Gospel Truth

Rating:
Summary: A clear unbiased summary of historical Jesus research
Review: Shorto's Gospel Truth is a discussion of various conclusions drawn by many biblical scholars searching for the historical Jesus (as opposed to the Christ of faith), which will disappoint Fundamentalists. Shorto is a journalist rather than a biblical scholar, but he has a good grasp of recent research in this field. He has done his homework, which included personal interviews with some scholars. Considering the topic, the book is surprisingly easy to read. He has no axe to grind, as do most biblical scholars, so his presentation is relatively fair. Although he devotes the most space to the Jesus Seminar and Crossan, he does present alternative viewpoints. He discusses some aspects of the work of Sanders, Frederiksen, Schillebeeckx, Funk, Borg, Mack, Raymond Brown, John Meier, Spong, N.T. Wright, and others, as well as the criticisms of William Craig.

The current trend among Bible scholars is the historical approach. Shorto states "The historical Jesus movement has not only taken over New Testament studies but has swept into the popular consciousness" thanks primarily to the publicity surrounding the Jesus Seminar. The ranks of historical scholars includes ministers and priests. "Far from trying to undo Christianity, many of them [historical scholars] were working toward a new definition of it."

Because the evidence about the historical Jesus is so sparse, the conclusions drawn by all historical scholars are tentative. Every author has at least some bias, and it is primarily for this reason that there are so many different viewpoints. Although the Jesus Seminar has contributed greatly to the historical Jesus study, in reference to their minority opinion that Jesus was noneschatological, Paula Fredriksen [quoted by Shorto] claims "Basically what they're doing is relieving themselves of the embarrassment of having a Jesus who is so terribly wrong about something." There is, however, a consensus among historical scholars that the following are not factual: birth narratives, nature miracles, and most of the passion narrative. Shorto emphasizes the Jewishness of Jesus. Following the majority of scholars, he accepts the primacy of Mark. He states "many if not most scholars who accept the Q theory are Christian clerics." He debunks the recent claim of extremely early fragments of Matthew.

Concerning the kingdom of God, Jesus "seems never to have defined it the same way twice, and every definition he gave seemed to cause as much confusion as insight." Concerning the crucifixion, Shorto says "A remarkable number of the details of the scene in the gospels seem to come directly from Psalm 22." "Jesus saw the Old Testament prophecies about to be fulfilled by him, on earth."

He has some unusual chapter titles; one I particularly enjoyed was THE BIG DIPPER, which refers to John the Baptist.

Rating:
Summary: Scholarship vs. faith
Review: A very interesting book for those not familiar with the problems of biblical scholarship in the face of mindless faith and superstition. But Shorto is much too concerned about being fair, thus he gives too much benefit of doubt to conservative bible-thumpers. He should be more honest and tell the bible-thumpers that they are crazy, ignorant, redneck fools.

Rating:
Summary: Scholarship vs. faith
Review: A very interesting book for those not familiar with the problems of biblical scholarship in the face of mindless faith and superstition. But Shorto is much too concerned about being fair, thus he gives too much benefit of doubt to conservative bible-thumpers. He should be more honest and tell the bible-thumpers that they are crazy, ignorant, redneck fools.

Rating:
Summary: A Well Told Story
Review: Books are finite products written for specific purposes. In this work, the author is very explicit about his aims and goals: this book was written by a journalist to tell a story about recent historical Jesus scholarship. With that purpose in mind, the book is a huge success and something of an intellectual tour de force. Those expecting original scholarship or conclusions backed by detailed argumentation are missing the point. It is especially disingenuous, as one reviewer has done, to take material out of context as exemplary of the author's use of "unsupported assumptions." The detailed scholarship and arguments are to be found in the works cited by Shorto and the reader is referred to them for further study. As one who has read and studied most of the works in the reference list, I can attest to the masterful job Shorto has performed in making sense of a huge amount of scholarship. I literally could not put it down and finished it the day I purchased it. Since many of us get caught up in the trees and miss the forest, Shorto's book serves a great service by bringing the contours of the forest of historical Jesus scholarship in sharp focus. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A masterful survey of the "Quest for the Historical Jesus">
Review: For the past fifteen years I have avidly read just about every major work and every major author in the scholarly "Quest for the Historical Jesus". I picked up Russell Shorto's "Gospel Truth" expecting just another superficial, possibly biased, layman's survey of the field. What I found quite frankly surprised and pleased me. It is indeed a survey work but Shorto has done his homework in depth. His presentation is comprehensive, balanced and unbiased. His writing is most readable, even entertaining. His own questions of the scholars and his own insights demonstrate his thorough mastery of this very large body body of literature. For the layman with an interest in the field looking for an introductory work and even for the more advanced student looking for a work to tie it all together, "Gospel Truth" is it. I recommend it heartily!

Alastair MacDonald

Rating:
Summary: Great intellectually, less so spiritually
Review: I am not Christian, in fact the idea that I or anyone else needs
to be "saved" from their "sins," and that there is only one way to
that salvation, totally turns me off. Yet because there are something
like 2 billion Christians in this world, and I've certainly known
Christians who hold to many different viewpoints, I am fascinated
by the popularity of Jesus. When I found out that there was a group
of scholars who questioned much of the NT (New Testament) I was very
excited to read through their materials. But until I read "Gospel
Truth" I had never found one book that summarized so excellently
the writings of the scholars who question the literalism of the NT.
Mr. Shorto does a totally first-rate job in this regard, and also
meshes his own almost always keen insights with the research he
presents.

