Rating: 
Summary: Trashcan Stuffer
Review: This book is Francis Bacon's blue plate special. Combine minute textual analysis of the Bible with totally shocking and inept failure to understand the Bible, and you get this crock. For example, claiming Jesus was crucified instead of killed in jail because he was a political threat. Well, what about the two thieves? Were they political threats? Did she forget that Jesus' crime was blasphemy, and that Jehovah declared that anybody hung on a stake is accursed to him (Deut. 21:23, Gal. 3:13)? Jehovah: she acts like she never heard of him. Jesus believed implicity in Jehovah. Jesus loved his people, and was sent as a judge, just like Samson once was. He was there to warn them that if they didn't repent and change their ways, Jehovah would judge them. Well, they didn't, and Jehovah made the authorities do what they did. Jehovah executed Jesus, and just used the authorities as his agents, the same way he executed Israel itself once using the Babylonians as his agents -- see Ezekiel, etc. Jehovah is the most high, the one true god, and the one judge. She just doesn't 'get' it. Her claims that the gospel writers must have made it all up after Jerusalem was destroyed, rather than before, is like calling them liars to their face. Making surface contradictions into branchoff points to her theories is transparently sophistic. What if the contradiction isn't there when viewed more deeply? Like Acts 15 seeming to show that the brothers of Jesus in Jerusalem were against gentile converts eating blood, while he was for it, because Luke 7:15 quotes Jesus as saying that nothing a man eats can defile him, only his heart can defile him. There is no contradiction there. The controversy was how gentile converts could commune with Jewish converts, and eat at the same table, without the former becoming a stumbling block to the latter. They were to observe the laws for aliens living in Israel, as listed in Deuteronomy, such as abstaining from blood. This was voluntary, done in love. The highest law, said Jesus, is to love Jehovah, and to love your brother as yourself. There were already many Christians in Jerusalem before it fell, and Paul visited them, and asked them to settle controversies, as Acts 15 in particular shows. Paul was executed by Nero before Jerusalem fell. Does she believe Paul never saw a gospel? Where did all those Christians Nero persecuted come from? Mushrooms? Jesus was a Jew, and obeyed all the laws of Jehovah perfectly. He was the only person portrayed this way in any scriptures. His death had a cosmic significance, which she pretends to scratch her head over as if it came out of nowhere. Paula, wake up and smell the roses. In short, her myopic analysis, taking Jesus as a real person but divorcing him from the entire point of his being, namely, to fulfill the scriptures, and undo the damage done by Adam and Eve, is bankrupt, as is her failure to grasp what made people forsake 'the world' and follow him, facing Nero to the point of death for a faith. Or how all this stuff just got made up because Jerusalem was invaded by the Romans and a million Jews murdered and the temple destroyed. Particulary after, since dead Jews don't make up and disseminate gospels. Or how people could be so dumb as to fall for it if there was no proof offered. Either accept Jesus at face value, or paint the gospels as a fairy tale made up to fulfill scriptures with a dummy corporation, and argue that the entire Bible is a fairy tale, and that some mighty evil people purposely set out to perpetrate a cruel fraud on humanity for unknown reasons, since the promulgation of the views would get them persecuted by the most powerful empire in history, one that was particularly cruel. It would be amusing to get her to read some of the books by the Jehovah's Witnesses. Their works display more knowledge of the Bible in every page than she shows in her whole book. Their doctrine against blood xfusions is based on, in part, falsely claiming that Acts 15 is a command to all Christians, in communion with converted natural Jews or not, and that disobeying jeopardizes the soul, but at least they take the Bible seriously, and grapple with the total question of Jesus as part of a plan of Jehovah. Her attempt to find a middle ground, as if Jesus was just a lone nut deciding to quit carpentry one day and starting a movement, daring the high priests to come and get him, and not knowing what he was doing but just winging it, and doing everything right by accident, is simply untenable, the realm of fiction not scholarship. Jesus was no Indiana Jones. The discounting of the beliefs of millions is compounded by her 'professorial' arrogance, living as she does in a little world where she has status and privilege given to her by a powerful institution out to protect its image. I can imagine being one of her students and having to regurgitate her ridiculous claims to get an A. Her subject doesn't have the pedagogic certainty of math and science, after all. All of the above make this book a trashcan stuffer, sorry.
