Rating: 
Summary: Very Tough Going
Review: I've been devouring books on the historical Jesus for years, so I'm not really a beginner on the subject. But I found this book very difficult to get through. Crossan starts by saying we know very little about Jesus, so he'll use what we know about Jewish peasants and generalize. Then he states that we know very little about Jewish peasants, so he'll use the peasants of the French revolution and generalize back to 1st century palestine. The further you go, the further you feel you are from any solid information about Jesus. Add to this the growing view that Jesus was not a backwater peasant, but lived only four miles from a major metropolis, and you begin to wonder if any of Crossan's theories are worth wading through.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly Impressive Scholarship
Review: In this scholarly masterpiece, Crossan attempts to cut through centuries of dogma, mythological additions, and theological "corrections" to come to certain conclusions about the life of Jesus of Nazareth. He doesn't seek the religious details which are of primary concern to modern Christians. Instead, he attempts to uncover the life of the real Jesus -- the person, not the icon. Crossan is, first and foremost, a scholar. The strict methodology he employs throughout the entire book impressed me at every turn, from his introduction to the appendix where he inventories hundreds of traditions surrounding Jesus. His conclusions are quite often at odds with established religious tradition. Many modern-day Christians would find problems with his demythologization of the Gospel narratives, both canonical and extracanonical. He doubts the virgin birth, the reality of twelve specific disciples, Jesus's claims to divinity, and ultimately the resurrection as a specific event. However, this does not make it necessarily an enemy of faith. In fact, it was this book which helped me find my faith again. A while back, I'd become disenchanted with the anti-intellectual spirituality I saw all around me, and decided that religion in general and Christianity in particular just wasn't for me. After reading books like Crossan's, as well as some by Spong, I felt like I was able to be a Christian again, though a different sort of Christian than most everyone I knew. These authors showed me, in a way, that I could be both religious and scientific. I learned that I could believe in a soul and in a form of Christianity without needing to swallow in the process things contrary to reason, such as Biblical inerrancy, literalism, real world (rather than metaphorical) miracles. All I can say is, thanks a lot guys.
Rating: 
Summary: Jesus for the secular Left
Review: Isn't it funny how "historico-critical" inquiry into traditional religion always winds up supporting a platform of radical egalitarianism, socialism, and "communitarianism"? See especially Jewish Renewal as espoused by Arthur Waskow and Michael Lerner, and Christianity as espoused by the Jesus Seminar -- including John Dominic Crossan.
How convenient that the "essence" of the historical message of Jesus had to do with a program of "open commensality." The program of Jesus the "Mediterranean peasant Jewish cynic" looks wonderfully like the program of today's democratic socialists. But how sad that not one of the Jesus Seminar scholars -- including Crossan -- knows much of anything about economics. We might well have gotten a different book if Jesus's anti-imperial "program" had been responsibly analyzed by someone who actually understands how trade and markets work. "Jesus the Mediterranean Jewish libertarian." Now _there's_ a book I'd be happy to buy. Unfortunately, it would probably be as anachronistic and as full of special pleading as the works of left-leaning scholars. But it would be a nice break from the Derrida-like textual deconstructions of "historians" like Crossan.
Rating: 
Summary: Crossan's delimma
Review: JD Crossan is a brilliant, world-class researcher. However, if one is not a professional theologian, it often takes dogged determination to wade through the plethora of detailed research and long defenses of same. The seemingly, unending detailed defenses, may be put up because of late Crossan seems determined to deliver a pre-emptive coup-de-grace to his Fundametalist critics, implying that a great defense is the best offense. While open-minded researchers may have no objection to the truth about Jesus, traditionalists may find his conclusions too shockingly, impossible to countenence. Though thoroughly familiar with his love of stunning his audience, one still may find such shocks, at times a stretch. But, his apparent nihilism about the supernatural side of Jesus' personna is understandable to anyone familiar with Crossan's own life struggles. None-the-less despite great and painstaking research and lucent analysis, his conclusions do often seem to lean far to the negative, almost sadomasochistic side, almost making Jesus, or those who wrote about and perhaps in Crossan's view, inflated the Jesus reality, his Mr. Bill. Therefore for one who is driven to a balanced study, in order to fully enjoy the benefits of Crossan's intellect and his considerable research material, which often may not br found elsewhere, the best approach is to toss aside some of his personal opinions, (especially those in which, after long study and presentation of material, he leaps over the available evidence and makes a startling, personal observation, unsupported by the facts he just reported) and simply make one's own conclusions.
