Rating: 
Summary: Blackballing the Deeds of Jesus
Review: In "The Five Gospels", the Jesus Seminar cast lots to determine the words of Jesus. In this volume they cast lots to determine his deeds. Red balls meant "I think Jesus did this", pink meant "He may have done this", grey meant "He might have done this", and black meant "He didn't do this." From this interesting book we "learn" that Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary, was executed under Pontius Pilate, but he did not rise bodily from the dead. After his death, Mary of Magdala thought she saw Jesus, as did the Apostle Paul. Simon Peter may have also thought he saw Jesus, but then again, he may have been lying. During Jesus' life he was thought to be both mad and the agent of Beelzebub, and he associated with various undesirable elements of society. He had a ministry as an itinerant preacher, and he did some faith healing. He enjoyed a brief popularity before running afoul of the law. Of the 176 incidents from Jesus' life and postresurrection ministry reported in the Bible, the book finds fewer than ten to be certainly factual, and a few more to have possibly happened. In "The Acts of Jesus", the Seminar uses the same flawed methodology that I criticized in my review of "The Five Gospels". In "The Five Gospels", the Seminar found (with apologies to Yogi Berra) that "Jesus really didn't say most of what he said". In this sequel, the Seminar finds that "Jesus really didn't do most of what he did". If Jesus had said and done only what the Seminar finds worthy of belief, the authorities would have found it hardly worth the effort to crucify him.
Rating:
Summary: Buy the book, read the book, then dump the book
Review: Just who is the Jesus Seminar? And what makes them an authority on Jesus and the New Testament?The Jesus Seminar comprises 70 or more 'Fellows', of which there are only about 14 reputable figures in the study of the historical Jesus, most notably John Dominic Crossan. About another 20, though not widely published, are recognizable names in New Testament scholarship, albeit mostly in the area of non-canonical gospels. The remaining 40 or so - more than half of the entire Seminar - are, by and large, unknowns. Most have published maybe 2 to 3 journal articles; several are recent Ph.D's whose dissertations happened to be on some Gospel theme. In fact, a search through 2 comprehensive databases of published books and articles revealed that about 18 of the Fellows made no contribution relevant to the New Testament at all! 36, or around half, received their education from or currently teach at 1 of 3 institutions, namely Harvard, Claremont and Vanderbilt, universities with some of the most liberal departments of New Testament studies in the world. Almost all the 'Fellows' are Americans, rendering European scholarship virtually unrepresented. All in all, the Jesus Seminar does not in any way even come close to reflecting a consensus of today's New Testament scholarship. And it is frightening to contemplate the souls that might be lost to consuming misinformation irresponsibly disseminated through fictional literature of this kind. Robert Funk, co-founder of the Jesus Seminar, states, "We want to liberate Jesus. The only Jesus most people know is the mythic one. They don't want the real Jesus, they want one they can worship. The cultic Jesus." So what gave the Jesus Seminar the notion that there is indeed a Jesus other than the one found in the Gospels? Have there been new archaeological finds that refute traditional Christian scholarship? The answer is simply, and emphatically, NO. So if perchance you have found this page in your quest to learn more about Jesus, you deserve more than what the Jesus Seminar has to offer. There are countless volumes that will acquaint you with Jesus as King, Servant, Man and God - in your course of study, I can assure you will find that He is all of that, and then some. But if you are considering this title despite the credentials of the Jesus Seminar, I implore you to not regard any Jesus Seminar publication as reference or source without also first consulting Jesus Under Fire by Michael Wilkins and J P Moreland (ISBN 0310211395), The Historical Christ & The Jesus of Faith by C Stephen Evans (ISBN 019826397X) and Jesus' Resurrection, Fact of Figment - A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludermann (ISBN 0830815694).
Rating:
Summary: Questionable methods!
Review: Starting from the premise that what is recorded in the bible as the quoted words and deeds of Jesus may not be accurately reported, is a significant problem with this work. Mr. Funk, et al., seem to approach the NT biblical accounts from a negative starting point, content with attempting to disprove rather than prove its content under the guise of serious academic considerations. In addition, the "scholars" cited as part of this work are of minor biblical scholarship consequence and the method of "scholarly agreement by consensus" employed by Mr. Funk and the rest is of very questionable note.
Rating:
Summary: Questionable methods!
Review: Starting from the premise that what is recorded in the bible as the quoted words and deeds of Jesus may not be accurately reported, is a significant problem with this work. Mr. Funk, et al., seem to approach the NT biblical accounts from a negative starting point, content with attempting to disprove rather than prove its content under the guise of serious academic considerations. In addition, the "scholars" cited as part of this work are of minor biblical scholarship consequence and the method of "scholarly agreement by consensus" employed by Mr. Funk and the rest is of very questionable note.
Rating: 
Summary: Courageous And Thought Provoking Work!
