1897), “to set the Holy Things up according to their precise specifications” – or the reverse of it, as Peter was presented as discovering in the Books of Acts – “to make no distinctions between Holy and profane”? The final mysteries of the Dead Sea Scrolls as they relate to Peter, Paul, and James will be elucidated. Eisenman’s many readers will not be disappointed.
Customer Reviews:
Landmark Work on Early Christianity .......2007-08-21
Professor Eisenmen has produced a landmark work that will be referred to for decades to come. This book is for readers who are serious about understanding the first fifty years after the crucifixion and how traditional Christianity has avoided the message of the Dea Sea Scrolls (DSS). Only a professional and dedicated researcher like Profesor Eisenman could hold his readers by the hand and lead them through the maze of the traditional Christian spin of the past two thousand years. The traditional Christian movement will attack the evidence so artfully consolidated by Eisenmen. Their only other choice is to open their closed minds to the first century evidence provided by the Dea Sea Scrolls and many other collaborating first century records.
Eisenman meticulous presentation mirrors the complexity of the subject matter. In this regard, the significance of several sections of the book may remain partially unappreciated, unless the reader is well versed with the large diversity of early Christian records. The bottom line is that Eiseneman proves that Pauline Christianity as we know it today is largely a convoluted blend of the authentic teachings of the enlightened Jesus and the flawed beliefs of the historical figure know as the Apostle Paul. It will come as a shock to most readers that Eisenman proves that Paul was adversary of the inner circle of Jesus; an adversary who never met the living Jesus. Paul's version of Christianty is based primarily on his alleged psychic visions and was in opposition to the views of the real Apostles and the family of the enlightend Jesus. The underlying message of Eisenman is as follows: Who do you want to agree with, the inner circle of Master Jesus or some Greek named Paul, who never the enlightened Jesus?
Many, including the most respected members of Christian acedamia, will quickly dismiss the comprehensive case presented by Eisenman. This is unfortunate but expected given the brain washing that has been perpetrated by the traditional Christian movement for the past two thousand years. The foundation of the traditional Christian movement is largely based on the flawed Pauline perspective that dominates the New Testament. How can someone who never met the enlightened Jesus and who obtained the title of apostle only by self appointment, author 13 of the 27 documents that comprise the foundation of Christianity, New Testament? In addition, it is commonly accepted that Paul wrote his flawed epistles well before the balance of the other documents that comprise the New Testament. Thus, Paul's flawed perspective had a polluitng and conditioning effect on most of the documents within the New Testament. Paul was an expert at placing his primitive religious beleifs into the mouth of the enlightened Jesus. This erroneous practiced was unfortunately copied by most of the other authors of the New Testament.
Ever since the Catholic Church lost its control on the Christian movement, approximately 400 years ago, couragous researchers have searched for the authentic Jesus; the enlightend Jesus that is camoflaged by the primitive beleifs of Pauline Christianity. Professor Eisenman has not found all of the authentic teachings of the enlightened Jesus. However, he has proved via the DSS that the traditioanl Pauline based version of Christianity is a primitive hoax. Professor Eisenmen has shown the world that it is time to seperate the Pauline Christian foundation, along with the spin of the past two thousand years, from the authentic teachings of the enlightened Jesus. For this the entire Christian movement owes Professor Eisenman its gratitude and thanks.
The author of this review has been looking for the authentic Jesus, or more accurately called Joshua ben Joseph, for many years. As odd as this may sound, the enlightened Jesus was never called Jesus while He was alive. Jesus is Greek name used by Paul, who was a product of the primitive Greek culture. Everyone who knew the living Jesus called Him by His Judaic name, "Joshua". In any case, hundreds of books later its very disturbing to learn that the historical records are not consistent with the message of traditional Pauline Chriatinity. "All" of our Christian leaders have access to a considerable amount of information that proves that their Pauline version of Christianity is seriously flawed, and yet they continue to regurgitate tradtional Christian spin. This is very unfortunate and a dis-service to their Christian congregations. One day new Christian leaders will arrive and demonstrate the maturity and courage to emphasize what we know about Master Joshua, as opposed to the primitive teachings of Paul.