In all fairness, he does usually (but not always) separate his own opinions from his more scientific deductions.
All-in-all, however, he is of great value to those who want an intellectual, and thorough analysis of the available information.
Rating:
Summary: J.D. Crossan does the impossible
Review: John D. Crossan has almost done the impossible. He wrote a 600 page book on the subject of the historical Jesus, and almost never mentioned Jesus. There is an extensive portrait of first century Palestine, and a detailed description of the life of a commoner. We learn everything there is to know about Josephus, get the opinion of seventeen different archeologists about what Gallilee was like. But there is no Jesus. It's as if Titian painted the death of Socrates, but left the main character out of the picture. Very disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Crossan's take on the gentleman who went to the Cross...
Review: John Dominic Crossan, like Marcus J. Borg and a host of others, will no doubt be admired by the Left, treated iffily by the middle and truly castrated in effigy by the Right. Basically, J. Crossan is THE Historical Jesus scholar out there right now; bar none. What Albert Schweitzer was to the turn-of-the-century form of this discipline, Crossan is today. And this is the book that proves it. Crossan writes a lot like he appears in real life--I've seen him on A&E and PBS specials and it's obvious: a wiry, bespectacled chap with a razor-sharp mind, a cheeky sense of humor, and a loquacious tongue. "Much Ado About Nothing"'s Benedick as a Jesus scholar (and I mean that in a good way). Though Crossan's infamous conclusions about the Nazarene (a "Jewish peasant Cynic") might leave a bland taste in some people's mouths and outright infuriate the infinitesimal minds of others, there's no doubt that JDC is a man with a plan. One sometimes wishes that Crossan might plug his Socratic Jesus into a Jewish matrix more often (like such luminaries as Geza Vermes and his "Jesus the Jew"), but he makes significant breakthroughs which contribute to all scholarly discourse on Jesus. He takes the Gospel of Thomas seriously but is able to see through the proto-Gnostic elements, he comes up with a "strata" theory of sayings/stories dissemination that is both credible and cogent, and he takes seriously, unlike many others, the claims that Jesus was a healer outside the accepted norms of the priestly monopoly on such matters. His "magic & meal" argument is as radical as it is obvious--of course, therein lies its genius. I won't say that I totally agree with his conclusions--either as a follower of Christ or a scholar--but in this game, he is the current Hank Aaron, and you don't mess with the best. Some advice for the reader: this is historical Jesus scholarship, NOT theology. This is more useful for the student than a person trying to develop a theology on who Jesus was in relation to God. It's not a new Gospel, nor does Crossan pretend it is. That is not Crossan's mission or his task, and I think it's highly unfair of some over-zealous Christians to hold him to such criteria. Crossan is for those amongst us all who have some mental calories to burn and are willing to take a look at this Jesus character from a new and sometimes provocative angle. For such an audience, Crossan is willing to please, and spares no expense.
Rating:
Summary: Correction
Review: Just to correct a previous reviewer, Crossan does identify himself as a practicing Christian. In a recent interview on NPR's Fresh Air, he claimed that though he does not attend church regularly, he does pray and attempts throughout his life to live as Jesus lived. He stated that he trusted God, trusted Jesus, and, referencing Paul, that he loved God with all his heart, all his might, and all his mind. While of course Crossan is not a fundamentalist Christian (and is in fundamental disagreement with that camp), it would be unfair to say that he is not a Christian at all. If he calls himself a Christian, none but he and God (if such a thing exists) are fit to judge otherwise.
Rating: 
Summary: This guy bugs me when I see him on TV
Review: Mr. Crossan always comes out on these Jesus/Bible specials that run on the History Channel, Discover or A&E and he always bugs me because he seems so sad that the masses have this idea of who Jesus is and what He is about. Mr. Crossan thinks he knows what Jesus is all about. I have not read this book and don't intend to. 250 pages without a mention of Jesus is just too much self absorption disguised as scholarly treatise.
