Rating: 
Summary: A disjointed biography
Review: "Excavating Jesus" alternates sections on archaelogy and writings about the Holy Land about the time of Jesus. If the two were woven together into a single fabric, this would be a good book, but it isn't. You read a passage describing some aspect on Jesus's life and suddenly you find a few pages about the excavation of a Roman bath. Moreover, much of the text isn't really about Jesus but ranges far back and far forward. The idea of examining archaelogical and textual material in the same book may have been good, but the execution is lousy. The works of two different authors are interspaced -- not integrated. I thought also that Crossan, one of the authors, was too anxious to contradict the bible. Crossan seems to question the validity of the bible more than he questions the truth of his other written sources. A little more balance would be better. I found myself skipping many sections of this book which didn't interest me to find a few sections which are very good. The book tends to get better, and more relevant to the life of Jesus, toward the end. This book might be used as a reference to be dipped into on occasion, rather than a narrative to be read from beginning to end.
Rating: 
Summary: Money and Power
Review: A consistent theme runs through EXCAVATING JESUS that the Romanized economy in Galilee exploited the Jewish peasants - many of whom were forced off the land. Jesus himself is portrayed as a marginalized peasant who found the social unrest in Galilee a fertile environment in which to start a popular movement of protest. The evidence which Crossan and Reed present is compelling and I applaud their method of using archaeological and eschatological tools simultaneously. The book contains much dense material but it definitely provides the reader with a worthwhile learning experience. It is also not the end but rather the beginning of the most exciting story that will be told in the coming years.
Rating: 
Summary: Circular, self serving falacies - not truth
Review: Alegations, conjecture and innuendos supported by false premises do not equal fact. I have seen Mr. Crossan speak and it seems he has an ax to grind, but it does not seem to be the truth. I would avoid his poison.
Rating:
Summary: No Need For Christians To Fear New Discoveries
Review: Believing Christians need not fear any new discoveries about the life of Jesus and the birth of Christianity. New advances in textual understanding and future archaeological finds will only make the historical Jesus more real and the living Christ even more remarkable. I recommend this book to anybody who is seeking the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent partnership
Review: Both Dominic Crossan and Jonathan Reed are experts in their respective fields who also happen to specialize in Bibical era explorations. Crossan deals with sociological and theological subjects whereas Reed handles the archeological aspects. Crossan has been on a crusade for what he sees as the truth - namely that what we know of the historical Jesus and the first Church is unfavorably or untruly colored by most people's sole source of knowledge, the Bible. This book tries to carry both sides of the discussion forward but it does so unevenly. Still, the idea was quite original and the discussions within are food for thought. Both men are convinced that one cannot interpret Jesus without knowing his times and this involves physical as well as religious study. How did Jesus's past influence his life? What was the effect of Roman architecture on Jewish thought and more important, how did the material and social compositions shape their views? How were Jews affected by the various social movements that were rampant in those days? There are, of course, many conjectures but almost much detailed reasoning and findings. I found the flow a little uneven and sometimes the details ran to boredome but overall, a fine read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent partnership
Review: Both Dominic Crossan and Jonathan Reed are experts in their respective fields who also happen to specialize in Bibical era explorations. Crossan deals with sociological and theological subjects whereas Reed handles the archeological aspects. Crossan has been on a crusade for what he sees as the truth - namely that what we know of the historical Jesus and the first Church is unfavorably or untruly colored by most people's sole source of knowledge, the Bible. This book tries to carry both sides of the discussion forward but it does so unevenly. Still, the idea was quite original and the discussions within are food for thought. Both men are convinced that one cannot interpret Jesus without knowing his times and this involves physical as well as religious study. How did Jesus's past influence his life? What was the effect of Roman architecture on Jewish thought and more important, how did the material and social compositions shape their views? How were Jews affected by the various social movements that were rampant in those days? There are, of course, many conjectures but almost much detailed reasoning and findings. I found the flow a little uneven and sometimes the details ran to boredome but overall, a fine read.
Rating:
Summary: Excavating Ambiguity
Review: Crossan and Reed have produced a very interesting book. Reed's archeological discoveries shed a lot of light on the world of Jesus. For Christian believers, these discoveries add another dimension to the credibility of the faith. The Biblical 'discoveries' were not as helpful. Crossan tries to delve into the mind of Jesus and his contemporaries. Crossan is identified as a 'premier historical Jesus authority'. Christians believe that Jesus was not only a historical Jewish wandering preacher, but also truly God at the same time. Ordinary scholars, who subscribe to the philosophic position that only things verifiable by empirical data are to be affirmed, cannot affirm any actions that are caused solely by God- any such actions are to be attributed to natural causes or any other alternative explanations which do not include God. Yet does not the title of 'historical Jesus authority' connote the willingness to additionally include divine actions as really affirmable? Crossan seems not to see it that way. He is therefore forced to explain whatever Jesus and his followers did as at best their own subjective interpretations of reality. Alleged miracles, accordingly, should be explained naturally. The definitive miracle in the New Testament, and in the minds of Christians, is the actual resurrection of Jesus. Crossan can only muster a 'stipulation' (p 255) that the actual resurrection occurred so that he can interpret the 'resurrection' as a 'corporate event' rather than the traditional interpretation of a 'singular event'. These views do not, to this reviewer, prove very helpful to Christians. Nevertheless, this book opens up plausible glimpses of what Jesus and his followers faced during their lives. These glimpses do anchor the New Testament in our flesh and blood reality. Augustus, Herod, and Caiaphas come to life in their own right. This book takes us to places most of us will probably never get to visit. It certainly is worth the price.
Rating:
Summary: Relentlessly Digging For The Truth
Review: EXCAVATING JESUS is a very ambitious book. In order to fully appreciate the depth and seriousness of the effort it is essential to gain a good understanding of the authors' methods of research as described in the book's Introduction. The most important thing I am learning from Crossan and Reed is that there is much more left to be uncovered about the historical Jesus. What I see in Crossan and Reed's studies are the possibilities for further explorations. However, I am sure they will be the first to admit that their approach may be refined in the future as more progress is made in archaeological finds and textual exegesis. Crossan and Reed emphasize the itinerancy and commensality of the earliest Christians. Their theories are based on the existence of the Q Gospel and the independence of the Gospel of Thomas. In the future both of these assumptions may be altered due to additional discoveries. Meanwhile their greatest contribution may be simply in showing us the possibilities that lie in relentlessly digging for the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Politics Christian Style
Review: I am curious... did the Gospels (the ones the church allowed into the New Testament)carefully leave out most references to brutal Rome because even at that early stage of the Christian movement the writers were currying favor for eventual acceptance?
Or, were they edited later? Was Luke didacted to incremenate the Jews (Judas) after he originally wrote his book? I have never read a good book on the political motivations of the Synoptic Gospels, although I have seen many references to them. They are obvious to scholars and people who understand history, but, am wondering if there is a proto standard text on this.
Rating:
Summary: What, where, when?
Review: I bought this author, not the book. I have several others by him
and they are all thick books with lots of words. I have never
gotten much out of any of the books. I will not buy anymore books
by this author.
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