I would like to exprees my sincere thanks to Professor Eisenmam for his many books and years of research. He has endured decades of immature criticism and reidicule from the traditioanl Christian movement. It is time for our Christian leaders to open their minds, their hearts and their souls to the evidence contained within the Dead Sea Scrolls. In doing so they will recognize the mistakes of the past two thouusand years. This is the path to the authentic teachings of the enlightened Joshua ben Joseh.
Eight years in the making and partly reads like a draft..........2007-03-02
While the publisher may have thought the title a good way to cash in on a current buzz word, "The New Testament Code (NTC) is anything but an entertaining read. This is an exercise in "Form- und Redaktiongeschichte" - that is, a formal analysis of the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient texts, broken down into snippets and compared, in the search for interdependencies.
I've done my share of reading dry, scholarly works. I believe those addressed to a wider audience should stand on their own feet. Nonetheless I had to pull out Hans Jonas' "The Gnostic Religion," for the first time in 25 years to get a decent idea of that Hidden Adam terminology mentioned by Eisenman innumerable times in both his more recent books but always hardly doing more than stating, over and over, the existence of this "word form" (and idea) Hidden Adam in various ancient Near East sources. While reading Jonas' crystal clear description of what was this Adamite "Christology" (based on the surviving remnant stemming from John the Baptist), I was reminded of how distillation of facts into lucid wisdom should be mastered by every scholar before attempting to communicate outside the specialists' journals.
Now that the material is out - and for this important dirty work and for grasping much of the Big Picture Eisenman deserves full credit - could someone with some dramaturgical talent please sum up his previous work, "James, the brother of Jesus", and NTC in one handy and readable volume? My patience was a bit tested by "James" but NTC plunges headlong into pedantic word for word exegesis for pages on end. This is deep stuff for specialists, not for even an interested layman. Just as with "James" 300 pages could have told the same story to much, much better effect.
I also object to a certain shallowness while hunting down the literary "forms", that is, the individual words or phrases, needed by the author to connect one text with another and so prove the fabricated, unhistorical nature of the New Testament. There are spectacular hits but too often these are offset by unconvincing parallels, weakening the author's overall argument. A case in point, beginning with "James," is the form "standing." What sundry items the author has grouped under the theme "stand up!" Resurrection of the dead, a "standing" which denotes no more than "hanging out with other people," not to mention uses referring to standing up from one's sleeping quarters! Can one build a case from such a mixed bag?
Luckily, in a sufficient number of cases Eisenman does zoom out far enough to establish validity relative to context, thereby revealing significant and interesting patterns, for example when comparing the sequencing of several events described in the Talmud, and how they appear in the same order in one of the Gospels.
Arguing (correctly, I think) for a common provenance of all the Dead Sea scriptures, I found it telling that Eisenman, wishing to vindicate the men of Qumran for all the wrongs done them by Paul, the personified villain of this historical reconstruction (and Christianity at large), did not see it fit to include the Dead Sea horoscopes in his picture, how this movement eugenically ranked individuals in ways seemingly not so dissimilar from the Nazi view on race! Not only were the blind and maimed excluded (because of the presence of angels in the community), but against Eisenman's assertion that God put into Man the two spirits of Light and Darkness into "equal parts" (p. 860), the horoscopes (written in cipher since this was personal and sensitive materials) says something else. Some members were ranked very low, consisting as they did of mostly the satanic spirit, this poor inner condition also reflected in physical shortcomings! Remember Paul's being self-conscious about having some sort a physical handicap? This is eminently understandably in the light of the Essenes peculiar methods of admitting and grading new members.
Twenty years from now on, Eisenman's exaggerated picture of the bad guy Paul and the good people at Qumran, thrilling and undoubtedly largely correct as it is, will have given way to a broadened picture which takes account of more materials than those key passages so badly overused by Eisenman for this first (and important) draft of the true story. Perhaps then we will better realize why Jesus DID socialize with drunkards and the physically less than perfect. Ultimately Eisenman's reconstruction may turn out to be a bit simplistic.