I knew that the Jesus Seminar had rejected about 80% of the NT
stories, but I had no idea of the scope of what they had rejected,
nor did I know that one of the other scholars who also rejects much
of the NT's literalism, J. Meier, actually works for the Vatican!
I think the author makes a very good point in Ch. 12, "The Historical
Jesus Goes To Church," that it is not easy for priests in their
churches to share the scholarship about the historical Jesus, clearly
because to many the Jesus in the Gospels *is* the historical Jesus.

I will mention only a few of the points that were most salient
to me, and recommend the book to any who haven't read it with an
interest in the subject, though of course the faith issue does not
resonate with me at all as it probably does with most readers.

Repeatedly the author states that there is no way for us to
really know what the NT (Jesus) meant, when, for example, he
attacked the money-changers, as well what he meant when he
spoke of the "Kingdom of God," in the latter case because of
very unclear parables. Another mind-blower (though it makes much
sense when we consider that surely Jesus was working within the
realm of Judaism, not intending to form a new religion) was the
way NT stories were clearly as if updated versions of Old Testament
(OT) stories. One of many examples of NT from OT were the words
Christ purportedly spoke on the cross: "my God, why have you
forsaken me." Only these are the same words that begin Psalm 22!
The match between this psalm and the crucifixion stories is
succinctly discussed on pp. 205-6.

Scholarship has completely rejected the virgin birth story.
Scholarship has also rejected the Passion narratives in all the
gospels: "No one even knows whether a trial of Jesus ever took
place." Quoting Raymond Brown: "The passion accounts are not history,
they are dramatic narratives." Referring to the virgin birth and
passion accounts, the author explicitly uses the term "invented"
in referring to the "literal truths" of stories in the NT, and he
provides clear reasons and contexts why certain kinds of myths
were perpetuated/re-stated in NT documents. I am very familiar
with the latter topic, but amazed that adherents of Christianity
agree with the kinds of books I had read!

Again doing a fine job of putting writings in the NT in their
proper context, in Ch. 9, "Murder Mystery," specifically p. 194,
Mr. Shorto explains point blank why blaming the Jews as a race for
killing Jesus is based on "fiction." The reason is because whoever
wrote this in Matthew could not blame the Romans, since they were
living under the Roman Empire. Furthermore the writer(s) were
themselves Jews, and surely had no clue that their words would be
used for 2000 years to bear such malice against another religion!

Another topic I most enjoyed was at the beginning of "Gospel
Truth," where the author discusses so well, that much of the
study of Jesus has been to make Jesus into whatever you want him
to be, e.g. a feminist, liberal, even gay Jesus! It is so true that
people tend to project their own biases onto their beliefs.

Yet from the contents of the book one gets the impression that
the author doesn't understand why so many people question the
tenets of literal NT Christianity. For example, he never mentions
how many millions of people have perished at the hands of Christian
persecutors. He concedes that indeed many people today are "gnostics,"
trying to find their own truth about God, etc., but it seems to surprise
him! I was frankly put off at what he writes about his experience
of Christ's crucifixion at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
(p. 211) - his words seem to be saying that Christ is the only
being who is eternal, and thus everyone else is not, that the
experience one has at this site is the only "the" experience.

Rating:
Summary: An EXCELLENT Introduction to Historical Jesus Research
Review: Russell Shorto's *Gospel Truth* is the book all of us interested in the "historical Jesus" wish we could have written. It is well-written, comprehensive, fair-minded and above all, written with great clarity of thought. For those who are new to this field of study or know someone who is, Shorto's book is the best I have found for getting a good overview of modern biblical scholarship. It can be hard to decide whom to believe: Spong, Crossan, Borg, etc. This book gives a concise summary of the views of a range of scholars as well as the author's own opinions. However, Shorto does not come across as dogmatic about many issues, leaving the ultimate decision to the reader. Why can't all books be this easy to understand *and* informative?

Rating:
Summary: An EXCELLENT Introduction to Historical Jesus Research
Review: Russell Shorto's *Gospel Truth* is the book all of us interested in the "historical Jesus" wish we could have written. It is well-written, comprehensive, fair-minded and above all, written with great clarity of thought. For those who are new to this field of study or know someone who is, Shorto's book is the best I have found for getting a good overview of modern biblical scholarship. It can be hard to decide whom to believe: Spong, Crossan, Borg, etc. This book gives a concise summary of the views of a range of scholars as well as the author's own opinions. However, Shorto does not come across as dogmatic about many issues, leaving the ultimate decision to the reader. Why can't all books be this easy to understand *and* informative?

Rating:
Summary: A clear unbiased summary of historical Jesus research
Review: Shorto's book fairly and accurately summarizes, for a non-specialist audience, the scholarship behind the "Third Quest" for the Historical Jesus. The history of the quest, the scholars, the tools, the reconstructions, and the critics are all here. Best of all, his book provides a framework for the reader to do further research, from the organization of his chapters to his well-chosen footnotes and bibliography. Shorto's enviable ability to transcend the polemical minefield that surrounds the discussion of Historical Jesus research should be noted: this book garnered positive cover blurbs from both Robert Funk and Luke Timothy Johnson.

Rating:
Summary: Historical Jesus 101
Review: This is a great book! As a journalist, Shorto has a very good grasp of the field of current Historical Jesus studies. With no axe to grind unlike most scholars in the field, Shorto has given a clear headed tour of the personalities, the theories, and the results of the "Third Quest," especially the Jesus Seminar. Like the Gospel of Mark, his writing style is fast-paced and informal. A beginner into HJ studies would benefit with this book, as it has benefitted me. Sadly, he didn't discuss the perspective of Jesus Mythers like G.A. Wells.