Review by Choice Review
Crossan (DePaul Univ.), an expert on the historical Jesus and a scholar in the Jesus Seminar, has written many best-selling books, including The Historical Jesus (CH, Jun'92) and The Cross That Spoke (1988). A condensed popular version of The Historical Jesus, but going beyond the parent volume, this reconstruction of the "historical" Jesus is based on 25 years of scholarly research. Methodologically, Crossan locates the historical Jesus where three independent vectors cross: cross-cultural anthropology, Greco-Roman and Jewish history of the first quarter of Jesus's century, and literary or textual study. Skeptical of the historical value of the accounts of Jesus in the canonical Gospels, he often concludes: "That never happened, of course, but it is true nonetheless." For the most part, he thinks the Gospel accounts are fictional creations of the authors, that what we have in the Passion Narratives, for instance, is not history remembered but prophecy historicized. Explanations of Jesus's miracles, as recorded in the Gospels, are reminiscent of 19th-century liberalism. Although he provides much helpful and interesting material, he sometimes pushes his hypothetical reconstruction of Jesus ad absurdum. Crossan's radical reconstruction of Jesus forces the reader to make clear distinctions between historical and confessional statements about him. It cannot, however, be called a biography. Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty, general. J. W. McCant; Point Loma Nazarene College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Based on Crossan's more scholarly text, The Historical Jesus (1992), this biographical study makes the author's view of Jesus as a social revolutionary available to a wider audience. Crossan clearly defines the problem of trying to locate the historical Jesus in the midst of myth, and he tells readers how he intends to find that Jesus: through cross-cultural anthropology, Greco-Roman and Jewish history, and literary and textual evidence. Compared to A. N. Wilson's Jesus: A Life (1992), which brought a real man to life, this account gives little sense of a flesh-and-blood Jesus, though Crossan offers some thought-provoking theories about the man and his mission. What is most interesting about the book, though, is Crossan's portrayal of the times and the milieu that gave birth to a new religion. While, at the end of the book, readers may still not be sure if Jesus was a savior or a sorcerer, they will certainly understand the cultural and historical dynamics that allowed him to step forward in that particular time and that particular place. ~--Ilene Cooper
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Based on Crossan's acclaimed and controversial The Historical Jesus ( LJ 2/1/92), this elegant new reconstruction popularizes and occasionally elaborates on that earlier work. Gone is the massive documentation. What remains is an engrossing, often startling exploration of key themes, in which Crossan weighs scriptural texts against anthropological, historical, and literary standards, sifting through accrued layers for evidence of earlier (if noncanonical) sources. He acknowledges his naturalistic assumptions (``I presume that Jesus . . . could not cure . . . disease''), which, together with his critical method, cause him to dismiss the virgin birth, say, or the passion/resurrection narratives, as historically invalid. Yet he also offers nuanced, powerful readings of Jesus' teachings. Bound to disturb some people and stimulate others, this is recommended for all libraries where lay readers are likely to be interested in the issues raised.-- Elise Chase, Forbes Lib., Northampton, Mass. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Revisionist ``biography'' of Jesus, by New Testament scholar Crossan (Biblical Studies/DePaul University; Raid on the Articulate, 1976). Crossan's study--a popularization and extension of his The Historical Jesus (1992--not reviewed)--proves again the oft-made observation that biographies of Jesus reveal more about their authors than about the subject. Here, we get a politically correct Christ stripped of all mythology, a revolutionary social leader who taught ``radical egalitarianism'' but performed no miracles, except that of awakening social consciousness (Crossan reads Jesus' casting out of demons as a blow against colonialism). This is, then, the Jesus of liberation theology, not of the Christian scholarly mainstream (up to now, Crossan has been best known for another unconventional and little-accepted theory, positing the existence of a ``cross gospel'' that predates the passion narratives of the canonical texts). As usual, Crossan's scholarship is good, with a command of cultural anthropology, Greco-Roman history, and textual analysis. Eyebrows will rise often, though, as he goes beyond facts into conjecture: Jesus ``did not and could not cure...disease'' despite his laying-on-of-hands; Jesus never met Pilate or Caiaphas; the Barabbas tale is fiction (a dismissal based largely on Crossan's subjective reading of Pilate's personality), as are the Last Supper, the Raising of Lazarus, the Virgin Birth, etc. Moreover, at his most extreme, Crossan suggests that Jesus' body, far from being resurrected, was probably buried in a shallow grave and eaten by dogs. Disappointing. The most reliable--read: cautious--guide to the historical Jesus remains John P. Meier's massive, on-going project, A Marginal Jew (1991- ).
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
