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Jesus John Dominic Crossan 9780060616625 Books

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Jesus John Dominic Crossan 9780060616625 Books

As I am in the midst of extended personal and professional research for the best information available on the "historical" Jesus, I came to Crossan's "Jesus, A Revolutionary Biography," after already studying dozens of other theories about the composition and veracity of both canonical gospels and other source materials. I'd left Crossan for the end as I thought I was familiar enough, given my upbringing, with the traditional "Catholic" viewpoint , and Crossan does not hide his Catholicity.
I was pleasantly surprised that he did not tow the usual party line and presented a version of Jesus that had the shade of Pasolini's film, The Gospel According to Matthew. Crossan best summarizes his own work towards its conclusion: "Jesus has been interpreted in this book against an earlier moment in Judaism's encounter with Greco-Roman imperialism. It is not however, the elite, literary, and sophisticated intellectual encounter of a Philo of Alexandria. It is, rather, the peasant, oral, and popular encounter of what might be termed, if adjective and now are given equal weight, a Jewish Cynicism."
He tells far less than the whole Jesus story and he knows it, for example, hinting tantalizingly to the identification of the "disciple that Jesus loved" without naming names. And he easily confesses to disbelief in most of Jesus's miracles without offering an alternate explanation. Nevertheless, this work is an important contribution to the study of the historical Jesus and deserves to be included with all the others from Albert Schweitzer to Morton Smith.


Tags : Jesus [John Dominic Crossan] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <p class=MsoNormal style= MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt >“Crossan paints his Jesus with great warmth and power.”<br />—<em>New York Times Book Review</em> <p class=MsoNormal style= MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt ><?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office /><o:p> </o:p> <p class=MsoNormal style= MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt ><span style= COLOR: black >John Dominic Crossan is widely regarded as the leading authority on the words and life of Jesus Christ. His classic national bestseller,John Dominic Crossan,Jesus,HarperOne,0060616628,Biblical Studies - Jesus, the Gospels & Acts,Religious,Biblical Studies - General,Biography,Biography & Autobiography Religious,Christianity,Christianity - History - General,Christology,Historicity,Jesus Christ,Religion,Religion - Biblical Studies,Religion Biblical Studies Jesus, the Gospels & Acts,Religion Christianity History,Religion: general,BiographyAutobiography

Jesus John Dominic Crossan 9780060616625 Books Reviews

This is a condensed and more accessible version of the author's scholarly magnum opus and is less textual criticism and more narrative. The author builds up his composite view of Jesus as someone who challenged the extremely rigid hierarchy of Roman and Jewish social classes by emphasizing a revolutionary world view based on egalitarianism and no division or discrimination between the destitute and the wealthy. The author characterizes Jesus as an itinerant faith healer who roamed the countryside bringing hope and salvation to the excluded. His rationalist interpretation of many of the events of Jesus' life will make passionate believers uncomfortable, not least his view that Christ's body on the cross was in all likelihood scavenged by animals. However, once we accept the need for a rational explanation, there is little choice but to agree with the author's take on these muscles, from the scavenging of Jesus's body, to his use of trance for healing, not curing, the sick and the progressive evolution of the Resurrection story as symbolism for the revival and growth of the Christian doctrine once the early community got over the sick of Jesus' execution. My only disagreement with the author is his view that Jesus was probably not as apocalyptic as mainstream scholarship contends, I personally feel that the evidence for Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet is clinching, but that is no reflection on the quality of this book. Sure, there are more scholarly discourses on the historical Jesus but I would highly recommend reading this book and Bart Ehrman's Jesus, Apocalyptic Prophet of the Millennium together.
Easily the clearest, most informative book regarding "the historical Jesus" I have ever read - and I have read several. This is basically an update and edit of Crossan's much longer (and far more dense) The Historical Jesus The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, which I attempted first and found too detailed and in-depth for me and (in my opinion) probably most lay persons. In Jesus, Crossan places Jesus of Nazareth in historical, geographic and Jewish context, leaving the reader (this one, in any case) with as clear an educated guess of who and what Jesus was, as is likely possible.
I have read several of Crossan's books, and will continue doing so. He enjoys a well-deserved, solid reputation as THE expert on the historical Jesus who he was, the nature of the time and culture he lived in, its likely effect on him, what he said, what he did, what was done to him. If you want to know Jesus as the person he actually was (whatever else he may also have been and is now), read Crossan.
John Dominic Crossan is the preeminent authority on the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He dissects the Bible narratives that provide story lines and compares them to writings and teachings of previous spiritual philosophies, so as to clarify the fact from the fiction. Was Mary really a virgin? Was Jesus an only child? Was the birth of Jesus really in Bethlehem? His insight is illuminating if you are searching for Jesus the man.

Unfortunately its a tough read. Crossan is an Irish academic and intellectual and his writing style can be stilted and dry. This book is a simplified version of an earlier work of some 800 pages, so boiling it down could not have been easy. It would be best to have some prior understanding of how the Western Bible was organized and orchestrated to suit the needs of the then Christian establishment, to appreciate the information contained herein.

If you are a dedicated Christian of deep and abiding faith who accepts the teachings of the Bible as law - this book is not for you. If you have questions as to who Jesus was and desire a greater scope of information upon which to base your faith, give this a read. But take your time and be prepared to invest some thoughtful energy into the task.
As I am in the midst of extended personal and professional research for the best information available on the "historical" Jesus, I came to Crossan's "Jesus, A Revolutionary Biography," after already studying dozens of other theories about the composition and veracity of both canonical gospels and other source materials. I'd left Crossan for the end as I thought I was familiar enough, given my upbringing, with the traditional "Catholic" viewpoint , and Crossan does not hide his Catholicity.
I was pleasantly surprised that he did not tow the usual party line and presented a version of Jesus that had the shade of Pasolini's film, The Gospel According to Matthew. Crossan best summarizes his own work towards its conclusion "Jesus has been interpreted in this book against an earlier moment in Judaism's encounter with Greco-Roman imperialism. It is not however, the elite, literary, and sophisticated intellectual encounter of a Philo of Alexandria. It is, rather, the peasant, oral, and popular encounter of what might be termed, if adjective and now are given equal weight, a Jewish Cynicism."
He tells far less than the whole Jesus story and he knows it, for example, hinting tantalizingly to the identification of the "disciple that Jesus loved" without naming names. And he easily confesses to disbelief in most of Jesus's miracles without offering an alternate explanation. Nevertheless, this work is an important contribution to the study of the historical Jesus and deserves to be included with all the others from Albert Schweitzer to Morton Smith.