Rating: 
Summary: Rabbi Jesus
Review: I found the book convincing in its various suppositions. It was logical and made sense. The picture set forth by the author of the society that existed at the time of Jesus was facinating and explains many of the actions of Jesus in historical context. Many fundamentalist Christians will be appalled by this book, especially the author's assertion that Jesus did not thing of himself as unique. He sought to open a spiritual gate for his fellow citizens in Israel and rejected the highly stratified, ritualistic form of Judaism that existed. As the author states "Far too much theology has been preoccupied with closing that gate" meaning the one Jesus sought to open. I found it to be an interesting and thought provoking book.
Rating: 
Summary: SPELLBINDING
Review: I found this book to be absolutely spellbinding and would recommend it to anyone who has an honest interest in learning of the Jewish history, traditions and customs that existed during the times of the historical Jesus. As one might gather from some of the reviews, however, this book is not for fundamentalist Christians whose beliefs have become absolutes for them. But for those of you who have an open mind and an interest in actually learning about the world during one of the most interesting and most influential periods of time (for better or worst)in human history, I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for the open-minded
Review: I grew up in a non-religious household and am in the process of studying all religions in search of what I believe. This book was an excellent place to start. Was Jesus the illegitimate child of Mary and Joseph? No one can say for sure (whether they want to admit it or not), but I found Mr. Chilton's explanations to be realistic and believable. I enjoyed getting to know Jesus as a human being. Perhaps the people who were appalled at this book need to understand that some of us appreciate being given something to think about, instead of having one belief jammed down our throats.
Rating:
Summary: a good read from a new view
Review: I have read many of the reviews given of this work. I think many readers need to open their mind to the possibility that Jesus ,as a Master Teacher, was never meant to become an "avatar" or deity made flesh. He was a child of God as we all are, he preached of direct communion with God and a removal of the many things of his time that seperated us from God. I think christianity after his passing has much become what he was teaching to stray from. This book is a very refreshing insight into the core teachings of a brilliant leader,teacher, and prophet of God. I only wish there were congregations that taught this and felt the same.
Rating: 
Summary: A HUGE Disappointment!
Review: I picked up this book and after skimming the introduction, was very interested in reading it because lately I have been studying the Jewish roots of Christianity, and there has been a proliferation lately of books providing a Jewish perspective on Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ). I am interested in this, as a Christian, because I believe the church in history has largely ignored, persecuted, and attempted to "replace" the Jewish people, the most beloved and STILL chosen people of God. I was extremely disappointed in this book. Chilton, first of all, discounts the New Testament record, stating it cannot be taken at face value (does he mean literally? what does face value mean in the context of scholarly evaluation?). Well, I believe that his "opinions" cannot be taken at face value. He does not support ANY of his opinions with reliable sources, and many of his "ideas" about first century Judaism are in error. He also claims that the Old Testament prophecies concerning Messiah were irrelevant. Says who? They were extremely important to all Jewish believers in Yeshua since they were used as evidence to try to bring all Jewish people into belief. I am in agreement with every reviewer of this book who gave this book 2 stars or less. Don't waste your time or money reading this book of opinion, fiction, and supposition. I find it hard to believe that Chilton is a clergyman. I pray that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, would turn his heart to hear and see the REAL Truth of scripture, and not a truth of his own devising.
Rating:
Summary: Jesus as runaway teen with Oedipus complex...