Rating: 
Summary: Very compelling and engaging human drama!
Review: This is my first Paula Fredriksen book, and it proved delightful to read from cover to cover. She presents a very well reasoned and researched work exploring the life and times of Jesus, who came to be called Christ. Came to be called Christ because Paula digs deep into the heart of ancient Palestine and into the depths of the documentation we have of the time, primarily in the gospels and Josephus' works to explain how exactly this Jesus came to be the Christ. She combs the Jewish scriptures to explain what was meant to label a person "Messiah" in the context of a disaffected and disheartened population subject to occupation and tyranny despite their promises from God to possess forever their promised land of milk and honey and live a life of peace and justice. One of the problems, of course, is its very location: Palestine was the heart and center of the ancient world and was a key strategic point between Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, Arabia, and the Far East. No foreign power could resist its temptations and the Jews were the victims of the never-ending struggle for imperial power for centuries. Out of these circumstances grew a religious idea of a conquering anointed one who would forever guarantee peace for God's people and extend peace and justice literally to the entire world from its heart, Israel. At the same time in the Gentile world, a religious vacuum was being created as old ideas grew just that, old, and opened people's minds to a new religion promising what these people craved: supernatural understanding of the cosmos, spiritual salvation, the revelation of mysteries. The time and place were right for an itinerant prophet, a peaceful man of God, a wise Son of Man to be proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles alike as the savior, the Christ, of the entire world. The book addresses its main topic: why did Jesus die of crucifixion? Being inseparable from the label of Christ, Fredriksen begins by explaining from Paul's epistles and the evolution of the gospel material how the first Christians came to be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. No one knew of a suffering Messiah, so a reconstruction of the life and identity of Jesus as well as a reinterpretation of the Jewish scriptures was required. Being rich in poetry, history, and prophecy it wasn't difficult for the first believers to seek their answer to the experience of Jesus in their scriptures. In them they found justification for a suffering Messiah who became a servant, one who would first appear in peace but disgrace, yet return in glory and power. Paul's mission to the Gentiles and their ready response to it (refer to previous paragraph) was further confirmation that this Jesus was indeed the Messiah who would soon end the present world and usher in the kingdom of God. After laying this solid foundation, describing ancient temple Judaism (Prelude 2, "The Temple" is absolutely a fantastic aside novella Fredriksen inserts), the Roman occupation, the early years of Christian teaching and writing, Fredriksen tackles her ultimate question: why was Jesus crucified? Crucifixion was reserved for political insurrectionists, violent revolutionaries; not peaceful "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" prophets. And why only him, why not his followers too? Jesus was in the mold of John the Baptist, calling for repentance, warning of supernatural judgment, proclaiming the coming kingdom; however he didn't take up arms, he didn't rally zealous revolutionaries, so what threat was he to Rome? Fredriksen narrates a growing expectation among the people about Jesus. They admired, were "astonished" at his teachings, flocked to hear him in the Temple, listened intently to this prophet. Did Jesus ever claim to be the King of Israel? Ultimately we cannot know, but the evidence suggests that he didn't, historical anachronism put this label into Jesus' mouth retrospectively. But the growing expectation among the people that a coming liberator, one "like a Son of Man", was indeed coming to free Israel caused more and more people to wonder if Jesus was the one, was this the one spoken of by the prophets. One fateful Passover this expectation and the accompanying chatter grew loud enough for the chief priests and Pilate to unequivocally notice and something had to be done before a riot of the people occurred. Neither Jesus nor his followers were perceived to be the direct threat, it was the people who loudly wondered whether Jesus could be their coming King. The chief priests and Pilate decided to quickly silence this rumor and settle the people. On the Friday of Passover, these excited Jews, wondering about a supernatural Passover liberation from God, woke up to find their "King of the Jews" nailed to a cross outside the city. And so it ended. The utter shock of the crucifixion of this peaceful prophet on the part of his followers led them to the scriptures. In them they became convinced that the crowds were right: this man was indeed the King of Israel and would soon return, bringing judgment to the world and freeing the people of God. They preached the message, many believed, and a new religion was born. Fredriksen has written a wonderful book. I recommend it highly. Her chapter on the crucifixion is so well done and is such a beautiful narration of a compelling and emotional human drama, my spine was chilled and I too, like the crowd, was "astonished". You must read this.