The writing style is uneven (sometimes flowing, sometimes totally stuck in an indigestible mess of textual references) and the aforementioned repetitiousness mind-numbing. One can clearly make out the stages in the creation of the book, the first 170 or so pages entirely dispensable if you've read "James." If anything, this recapitulation messes up some of the more eloquent passages and muddies some points of the first 1000 page tome. A study on Talmudic parallels to New Testament character Nicodemus follows, as does much but inconclusive talk on sundry dog symbolism. This is obvious filler to create a sequel as fat as the first volume, because in the foreword Eisenman makes clear he had about 500 pages prepared already back in 1998 and these we find beginning at page 551. This book was eight years in the making and large portions read like a draft. Where were the editors?
Perhaps if I had not belatedly read "James" only months before I would have given this four stars, but the story was pretty much told already in the prequel even though the detailed analysis of some Dead Sea Scrolls, central to the thesis, appear only in NTC. Truth is, what should have been the grand final (for those unacquainted with the previous volume), was given away beforehand, in a piecemeal fashion, in this book too. The final 200 pages were not worth the close reading ultra-compact text of this kind necessitates.
As one anonymous commentator of the Chinese Classic of Changes (I Ching) said in late antiquity:
"The words of a man who plans revolt are confused... excited men use many words. The words of men of good fortune are few."
(Ta Chuan, The Great Exposition, XII, 7, the Wilhem/Baynes translation)
New Testament Code.......2007-02-11
This book was a nice work of fiction, but it is by no means an accurate portrayal of early Judaism and Christianity. Any Jewish or Christian scholar understands this. But, Eisenmann, a scholar? Such an autobiography could make even greater fiction!
An Excellent Sequel to James Brother of Jesus.......2007-02-07
This book starts where James Brother of Jesus left off. Excellent analysis and documentation. The only flaw in this book is its analysis of Islam. This just shows that a scholar could excel in a particular field and be deficient in another. Dr. Eisenman is definitely an expert on Jewish Christian origins but not Islam
The Definitive Work on the Implications of the Dead Sea Scrolls.......2006-12-21
The New Testament Code is the continuation (conclusion?) of Robert Eisenman's thesis of the ambience of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The patience of Eisenman's adherents, who have long waited for the release of the present volume, will be rewarded with the extraordinary scholarship, research, interpretations, and perspicaciousness which continually characterize his endeavors. His thesis is at variance with the majority who are determined to construct their exegesis of the Scrolls in the Maccabean era-- beginning in the mid-2nd Century BC. That upon which these results are based is not in harmony with this time period. He explores assumptions that others have not pursued nor considered. The notion that the movement of those associated with the Scrolls was one of passivity, tranquility, and isolation is dismissed.
The Scrolls are representative of the theological mindset of the Messianic Movement that developed in Palestine before it became usurped and amalgamated into one that conveyed a Hellenistic god-tale and allegorical mythologizing under the name of Christianity. Eisenman identifies many who appear to have been the originators of the Gentile version of the Messianic Movement as having affiliation with the Herodians who were granted rule over Palestine by the Romans. There were four cities that bore the name Antioch which increased the potential for not only expanding the geographical sphere of the New Testament narrative, but by also increasing the number of individuals who might be involved in it. The faction of those who represented the Scrolls, as well as those responsible for the theology of the New Testament, were not only aware of one another, but were also in opposition. This is astutely documented from the scroll Peshers (commentaries) and texts in the New Testament.
Far too many writers and commentators of the Scrolls are simply content to analyze the content, and comment on the "uniqueness." The impression is that from the Palestinian Jewish matrix of ideas, phrases and terminologies that developed, they found their way into the New Testament. The dominant impression is that most of what was associated with Qumran developed in a geographical Petri dish, despite its close proximity to Jerusalem and other Palestinian locales. Eisenman presents a movement whose effects reached the regions from the Levant to southern Iraq. More importantly it was a movement that flourished contemporaneously with the events depicted in the New Testament--the 1st Century C.E. The "internal data" presented by Eisenman, as implements to assist in the dating of the Scrolls, is in opposition with the 2nd Century B.C. renderings of Carbon-14 tests and paleography. The accuracy of Eisenman's data brings into question the scientific impartiality involved. This internal data includes allusions to the New Covenant, pollution of the temple, the House of Judgment, the fallen tabernacle of David, doing according to the precise letter of the Law, the last generation, the righteous living by faith (salvation by faith), the delay of Parousia, the house of his exile, the Cup of Blood/Damascus, and references to fornication and niece marriage, soldiers venerating their standards and worshiping their weapons of war, and a scroll fragment that seems to contain the name of a High Priest who held his position 46-47 C.E. Eisenman also conveys various circumstances described in the Habakkuk Pesher as being consistent with events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. All of which revolve around the 1st Century.
