 |
| |
| |
|
Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity
|
|
|
Average Rating:  out of 29 Reviews
|
Price: $15.95
|
|
Sale: $7.98
|
| |
|
Manufacturer: Vintage
|
|
EAN (European Article Number): 9780679767466
|
|
Number of Items: 1
|
| |
|
|
|
Binding: Paperback
|
|
Author: Paula Fredriksen
|
|
Publisher: Vintage
|
|
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
|
|
Publication Date: 2000-12-05
|
|
Reading Level: 352
|
|
|
| |
|
Description: The epigraph to Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews by Paula Fredriksen includes the following observation by Matteo Ricci: "[A]ll things (including those that at last come to triumph mightily) are at their beginnings so small and faint in outline that one cannot easily convince oneself that from them will grow matters of great moment." This little thought helps to explain Fredriksen's big one, that no one during Jesus' lifetime (including the man himself) considered Jesus to be the Messiah. That interpretation of his life, Fredriksen argues, was occasioned by his death: "Jesus' crucifixion as King of the Jews had come as a shock to his core followers. Their experiences of his continued presence after his death, on the evidence of the Gospels, surprised them, too. Seeking to understand what they had witnessed, they turned to Scripture." Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews makes its argument through careful reconstruction of Jesus' historical context, and dogged attention to the details of his crucifixion and to the fates of his immediate followers. The book's surprising arguments and its lucid style make this a valuable addition to the canon of popular Historical Jesus scholarship. --Michael Joseph Gross
|
| |
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
Customer Reviews
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Review Summary: Eschatological Jesus? |
Date: 2008-04-09 |
|
| |
Details: Fredriksen wrote this after the first pile of books by prominent members of the infamous Jesus Seminar were published (most importantly Crossan's books). Her conclusion, the non-Eschatological Jesus is not accurate. Of course the case isn't closed yet, but someone like Fredriksen, a well respected scholar by individuals such as Geza Vermes, E.P. Sanders and N.T. Wright, who has digested the writings of various Jesus Seminarians and other scholars, to come to this conclusion is quite important.
As a matter of fact she falls in line with Sanders and his views on Judaism in the first century of the Current Era. In this category I would put John P. Meier and Geza Vermes as well. Wright, although firmly eschatological, has some position in between (this is not to say Wright is a liberal though, he has written probably the most formidable defenses of the bodily Resurrection of Jesus).
Although unlike Sanders, she figures Jesus death for different reasons. Rather than it being the Temple incident, she figures it was the reception Jesus received from the masses in Jerusalem. Well, to me it seems like scholarly nitpicking. Meier, Sanders, Vermes and Fredriksen differ on the details, and continue the confusion people have when the study the Historical Jesus. In other words, that Fredriksen's Jesus is somehow newer or more accurate than any other scholars. As a matter of fact, the introduction of Meier's masterly A Marginal Jew Volume I corrects this conception. The Historical Jesus is a scholarly and scientific invention, not the real Jesus of first century Palestine or the Christ of Faith (Vermes seriously confuses this in his books).
Although this particular study does not present anything substantially new, it does continue the pummeling of the Jesus Seminar and Marcus Borg's modest suggestion of a non-Eschatological Jesus.
Being that Fredriksen is Jewish, I was impressed she did not have the bitter polemics against Christianity or Christian theology that Vermes' (otherwise excellent) books contain. Do not be overwhelmed or discouraged, the quest for the Historical Jesus is not a failure, it has yielded some very important insights into the world of early Christianity and its enigmatic source of belief, Jesus of Nazareth.
|
| |
|
Review Summary: Lucid and Sensible |
Date: 2007-06-13 |
|
| |
Details: Fredriksen tries to answer one big question: why was Jesus crucified? Why wasn't he just quietly done away with by the Romans or the Jewish religious establishment? What did he do that merited the most extreme and public form of execution?
In the course of examining this question the author looks and evaluates the sources for Jesus's life and teaching -- mostly the New Testament and Josephus -- and identifies what is most plausible from often conflicting stories. She conventionally relies on Mark as the most reliable of the Gospels, but suprisingly cites John as the better source for the events in the last few hours of Jesus's life. She comes up with a persuasive rationale for the rapid spread of Christianity after Jesus's death and she spends a lot of time looking at whether Jesus and his teachings conflicted with orthodox Judiasm. She reminds us frequently what we do not know -- which is a lot more than we do know.
