Rating: 
Summary: The silliness of the premise
Review: Cahill has written some excellent books, but this is emphatically not one of them. Jesus is quite simply the most transcendently important figure in the history of theology. Moslems, Christians of all variety, Bahai, Torah Observant Messianic Jews all consider the religious inspiration of Jesus manifest. At least as significant, great moral leaders and thinkers from Spinoza (who considered Jesus the greatest of all Jewish prophets) to Schweitzer (who began the study for the historical Jesus) did not doubt for a moment the unique spiritual importance of Jesus. One other online reviewer noted the famouns C.S. Lewis analysis that Jesues was either insane, evil, or divine. It is not necessary to go that far (Moslems and several Messianic Jewish groups simply consider Jesus a great prophet). But a "nice guy" whose teachings endured and grew through more intense persecution during its first several centuries than any in world history is not just a "nice guy."
Rating: 
Summary: Relevant material, shaky theology?
Review: I was most excited when I found Thomas Cahill's work on the "historical Jesus" and felt that the attempt to provide an insight to this figure as a "hinge of history" should be quite thought provoking-a thesis with merit. It is extremely crucial to attempt to understand (as best as modern-day scholarship will allow) the world in which Jesus lived in order to get a more accurate picture of him and the relevance of his teachings from the perspective of social justice. Jesus was supposedly the key-player in this work, however, as chapters went by I saw less and less of Jesus (perhaps it would be best to call this a work on the historical Paul). The first segment of the book, which focused upon the historical/cultural aspects of the world which Jesus entered into was very interesting, and provided many insights into the setting of the New Testament. The scholarship seemed fairly sound, as well. However, perhaps the last two-thirds of the book was much more focused on theology, and less on the historical/cultural part of the issue at hand. As Cahill stepped more and more into theology (particularly that of Paul) his scholarship became more and more questionable. At times, he made statements that were absolutely false, but generally he wrote from a perspective of absolutism which only weekens a scholarly work. He even went so far as to imply that Paul was the real social justice pursuer here, not Jesus. So, why the three stars? It is a very interesting work to read and his writing is fairly entertaining. As long as one reads with a discerning mind it may well be a valuable source.
Rating: 
Summary: Politically Correct Jesus for the Oprah Crowd
Review: Those interested in biblical history will find nothing new here. If you want an inspirational historical account on this subject, read John Romer's "Testament" which was also a PBS series. Mr. Cahill seems to have enough points about the Christian/Judaism relationship and the early church to fill a magazine article. His conclusions are almost shocking in their reliance on predictable politically correct catch phrases that swiftly deteriorate into his personal opinions. The book is crushed under a huge modern bias. All the cool sins (adultery) will be forgiven while others (making money) will not be. To borrow a catch phrase,this book is one calorie "Christian-lite". Although only 320 pages, many pages are nothing but passages printed from the bible that make the book appear longer than it really is. Mr. Cahill will make millions on this book, and we will certainly be seeing him on the Oprah show.
Rating: 
Summary: very interesting and thorough
Review: This is a very detailed historical account of the world before and after Jesus. Starts with Romans and goes into Greeks, and then goes into the lives of many of the apostles, including Paul (Saul), Luke, John, and more. The section on Paul is a must for all Christians interested in Paul's works. Drives home the point that Christians are held together by a bond because of Jesus Christ, a bond that makes us brothers ("koinonia" in Greek) and should make us give freely to each other. For this reason, Christianity is a sort of communism; a great example of this is the group Cahill describes in Italy.
Rating: 
Summary: Superbly researched
Review: Tom Cahill's extensively researched book is one that at the end, I found myself wanting to learn more about the Bible, its history, and its impact upon Christianity. Drawing from a variety of secular sources, Cahill tries less to side with any one side of Christianity and more to lead you to where the truth lies. I am looking forward to reading his other books, particularly Gift of the Jews. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Challenge for the Skeptics--Confirmation for the Believers
Review: This is a "must read" for the curious about the history of Jesus. Another reviewer mentions that the first chapter was daunting, and I agree; I skimmed it at first, but by the book's end was thirsty for more knowledge, and so I read the last chapter first--it made sense the second time around! It satisfies the curiousity from both a historical perspective and a spiritual one, and the author expertly "reports" his findings from an unbiased point of view, which was refreshing because it was not a preachy book. Only at the end of his book do you discover what Cahill himself believes. Advice: keep a dictionary handy for the more obscure words which he peppers throughout his discourse. But if you like learning, this is the book to read.
Rating:
Summary: A popularization of discredited theories
Review: This book has a lot of good things to say about how Jesus revolutionized the way we see moral issues. But its take on how the early Christians understood Jesus is severely flawed - in essence, it's a rehash of the old Enlightenment-era theory that Jesus was simply a good man who was later deified by the Christian Church. Cahill says that none of the early Christians - Paul, Peter, Mark, etc. - considered Jesus to be God, and that the idea that Jesus is God doesn't even appear in the New Testament until the late-written Gospel of John. This is false. Colosssians, which is one of the earliest New Testament books written, says that "In him the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Colossians 1:19, NRSV)." In Phillipians, Paul says that Jesus, "through he was in the very form of God, didn't consider equality with God something to be exploited." The writer of Hebrews, a close associate of Paul, speaks of Christ with these words: "Your throne, O God, will last forever." Paul calls Jesus "God and Savior" in Titus 2:13, and the "mystery of godliness, who was manifest in the flesh," in 1 Timothy 3:16. Peter calls Jesus "God and Savior" in 2 Peter 1:1. Mark demonstrates Jesus' divinity by portraying him as the Lord of the Sabbath, Lord of the Scripture, Lord of the spiritual realm, and Lord of nature. Luke, quoting Peter, calls Jesus the "Author of Life," i.e., the creator of the world, in Acts 3:15. Bruce Metzger, chairman of the NRSV translation committee, points out that not one word in 1,000 is doubted as to its authenticity in the New Testament text, and none of the remaining uncertainties about the New Testament text affect what the New Testament teaches. The bottom line is that the New Testament is replete with references to Christ's deity, and the only explanation for that is that the early Christians believed it, and Jesus himself taught it. The theory that Jesus was a good man who was later "deified" has no merit. If Jesus taught that he was God, then he is either a lunatic on par with Sun Myung Moon and David Koresh, or he is God. The Jews understood this clearly - that's why the Talmud portrays Jesus as deceiving the people through sorcery. If Jesus was a lunatic, then there is no reason to credit him with improving the course of history. If he is God, then we must respond to him as God. You can't respond to Jesus simply as a "good man, a moral teacher." He didn't leave that option open. He didn't intend to.