The "code" employed in the New Testament was disinformation, overwrite, and even name changes. It disqualified Jews from its eschatological allusions and enfranchised Gentile believers. Its "history" was sanitized and even distorted. The plethora of names that abound in the New Testament of individuals, incidents, and locations, are scrutinized with similar names and instances in the works of Josephus, the Talmud, and the early Christian Church writers to elicit the significance. The homophonic transfers of names from one language to another reveal that with which other Scroll writers have not dealt. Pentecost was of significance to the covenanters of the Scrolls as well as in the New Testament. The enigmatic personages of the Teacher of Righteousness, the Wicked Priest, and the Spouter of Lies are identified. The Cup of the Lord represents far more than Divine vengeance. Elements associated with the Teacher of Righteousness appear to have been absorbed into descriptions pertaining to Jesus. The paradigm for all traitors, Judas Iscariot, becomes less of a betrayer and one more identifiable with a faction within a movement.
There is a measure of redundancy which appears aimed more toward the reinforcement of the concepts and ideas involved as the reader can easily become overwhelmed by the multitude of imagery, metaphors and transformations that exist between the Scrolls and the New Testament. The relegation of footnotes to an online site is disconcerting to those who regularly examine the sources involved and additional commentary. It should be noted that any such criticism is to be born by the publisher. The paramount importance of this dissertation is that it presents evidence that the movement portrayed in the New Testament no longer was one that could claim the exclusive rights to originality, but had as its antecedent a Messianic faction that flourished at the same time period and in the same vicinity. The content of the Dead Sea Scrolls not only supported the precedent for a Christ, but it also anticipated many of the texts in which the historical Jesus existed, and it helped provide the theological matter from which the Messiah of the New Testament was developed. Evidence is presented of a New Testament that distorted history to vilify those who were the impetus for the Messianic movement in Palestine of First Century.
This is the definitive opus on the Dead Sea Scrolls and their affect on those from which Christianity originated. It is a departure from the "scholarly consensus," which has been more concerned with propriety than implication. The Scrolls were said to be the greatest historical discovery of the Twentieth Century. The New Testament Code is the personification of that declaration.
Book Description
Much attention has been paid to the words of the earliest Christian texts, yet Larry Hurtado argues that an even more telling story is being overlooked — that of the physical texts themselves. Well known for his nimble scholarship, Hurtado combines his comprehensive knowledge of Christian origins with an archivist's eye to make sense of these earliest objects of the faith.
Hurtado introduces readers to the staurogram, possibly the first representation of the cross, the nomina sacra, a textual abbreviation system, and the puzzling early Christian preference for book-like texts over scrolls. Intended for intellectually engaged readers as well as New Testament scholars and students, The Earliest Christian Artifacts introduces the distinctive features of early Christian manuscripts, illustrating their relevance for wider inquiry into the ancient history of Christianity.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Artifacts.......2007-05-14
Artifacts and their importance are excellently reviewed and discussed in written materials from the earliest papyri and documents in regard to Christianity.
Scholarly examination of the origins.......2007-04-12
Written by Larry W. Hurtado (Professor of New Testament Language, Literature, and Theology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland), The Earliest Christian Artifacts: Manuscripts and Christian Origins covers an oft-overlooked aspect of the study of ancient canonical and extracanonical Christian texts. Rather that discuss interpretations of what the words of the texts say, The Earliest Christian Artifacts focuses upon the stories of the physical texts themselves. Chapters discuss the staturogram, which was possibly the first ever representation of the cross; the textual abbreviation system of the "nomina sacra"; and the historical curiosity of Christian preference for book-like texts rather than scrolls. A bibliography and extensive appendix round out this scholarly examination of the origins, history, and modern-day physical remnants of ancient writings that utterly transformed the known world.
Manuscripts as Artifacts.......2007-01-03
The stage needs to be set. Hurtado argues that it is hard to identify any art, architecture, epigraphical evidence or whatever before 200 CE/AD. The earliest building dates to the middle of the third century. Manuscripts that can be dated with any confidence are dated to the third century. However there are some 400 papyri that can be dated to the time before the official recognition of Christianity by the Emperor Constantine. A growing number can be dated to the second century. Hurtado claims it is these which are the earliest Christian artifacts, and he focuses not on textual criticism but what can be found in the texts.