Review: I plunged into this book expecting to find new insights into the historical Jesus, something that would help place him squarely in the context of Roman-Empire Judaism, backed up with scholarship. What I found instead is an overblown, romanticized fiction that--even while ridiculing the legends that were tacked onto the Jesus story in earlier centuries--seeks to create an entirely NEW set of fictitious stories about what is essentially unknowable, the early years of Jesus' life. (We're told essentially as fact, for example, that Joseph came to Mary's parents' house in the spring to repair their house for them--and the time of Jesus' birth is thus to be reckoned from that meeting, so in the late autumn. And Jesus, rather than returning with his parents after the visit to the Temple, instead becomes a runaway: "Gone was the exclusion he felt from Nazareth's synagogue, as he stood at the heart of the sacred [...] Here was what he had been searching for. His heart was overflowing. Conversation was pointless in the din, but Mary caught his eye for a moment. 'What, my son?' 'The Kingdom of God.' He disappeared into the crowd, and she would not see him again for several years." Then we're told that Jesus was short and skinny because of malnutrition owing to the diet imposed on him as a follower of John the Baptizer.Conjecture about Jesus' status as a ritually unclean bastard child (dealt with very effectively by other writers) is here inflated into an entire infancy narrative that culminates in some sort of unresolved Oedipal conflict with Joseph that spills over into Jesus' relationship with John the Baptizer. (One example: "An adolescent crisis with his father, precluded by Joseph's early death, was worked out in Jesus' deeply ambivalent relationship with John. That fraught relationship was never resolved.") Yet almost none of it reads as scholarly conjecture. Rather, it reads like a breathless, cheap novel laced heavily with psychobabble. In fairness, Chilton does weave into the tale many interesting details about contemporary Jewish religious practice, as well as details about everyday life and attitudes, that provide strong context for understanding the historical Jesus. His translations and commentary on Aramaic texts are also thought-provoking. I just think he goes WAY over the line in seeking to fill in gaps in our knowledge of who Jesus was. Ultimately, his efforts to create a story are strangely less satisfying than the ones the early Church put forward. The book could also benefit from a much more careful edit. The reference to Koine as "in their mouths a kind of pigeon-Greek" literally caused me to drop the book as I howled with laughter....Note to Ed.: That's PIDGIN, OK? I would expect better from Doubleday.... You're better off reading Crossan....
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Summary: Scholarship and love of Jesus in storytelling format
Review: I suggest the reader begin at the end of this book, the very end: in the Notes, Bibliography, etc. You will discover the lifetime study of archaeology, historical writings and Scripture with which Reverend Chilton informs himself. Next, flip through the book and realize that Chilton speaks simply and plainly. He tells a story rather than lecturing. This is an excellent literary device in this case. A pleasure to read! As to the book itself, Chilton loves Jesus and wants to understand his life. I am reminded of the way each of us tries to share the ups and downs, hopes and fears and so forth of those whom we love in our lives here and now. Chilton wants to share in the life of Jesus. My own reading in Judaism of the period suggests Chilton well understands Jesus' in his ancient Jewish context. A well respected Jewish scholar, Jacob Neusner, is quoted on the front of the book offering high praise. You will know Jesus more intimately than you have before if you read this book.
Rating:
Summary: a fresh perspective
Review: I was captivated by the story of the man Jesus. Chilton attempts to draw a picture of what it was like for Jesus as Jew and Rabbi in ancient times. He paints a portrait of a man deeply affected by the trangressions of his mother (no doubt Mary's claim of virginal birth met the same skepticism she would face today), a dedicated disciple to a radical religous teacher, an extraordinary teacher, healer and reformist of ancient Judaism and a man with great convictions, whose life was taken by those his vision threatened. Christians be warned: the Jesus depicted here is not shrouded in the myths of the New Testament and whether or not he is the Son Of God and our Savior is left to those of faith. However, all those that are seeking to understand the life of a man that has so effected the world will find this a riveting tale.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was eager to read this book. The author's credentials, an Episcopal priest, a spiritual shepherd, his notable accomplishments, having studied Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, and Coptic languages, his scholarship, all promised to deepen the reader's understanding of Jesus the Messiah. I kept reading, waiting for this "promise" to unfold, but I was deeply disappointed in the author's depiction of Jesus as only a man, and a not very appealing one at that. By the end of the book, it seemed to have been written for other scholars, to display his remarkable talents and human wisdom, which he does appear to have, but as in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, he has missed the mark. A book of fiction, a dead book.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was eager to read this book. The author's credentials, an Episcopal priest, a spiritual shepherd, his notable accomplishments, having studied Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Syrian, and Coptic languages, his scholarship, all promised to deepen the reader's understanding of Jesus the Messiah. I kept reading, waiting for this "promise" to unfold, but I was deeply disappointed in the author's depiction of Jesus as only a man, and a not very appealing one at that. By the end of the book, it seemed to have been written for other scholars, to display his remarkable talents, insight, and wisdom, which he does appear to have, but as in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, he has missed the mark. A book of fiction, a dead book.
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