Rating:
Summary: Everlasting in my Mind
Review: So much intellectual discourse has been written in these reviews about this book. Allow me to give you a layman's review! Thomas Cahill's book is a smart, collegiate look at the times that surrounded Jesus, and it doesn't disappoint. He examines the different Gospels and their approach to the story of the Jesus, and how each author tailor made the stories to suit a different audience (hence, the sometimes contradictions within the Gospels themselves), which I found delightfully enlightening. His section on Paul was riveting, painting a picture of how a simple man could be so transformed by an event to change his life entirely. He also works to dispel some myths about Paul, particularly his sexist bias in his letters. He also bravely takes on some church doctrines that are apparently "Bible based", more power to him! I did find the first chapter difficult to get through at times. I felt that Cahill was using terms and historical names that I wasn't too famililar with, and therefore, left the reader in the dark by failing to explain these people/events/terms. The muddy water soon clears, so just steer a course through the words and trust that your comprehension will come back! Overall, Cahill's book summed up and affirmed much about what is known about Jesus and his times, and provides an inspiring look at Biblical events in the contexts of world history, leading to a deeper understanding of the Son that has transformed much of our own world.
Rating:
Summary: Tedious, but somehow interesting.....
Review: This is a tedious book. At times, I couldn't read it because it was so tediously drawn out. Others, I had to put it down to marvel at the author's insight. Yet, its too long in some parts--did he get a lot of this stuff from his notes in college or what? What was the point in writing this book---besides the obvious? A commentary and historical outlook on the Bible. How original. The author is so bitingly sarcastic at times, I had to half wonder if it was just as hard to write this little tome as it was to read it. Frankly, when he changes his focus of the book half way through, (whatever it was in the first place, I am not too sure) to ONLY the Bible as a reference, it gets boring. Very boring. Fast. Lets get some outside sources in there, history or otherwise in this part. Yes, Cahill scoffs at and also acknowledges the Gnostic Gospels, but at least use some of them to, just to make it a WEE BIT MORE INTERESTING PLEASE, compare and contrast. Or whatever. It was just tedious to go over those same familiar passages of the Bible, yeah, just like reading the Bible, and analyze them. Honestly, I can do this at the Sunday sermon at church, or in a class on Christianity. I do not recommend this book for pleasure or curiosity reading. Maybe as a supplement to an introductory religious class for college. His first book was excellent. Hope his next few will turn around and head in the interesting and readable once more. Just looking at this book gives me a headache when I think about trying to finish the last two chapters. HELP!
Rating:
Summary: Jesus Joins You When You Read This One!
Review: Not a history scholar, I come at this book from an entirely spiritual angle. I bought it because I wanted to see if a historian found that Jesus's existence did actually add (or subtract) anything to the life of world he left behind. I also discussed the book with a historian friend who found it woefully lacking in what he calls substantiated history. But more interested in the spiritual side of theology myself, I came away from this book with more than I expected; reading it turned out to be an intense spiritual experience. (What he subtracts, by the way, was the primitive adversarial world view of taking for granted that wars solve all problems.) I was also not looking for great depth of analysis into the authenticity levels of the books of the New Testament, as there are many other books out there that provide that (Elaine Pagels, Robert W. Funk of the Jesus Seminar. . .). Though I couldn't have told you at first exactly what I was looking for (even though I tried to describe it earlier in this review), I knew when I found it--and this might sound a bit overly mystical to some--that that was it. It's what I look for at bottom in all my readings of spiritual books; and it is the goal of all mysticisms, too! I was looking for--and found--the actual living presence of Christ in this book. And that's what was there! Christ lives not only historically on the dusty paths Cahill so finely details, but in the pages of this amazing book. I met him there--"again for the first time"! as Marcus J. Borg explains in his book. "Again" because it was yet another much-needed angle of the man. "For the first time" because Cahill's view is breathtakingly fresh. This is achieved primarily by Cahill's daring in his down-to-earth style. As he says in an interview, "I get any amount of disapproval for going from what people consider to be a high and exalted style to getting down in the gutter." In his book he says this was Jesus's style of preaching--to shock people awake. Finally, the book contains some illuminating and well-explained beautiful color illustrations. The reprint of Saint Catherine's Monastery's encaustic icon of Jesus--our oldest surviving icon upon which most of our future depictions of Jesus are based, and which is likely "based on eyewitness accounts"--reaches right into your heart. I found myself staring at it for timeless moments and entering a deep velvet peacefulness, inadequately described. As in the reproduction of the icon in this book, Jesus really hangs out between its pages. I left the book confirmed of the presence of his spirit in our world today, in the details, in something as expected and unexpected as a happily profane book by the writer of yet another "gospel." Cahill is as worth reading as a holy book, if you read holy books seeking the presence of the divine.
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