It is a fluke of history that most of the earliest Christian manuscripts come from Egypt due to the weather. Of these it appears that many came from a refuse dump of an ancient city called Oxyrhynchus. Thousands of manuscripts have been found there deposited over six centuries. Do these reflect broader Christian use? Hurtado does not intend to treat early Christian preferences monolithically, but he does argue that there are sufficient reasons for treating the manuscript evidence from Egypt as being practiced widely. For example, Christian networking brought a copy of Iranaeus' Against Heresies from Lyon to Oxyrhynchus within a few years.
The most outstanding feature of Christian manuscripts is that they are codex in form. A codex is unlike a rolled scroll. A codex is folded leaves attached by binding materials much like modern books. Christians did not invent the codex but by the second century, over 70 per cent of Christian writings were codices compared to only 5 per cent of the total number of manuscripts. It has been argued that Christians preferred the codex for such reasons as the expense of writing. However large margins do not indicate a writer concerned about saving costs. Hurtado argues that the Christian preference for the codex was heavy and early and reflected a belief that the text had "scriptural status."
In addition to a codex format, early Christians added other characteristics to their manuscripts, nomina sacra and the staurogram. Nomina sacra are typically abbreviations composed of the first and last letter of a word. Those used with far greater regularity are God, Lord, Christ, and Jesus. This early practice is connected to the Jewish practice of treating the divine name in a special way. Hurtado notes that at an early stage Christ and Jesus were put on the same plane as God and Lord. The staurogram is a compendium formed by superimposing a Greek rho over a Greek tau. In later Christianity the chi-rho became better known. Hurtado believes that the cross over the T formation was a visual reference for the early Christian to the crucifixion of Jesus.
Very early Christians chose a particular format for their sacred writings and implanted into them code devices of their own faith.
Manuscripts as Evidence.......2006-12-17
If, like me, you find the study of New Testament textual criticism somewhat less than thrilling, you might enjoy this new study by Professor Larry Hurtado. Prof. Hurtado focuses on a neglected aspect of New Testament studies: the ancient manuscripts as artifacts. This involves a number of features, such as the physical form of the manuscript (the codex, the roll, and opisthograph), corrections and mistakes in copying, words that were emphasized in certain ways, and the location of the manuscript. These "artifactual" features of the texts give insight into the early Christian movement.
While it doesn't appear that more intense study of early Christian manuscripts will lead to any bombshells for the study of Christian origins, Prof. Hurtado's findings and conclusions are interesting. Consider the question of gnosticism. The "Gnostic" Christians didn't make extensive use of John's Gospel. In fact, it was more popular among the "orthodox" Christians. In addition, it doesn't appear that any apocryphal Gospel texts were physically attached to the canonical Gospels.
A study of the ancient texts raises a number of questions as well. For example, most ancient manuscripts from the time of the NT texts are in roll form, however the early Christians preferred the codex (the precursor to our books) for reasons that remain unclear. In addition, the number of manuscripts of certain NT works - such as Hebrews, and Revelation - is quite interesting in light of later controversies that developed surrounding them. I saw surprised to learn that there are more copies of the Shepherd of Hermas than almost any NT book.
Prof. Hurtado provides an interesting case study of the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas. Although any conclusions are preliminary given that only three manuscripts are extant, a study of them tends to indicate that it wasn't viewed as scripture (at least by those groups connected to the manuscripts).