Review: The collected efforts of the Jesus Seminar are wonderful, if only for the way they jolt us from religious insensibility and spark our own desire to learn Truth. Thank you for this inspiring work, Mr. Funk! I read the other reviews here and would so much like to respond to the 'reviewer' in Carmichael, CA who hides behind anonymity.
Rating: 
Summary: Basically the same old stuff.
Review: The Jesus Seminar and Robert Funk continues the same old story of recreating Jesus in any way that they can to remove him from the religious world. Their intellectual dishonesty is smeared across the pages to expose their real agenda - convince you that Jesus was nothing more than a sage and try to convince you that Jesus, God and religious standards are foolish and restrictive.
Rating:
Summary: Take a Big Step Beyond Dogma and Expand Your Mind
Review: The Jesus Seminar is controversial, but deep down I think these guys are as faithful as anyone, in that they care deeply about Jesus' transformative message of neighbor love and social justice which Jesus described as God's rule on earth. If you are a literalist and think that the search for truth ends when your pastor opens his mouth, then maybe this book is not for you. But if you believe that God gave us all the ability to think, and if you wonder about the historical contexts in which the Gospels were written, then this book will fascinate you. You might not agree with their conclusions, but the Jesus Seminar will give you the information you need to decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Through a mirror dimly, then face to face
Review: This a good book, one of many good books to read on the subject. Like it's companion book -- the Five Gospels what did Jesus really say -- it's an attempt to determine the historical veracity of the New Testament. Understandably, it's an inquiry that would be deemed offputting to the faithful. Interestingly enough, all too few realize that this type of scholarship started some two hundred years ago and was joined early on by no less than Thomas Jefferson himself whose Jefferson Bible (like the books here in question) deny the bonafides of New Testament miracles. Where the Jesus seminar writes their account of the miracles in black (their lowest designation of historical credibility), the Jefferson Bible (formally published after Jefferson's death) simply eliminates them.
For biblical exegis I must say that I prefer the method of Richard Friedman who's recent the Bible With Sources Revealed simply restates the first five books designating for each section the source from which Friedman believes the passage originated. Applying such a method to the New Testament, one could do what the seminar did, but recount each phrase indicating its source (e.g. the hypothetical Q document, Ur Mark and the like). In this fashion, speculation could be made at to the creation of the New Testament by revealing it in its various formative stages. In my humble opinion such an approach would more closely comport with a historical examination of the document.
Be that as it may, the books are fascinating reading and one of many to be considered in better understanding the historical Jesus.
Rating:
Summary: Through a mirror dimly, then face to face
Review: This a good book, one of many good books to read on the subject. Like it's companion book -- the Five Gospels what did Jesus really say -- it's an attempt to determine the historical veracity of the New Testament. Understandably, it's an inquiry that would be deemed offputting to the faithful. Interestingly enough, all too few realize that this type of scholarship started some two hundred years ago and was joined early on by no less than Thomas Jefferson himself whose Jefferson Bible (like the books here in question) deny the bonafides of New Testament miracles. Where the Jesus seminar writes their account of the miracles in black (their lowest designation of historical credibility), the Jefferson Bible (formally published after Jefferson's death) simply eliminates them.
For biblical exegis I must say that I prefer the method of Richard Friedman who's recent the Bible With Sources Revealed simply restates the first five books designating for each section the source from which Friedman believes the passage originated. Applying such a method to the New Testament, one could do what the seminar did, but recount each phrase indicating its source (e.g. the hypothetical Q document, Ur Mark and the like). In this fashion, speculation could be made at to the creation of the New Testament by revealing it in its various formative stages. In my humble opinion such an approach would more closely comport with a historical examination of the document.
Be that as it may, the books are fascinating reading and one of many to be considered in better understanding the historical Jesus.
Rating: 
Summary: This is an excellent volume for scholars and students.
Review: This book published by the Jesus Seminar, and edited by Robert Funk is an excellent volume for open minded Christians, scholars and students alike. This volume provides a good basis on which to base any future study of the gospels and other Jesus stories. The Jesus Seminar has done a thorough job of evaluating the sources for the gospels that many Christians read daily in their Bibles. They attempt to use not only the gospels, which have their problems as sources due to the synoptic problem, but they also include and evaluate a composition of Q, the gospel of Thomas, and infancy stories. All of these works have their problems as far as how they portray the historical Jesus, but the Seminar does a fine job of quantifying that for the reader. The one fault of the volume, is the fact that they may over compensate for the reader in an effort to find that same elusive historical Jesus. They tend to use outside source information that may not be deemed reliable such as Josephus who's passages in his Antiquties concerning Jesus sound much more like an early Christian apologist and not the writings of a Jew and a Roman of which he was both. Overall, however, this volume is an excellent work and one that should be applauded in it's intent and scope.
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