Look, I worry about Mr. Crossan. I am afraid that one can become too "smart" for his own good. I don't believe God minds if you want to know more about Himself, but to outright contradict the Bible makes you wonder where the inspiration is coming from. Paralysis by analysis. He has given up on Christ as He truly is.
The things that make me believe in the Bible are things that one can see today that are written in it. From Genesis where God promises to Abraham that he will be the father of many nations to Revelation where the mark of the beast is discussed (look up Digtial Angel company) to the revived Roman Empire, (the European Union countries sign their constitution in----Rome!! hmmm) to the regather of Jews back in their country and the taking control of Jerusalem. Genesis even talks about current day Muslims, the offspring of Ishmael, "He will be as wild as an ass and always at odds with his brothers..." So based on these writings/predictions I know you can rely on the Gospels and the Acts and the epistles of Paul (the ones in the Bible not the ones from Thomas or Peter or mary magdalene) to know about Jesus and his life.
Brother Crossan, remember you need to have the faith of a child. Or did that saying not make the number of beads to be something Jesus said? Come back to just accepting on faith what is written in the Bible. Its that simple and yet that hard. God have mercy on us all.
Rating:
Summary: Plunge into the quest for the Jesus of history!
Review: The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant is but one of a long list of controversial works that J. D. Crossan has produced. To be honest, I struggled through the first half of this 500+ page study--Jesus is barely mentioned until chapter 11. Instead, Crossan spends the first ten chapters carefully laying the groundwork for his research. By the time I reached page 225, I had covered social relationships unique to the Mediterranean region, a variety of peasant responses to political and religious oppression (especially in Palestine during the first century C.E.), Jesus' philosophical and religious contemporaries (especially from the poorest in society). Crossan approaches his study of Jesus armed with anthropological, sociological, historical and literary tools, and focuses especially on where all of his tools converge.
Especially noteworthy is his approach to the documentary evidence of Jesus' words and deeds. He draws upon 200+ years of New Testament exegesis and Christian Biblical studies to create "An Inventory of the Jesus Tradition by Chronological Stratification and Independent Attestation." I was probably more excited by this Appendix than by most of the book. The first stratum (30-60 C.E.) contains: several Pauline epistles; non-canonical gospels and fragments, including the Gospel of Thomas, and the Gospel of the Hebrews; and finally sources now embedded in the canonical Gospels, including the Sayings Gospel Q, the Miracles Collection and the Cross Gospel. The Gospel of Mark, which I had always considered one of the oldest sources, falls into the second stratum (60-80 C.E.), and Matthew, Luke, and John fall in the third stratum (80-120 C.E.) (along with many other documents/fragments in these strata). He then creates a hierarchy of sayings and stories based on the strata and the level of independent attestation. The lower the stratum (i.e. the closer in time to Jesus) and the greater the number of independent sources, the greater the weight/probability that Crossan assigns to that tradition.
Armed with all of these powerful tools, Crossan reaches the following conclusion about the original Jesus of history: Jesus was a "peasant Jewish Cynic." He preached and practiced radical egalitarianism symbolized by an open table at which the despised and outcast (including women) were welcome, and where he, though teacher and healer, was also a lowly servant. At some point he left rural Galilee for Jerusalem, and after creating a disturbance at the temple, was promptly crucified. The passion and resurrection stories were slowly built up from scriptural exegesis as scribal followers tried to make sense of what had happened to their master.
The Historical Jesus is heavy reading on multiple levels (regarding both faith and scholarship). If you haven't read anything yet on the historical study of Jesus, I highly recommend the approachable (and much, much shorter) Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, which is a popularized and condensed version of The Historical Jesus.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to the wonderful world of Crossan
Review: This book is possibly the greatest and most profound book concerning the historical figure of Jesus written since Schweitzer's historical Jesus. Crossan sloshes through some very complex ideas and is not exactly an "easy read" but he is well worth while. Crossan both shirks the the extreme inclusivism of the more theological Christian interpreters who wish to veiw everything in the New Testament as absolute history, and he disregards the hyper-critical scholars who wish to relegate the story of Jesus to the status of a fable. He honestly and carefully determines exactly what he concludes Jesus was like based solely upon what he can reliably prove is historical. His lines and rules are clear and very rational. He presses his own views based only on extensive and careful study. His book is masterful and should be an essential reading for any Christian or anyone who simply wants to understand the historical figure of Jesus better.
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