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
The Bible Unearthed is a balanced, thoughtful, bold reconsideration of the historical period that produced the Hebrew Bible. The headline news in this book is easy to pick out: there is no evidence for the existence of Abraham, or any of the Patriarchs; ditto for Moses and the Exodus; and the same goes for the whole period of Judges and the united monarchy of David and Solomon. In fact, the authors argue that it is impossible to say much of anything about ancient Israel until the seventh century B.C., around the time of the reign of King Josiah. In that period, "the narrative of the Bible was uniquely suited to further the religious reform and territorial ambitions of Judah." Yet the authors deny that their arguments should be construed as compromising the Bible's power. Only in the 18th century--"when the Hebrew Bible began to be dissected and studied in isolation from its powerful function in community life"--did readers begin to view the Bible as a source of empirically verifiable history. For most of its life, the Bible has been what Finkelstein and Silberman reveal it once more to be: an eloquent expression of "the deeply rooted sense of shared origins, experiences, and destiny that every human community needs in order to survive," written in such a way as to encompass "the men, women, and children, the rich, the poor, and the destitute of an entire community." --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
Is the Bible true? For the last hundred and fifty years a war has been waged over the historical reliability of the Hebrew scriptures. Recent dramatic discoveries of biblical archaeology have cast serious doubt on the familiar account of ancient Israel and the origins of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Though the Bible credits Abraham as the first human to realize there is only one God, we now know that there is no evidence for monotheism for many centuries after the reported time of Abraham. Nor is there any archaeological evidence for the Exodus, for Joshua's conquest of Canaan, or for the vast "united monarchy" of David and Solomon.
In The Bible Unearthed two leading scholars, an archaeologist and a historian, combine an exhilarating tour of the field of biblical archaeology with a fascinating explanation of how and why the Bible's historical saga differs so dramatically from the archaeological finds. They explain what the Bible says about ancient Israel and show how it diverges sharply from archaeological reality. They then offer a dramatic new version of the history of ancient Israel, bringing archaeological evidence to bear on the question of when, where, and why the Bible was first written.
What do we know about the time of the ancient patriarchs? When did monotheism first arise? When and where did the first Israelites appear? How did the people of Israel first come to occupy the Promised Land? How extensive was David and Solomon's kingdom? When and why did Jerusalem become the capital of ancient Israel? All of these questions have new answers.
As to why the answers are so new, Finkelstein and Silberman draw on evidence from decades of archaeological work and dozens of digs in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria, to explain that the key early books of the Bible were first codified in the seventh century BCE, hundreds of years after the core events of the lives of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, and the conquest of Canaan were said to have taken place.
Yet the ultimate message of The Bible Unearthed is not just a correction of the record. Instead, it is a unique and fascinating explanation of the origins of the Bible. The Bible's newly identified authors, threatened with political crisis and the intimidation of nearby empires, crafted a brilliant document, a set of stories and teachings that would eventually appeal to the faithful beyond the boundaries of any particular kingdom.
The Bible Unearthed will forever change how you think about the world's greatest book.
Customer Reviews:
Archaeology and Biblical Criticism.......2007-10-08
The Bible Unearthed attempts to provide a historical and archaeological context for the stories contained in the Hebrew Bible (especially the books comprising the Deuteronomistic history). This book is divided into three parts. The first part discusses the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) up to David and Solomon; the second part discusses the kingdom of Israel (the northern kingdom) from inception to Assyrian destruction while the third part deals with Judah (the southern kingdom) from King Rehoboam through the return from Babylonian exile.
The authors attempt to relate both the content and the style of writing in the Hebrew Bible with the various political and social issues surrounding early Israel (particularly focusing on Josiah's reign as king of Judah in 639 BCE). Various scriptural passages are compared with archaeological evidence and the authors give their opinions on likely historical scenarios. While these opinions regarding realistic scenarios do not always coincide with the scriptural version of events, the authors do try to provide a historical backdrop for the scriptural accounts and try to grasp the underlying message of the scriptures without holding them to exact historical accuracy.
I enjoyed the archaeological perspective that this book provides. I also enjoyed reading about the proceedings of Israel's neighboring countries throughout the time period discussed in the book, especially with respect to the various empires (mainly the Egyptian, Assyrian and Babylonian empires). I would recommend this book to those interested in an archaeological perspective on biblical criticism. I would also recommend Richard Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible? (which the authors cite) for those who are interested in more of a textual analysis of the Hebrew Bible (Friedman's book deals mainly with the compilation of the Torah although some of the Deuteronomistic history is covered as well).
If bible is a God's work, then God is a liar.......2007-07-09
I read this book, translated to the portuguese, here in Brazil.This book shows you some trues, with large amounts of proofs.Bible hadn't nothing writen by Moses or Abraham.This was a believe by a french catholic priest, in XVIII Century, but this book shows you the proofs.Well, if God wrote the bible, then God likes to lie too much.
