Several years ago, I expressed to a Minister acquaintance that I was very skeptical about the very existence of Jesus. Good moral teachings, I thought, but legends and myths. I know, I know, but what did I know?
I had no idea that written history might provide clues about Jesus's existence. I have been reading, of late, a book by John Dominic Crossan called "The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant."
Truth to tell, Crossan had me at the introduction, wherein he recounted translations of ancient Egyptian writings...bits and shards of normal lives...that told of mothers-in-law, marital strife, and other things that we think normal in modern familial life. Wow. I was instantly fascinated.
The first part of Crossan's book is a terrific review of what was happening to the Eastern Mediterranean under the rule of the Romans...the turmoil among the peasantry, political movements, dissent, and so forth. By comparing several writings by Josephus, Crossan was able to tease out Josephus's own biases and analyze his texts for us. I am going to have to read it all again.
The second part of the book (I am on page 322 out of 426 pages) consists of systematically comparing Jesus's life and actions according to the Gospels: Mark, Thomas, Gospel Q, Matthew, etc., to attempt to fix the earliest of each report. I am not a Biblical scholar, so some of Crossan's terminology is difficult for me. But it is interesting, nonetheless.
Not least, what interests me is the overriding sense of the oppression of the local people by the Romans, and how the local people coped.
If you are interested in this book, I see that Amazon has it, used, for very little: http://www.amazon.com/The-Historical-Jesus-Mediterranean-Peasant/dp/0060616296/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334964755&sr=1-1
No comments:
Post a Comment