Rating:
Summary: Very compelling and engaging human drama!
Review: This is my first Paula Fredriksen book, and it proved delightful to read from cover to cover. She presents a very well reasoned and researched work exploring the life and times of Jesus, who came to be called Christ. Came to be called Christ because Paula digs deep into the heart of ancient Palestine and into the depths of the documentation we have of the time, primarily in the gospels and Josephus' works to explain how exactly this Jesus came to be the Christ. She combs the Jewish scriptures to explain what was meant to label a person "Messiah" in the context of a disaffected and disheartened population subject to occupation and tyranny despite their promises from God to possess forever their promised land of milk and honey and live a life of peace and justice. One of the problems, of course, is its very location: Palestine was the heart and center of the ancient world and was a key strategic point between Europe, Asia Minor, Africa, Arabia, and the Far East. No foreign power could resist its temptations and the Jews were the victims of the never-ending struggle for imperial power for centuries. Out of these circumstances grew a religious idea of a conquering anointed one who would forever guarantee peace for God's people and extend peace and justice literally to the entire world from its heart, Israel. At the same time in the Gentile world, a religious vacuum was being created as old ideas grew just that, old, and opened people's minds to a new religion promising what these people craved: supernatural understanding of the cosmos, spiritual salvation, the revelation of mysteries. The time and place were right for an itinerant prophet, a peaceful man of God, a wise Son of Man to be proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles alike as the savior, the Christ, of the entire world. The book addresses its main topic: why did Jesus die of crucifixion? Being inseparable from the label of Christ, Fredriksen begins by explaining from Paul's epistles and the evolution of the gospel material how the first Christians came to be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. No one knew of a suffering Messiah, so a reconstruction of the life and identity of Jesus as well as a reinterpretation of the Jewish scriptures was required. Being rich in poetry, history, and prophecy it wasn't difficult for the first believers to seek their answer to the experience of Jesus in their scriptures. In them they found justification for a suffering Messiah who became a servant, one who would first appear in peace but disgrace, yet return in glory and power. Paul's mission to the Gentiles and their ready response to it (refer to previous paragraph) was further confirmation that this Jesus was indeed the Messiah who would soon end the present world and usher in the kingdom of God. After laying this solid foundation, describing ancient temple Judaism (Prelude 2, "The Temple" is absolutely a fantastic aside novella Fredriksen inserts), the Roman occupation, the early years of Christian teaching and writing, Fredriksen tackles her ultimate question: why was Jesus crucified? Crucifixion was reserved for political insurrectionists, violent revolutionaries; not peaceful "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" prophets. And why only him, why not his followers too? Jesus was in the mold of John the Baptist, calling for repentance, warning of supernatural judgment, proclaiming the coming kingdom; however he didn't take up arms, he didn't rally zealous revolutionaries, so what threat was he to Rome? Fredriksen narrates a growing expectation among the people about Jesus. They admired, were "astonished" at his teachings, flocked to hear him in the Temple, listened intently to this prophet. Did Jesus ever claim to be the King of Israel? Ultimately we cannot know, but the evidence suggests that he didn't, historical anachronism put this label into Jesus' mouth retrospectively. But the growing expectation among the people that a coming liberator, one "like a Son of Man", was indeed coming to free Israel caused more and more people to wonder if Jesus was the one, was this the one spoken of by the prophets. One fateful Passover this expectation and the accompanying chatter grew loud enough for the chief priests and Pilate to unequivocally notice and something had to be done before a riot of the people occurred. Neither Jesus nor his followers were perceived to be the direct threat, it was the people who loudly wondered whether Jesus could be their coming King. The chief priests and Pilate decided to quickly silence this rumor and settle the people. On the Friday of Passover, these excited Jews, wondering about a supernatural Passover liberation from God, woke up to find their "King of the Jews" nailed to a cross outside the city. And so it ended. The utter shock of the crucifixion of this peaceful prophet on the part of his followers led them to the scriptures. In them they became convinced that the crowds were right: this man was indeed the King of Israel and would soon return, bringing judgment to the world and freeing the people of God. They preached the message, many believed, and a new religion was born. Fredriksen has written a wonderful book. I recommend it highly. Her chapter on the crucifixion is so well done and is such a beautiful narration of a compelling and emotional human drama, my spine was chilled and I too, like the crowd, was "astonished". You must read this.
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