I'm a catholic, but this book is for everyone, from atheists to biblical fundamentalists.
Very interesting book about recent archaeological findings in Israel.......2007-05-16
A very interesting book about recent archaeological discoveries in Israel and how they contrast with the stories laid out in the Hebrew Bible. To put it mildly, the latest findings shows much of what is in the Bible to be pure myth. To wit: 1) there is no archaeological evidence for the existence of Abraham or the patriarchs. What's more, much of the description of the land laid out on Genesis (e.g., domesticated camels, trade in exotic goods) corresponds to much later periods in time, 2) the exodus never happened. There is zero archaeological record of the Hebrews living in Egypt at the time, 2) there was no invasion of Canaan. The Hebrews were probably natives of that zone, dedicated to a pastoral existence, who slowly started settling down in villages, 3) David and Solomon might have existed, but in any case they were leaders of small tribal communes, and in no way the powerful kings the Hebrew Bible describes, 4) Much of the Bible was probably written during the kingdom of Josiah (seventh century b.c.), as an ideological project whose goal of cementing monotheism was seen as instrumental in creating a national identity that would serve the king in the attempt of resisting foreign occupiers. There is much more, and authors Finkelstein and Silberman write in a very elegant way. This is also, I think, a very courageous book, since the debunking of the Bible myths would upset not only religious people (not just Jews, but Christians and Muslims as well, who have used extensively the myths of the ancient Hebrews in their religious texts) but secular Zionists as well, who know that the mythological past of the Jews still comprises much of the heart of the national identity of the Israelis. A small criticism: I feel the authors put too much emphasis on Josiah, and a particular passage in the book of Kings, describing the "finding" of an ancient text in the temple. In doing so, they reject the possibility that parts of the Bible were written before that time, which I think it's more probable.
A Guide for the Perplexed.......2007-05-14
Traditional scholarly and homiletical approaches to the Hebrew scriptures have often seemed contradictory, or at best somewhat schizophrenic. Many Christians, especially preachers, use the material addressed by Finkelstein and Silberman as a combination of history and didactic pronouncements from the divine throne. Many, if not most, scholars approach the same material from a more literary standpoint. They attempt to discern the various layers of writing and editing that produced the Pentateuch, the books of the kings, the chronicles, and certain other texts. Thus we are introduced to the notion that various writers contributed various strands to the narratives that are central to the Hebrew Bible.
The usefulness of the first approach has largely been normative: Christian preachers, especially evangelicals and pentecostals, declare that these stories reveal God's expectations of a righteous people. The usefulness of the second approach is that it opens the door to honesty in evaluating the documents. The genius of Finkelstein and Silberman's work is that they show how both approaches combined in the original production of these valued scriptures. F and S understand that the Bible is always used as a political and pastoral document. Preachers/pastors routinely use it in this way. It can provide unity to the faith community and comfort to those perplexed and afflicted by life. As recent American history has shown, it is maddeningly easy to fall into the same kind of apostasy decried by the original writers of the Hebrew Bible--using God's purported word to serve less-than-noble ends. F and S want us to appreciate the political and pastoral genius of, as they contend, the seventh-century BCE Judahite community that produced the scriptures for the same ends for which they are often used today. Their insistence on evaluating every claim against the plumb line of archaeology is a necessary corrective against the distortion of the documents in any age.
I see no greater relevance than in assessing the current situation in the very lands F and S discuss. Israel's claims to primacy in the Holy Land are not borne out by the Biblical record, but neither are the Palestinians'. Further, Christian claims that the Hebrew Bible contains the inerrant word of God cannot be sustained by the archaeological evidence, by reference to the history of empires contemporary with the periods discussed in the scriptures, or by simple common sense. Instead, the Hebrew scriptures should be read for what they are: Brilliant literature, produced by a particular community at a particular time in history, with particular goals in mind. Millennia later, we still use them that way.
Ideological archaeology.......2007-04-25
To quote from an extensive review in the Denver Jounal:
"This book must be used with caution because it pretends to describe what we now really know about archaeology and how it contradicts various biblical claims; however, it does so in a biased and non-objective manner. Contrary opinions in interpreting the new evidence are not discussed, much less given a fair hearing. The book is ideologically driven and should be treated that way by any one who reads it."
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