None of the author's conclusions are revolutionary or unique amidst the vast literature about Jesus, and specialists might want a little more depth. But for the average reader this is as good a book as you find about Jesus's teachings and the environment in which he taught. Not the least of its virtues are good maps of the Mediterranean, ancient Judea and surroundings, and a plan of the temple in Jerusalem. Interesting notes at the end of the book outline contrary views and characterize her sources.
Smallchief
|
| |
|
Review Summary: Why Was Jesus Crucified? |
Date: 2005-08-10 |
|
| |
Details: The search for the historical Jesus seeks to understand Jesus as his contemporaries understood him. Historians endeavor to separate the theological issues (esp. later theology) from the historical. Thus, some historians dismiss the reported miracles as the imagination of gospel writers or as explicable in natural terms. Numerous questions arise in the gospel accounts that challenge reconciliation with known facts. Where do the prophets say that the messiah shall be called a Nazarene? Or, how are the disparate birth narratives to be reconciled? Some scholars have tended to explain such difficulties as historical errors or as story lessons that are not to be taken literally.
The reader should not expect a fundamentalist view from the author. In her search for why Jesus died and why he died the way he did, she attempts to understand the times and explain the circumstances surrounding Jesus in terms of the historical and cultural setting. The gospel claims are secondary or incomplete. If Pilate wanted Jesus dead what would the reasons have been? Fredriksen's conclusions may not exactly agree with contemporary theology but her endeavor does challenge the commonly held views with a look at the larger historical events and the complex relationship between Rome and Judea/Galilee.
|
| |
|
Review Summary: A History without Faith vs a Faith without History.... |
Date: 2005-03-23 |
|
|
| |
|
Details: Paula Fredriksen's exceedingly well-written and carefully reasoned text asks a simple question: Why was Jesus crucified? The answer she is seeking must withstand the methodological rigours of the historian's craft. Simply put, she searches for the answer to this question by examining the social and cultural context in which Jesus found himself. This approach does not negate speculation, but any such must plausibly fit the available data, including information from outside the synoptic gospels, such Josepheus and other sources. For Ms. Fredriksen the puzzle is why Jesus' death by crucifixionn and thus a very public death. That particular mode of death was reserved for those believed to be a threat to public order, in short, Rome. Jesus' life and teachings fail to answer this question directly. Ultimately, Jesus was threatening not because of anything he said, or even did, but because of the reception he received by the masses. It was they who elevated Jesus to the status of the Messiah. Thus, Pilate moved: to deflate the supporters of Jesus, and to satisfy his opponents. Of course, this too is speculative -- Pilate's decision to execute Jesus, rather than have him quitely "removed," ultimately rested on his "bet" that Jesus' supporters would be quelled, and not energized to rebellion. Perhaps in the immediate context, Pilate was right, but in the long-term his "strategy," if we may refer to the death of our Lord in this way, was way wide of the desired mark. |
| |
|
Review Summary: an excellent, if slightly flawed, scholarly work |
Date: 2004-05-04 |
|
|
| |
|
Details: Paula Fredriksen succeeds where so many of her colleagues fail: recapturing the Jewishness of Jesus. She accomplishes this feat simply by placing him within his Jewish context, accompanied of course by very in-depth and rigorous research into the historical settings of Judea and Galilee, collectively known to us as Palestine. She quite correctly criticizes scholars such as Crossan who Hellenize Jesus by making him into some sort of wandering Cynic sage, although at other times she is quite dismissive of arguments contrary to her own. However, given the scope of the subject and the limited time involved, perhaps we may forgive such a tendency as perhaps inevitable. ALthough I agreed with her main thesis, she immerses herself in overly rank speculation towards the end. I personally do not feel it necessary to posit John's itenerary rather than the Synoptics to explain why Jesus' followers were not crucified. Also, although all scholars do this, I seriously question the tendency to speculate far beyond what is necessary to explain the limited facts we have. Of course, some speculation (one might even say "much") is inevitable given the subject matter and the questionable nature of many of the facts involved, but to seek to explain every bit of questionable evidence just to fully flesh out one's theory seems wholly unnecessary to me. Either way, though, if you are interested in the actual Jesus of history, then you would be hard pressed to do better than this book. |
| |
|
| |
Similar Products
|
|
|
| |
This Product is similar to and may be found in the Following Categories:
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
