Rating: 
Summary: THINK a little!
Review: Tom Hinkle's review below is long on criticism of Crossan's work but offers absolutely zero evidence to contradict anything Crossan says. Hinkle seems offended that Crossan does not give Jesus a special place. Crossan's work is a work of history, not of faith. Any reasonable historian, looking at the evidence, would conclude similar things to Crossan. Take the crucifixion. The Romans used this form of execution as pure terror, and part of the terror was in the utter destruction of the body. Of the THOUSANDS crucified, only one skeleton of a man that was actually crucified has been discovered. Why? Because all the others were eaten by wild dogs. It is a leap to think that somehow everything ended up different for Jesus, complete with an elaborate tomb in a beautiful garden, especially in light of scripture's own rendition that all the disciples had run away in fear.You do not have to agree with Crossan. You might be completely uninterested in what he has to say, and that is fine. If you believe, your faith is your own, and one historian's take on the life of Jesus is not an assault on your belief. But roundly dismissing a work of history, without offering countering historical arguments, is nonsensical. For those interested in A historical view of Jesus, this is an excellent book. Even for people who are believing Christians, Crossan's work may be of interest, because he paints a vivid historical picture of the times during which Jesus lived, summarizing the work of Josephus well for non-specialists. But take the book for what it is, not what it is not.
Rating: 
Summary: Honestly Discovered Answers to Very Difficult Questions
Review: Whether you regard John Dominic Crossan as a visionary or a heretic, you must nevertheless regard him. This once obscure yet academically honored professor has risen on the wave of interest in the search for the historical foundations of Christianity to the height of public renown. His credentials are not to be ignored. Seventeen books, an emeritus professorship at DePaul following a twenty two year career at that university, a six year chairmanship of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature - truly Professor Crossan is a force in the world of New Testament scholarship. Yet his books are still looked upon with suspicion by many Christians. Why? One simple reason alone has gained Professor Crossan the suspicion of so many: he has questioned the accuracy of the story of Jesus as printed in the four canonical gospels. Worse yet, he has searched for and found answers to some of his questions. This work, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, is the result of his questioning. To those who have never questioned the literal truth of the Christian canon, it is a shocking, frightening, and blasphemous work. However, to those who have often wondered why the four canonical gospels differ from one another, why one includes a story not included in the others, or why the same basic story is quite different between two or three of the four, this book is a ray of light into a room too long left dark . Professor Crossan tackles some of the basic questions surrounding the man who is perhaps the most significant man who ever lived. Who was Jesus - a revolutionary, a prophet, a lunatic, or the true human embodiment of God? What were his origins? Why did he do what he is recorded as doing, or did he do it at all? Truly, these are not questions that can be faced by anyone with a fear of ambiguity, for these questions will certainly inspire deep reflection as to what is to be believed about the namesake of the world's largest religion. There are those who would say that the book is simply a reflection of Professor Crossan's own spiritual beliefs - that he does not substantiate his assertions with enough evidence and merely presents what he wants presented. These criticisms are only marginally justified. While it is true that most people who have ever written on the subject of Jesus of Nazareth do seem to come to the conclusion that he was just like they are, Professor Crossan does a better job than most in justifying his assertions with at least enough evidence to be plausible. Truth be told, we do not know most of the very basic things about the life of this man from Nazareth (including if he was even from Nazareth); his childhood, genealogy, education, marital status, even his physical appearance are all mysteries only answerable by conjecture. No writers whose works have come down to us through history other than those within the Christian faith even record his existence. Moreover, the closest written document about him that has survived was written at least thirty years following his death. Hence we are only given one side of the story, as it were, right from the beginning. All these things considered, Professor Crossan's book is to be recommended. It will take a long time to cut through two thousand years of accumulated myth, theology, dogma, and schism. This book, along with many others from both the Jesus Seminar, and the Context Group as well, is at least a solid beginning.
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