Customer Reviews

Death of the Messiah, Volume 2

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The depth of Brown's scholarship is marvelous. Brown parses and analyzes each verse of every gospel story with insight and precision. It is a testament to his even-handedness that he draws criticism from the religious right as well as the avant garde iconoclasts who inhabit the left wing of modern Biblical scholarship. If you're looking for an easy read, look elsewhere. The student must invest a good deal of effort in reading and understanding this book, but the diligent student will find the reward well worth the extra effort.

I used this book extensively in an exegesis paper on Luke's account of the Death of Jesus that I wrote this term. There is no book like it - and you want to own it. In paperback this book is a complete steal.

Brown was a serious higher-critical scholar. If you're looking for something that avoids some of the difficult aspects of the crucifixion accounts (notably variations in the accounts) this is probably not the book for you. But if you're looking for seriously scholarly analysis of the crucifixion accounts then you can do no better. While individual commentaries on the four Gospels do offer some advantages, this book is second to none when it comes to comparing the accounts as well as Brown's insight into why the author might have recorded the story as he did.

There are two key aspects that make this book as strong as it is.
1) Despite his higher-critical method, Brown's faith comes through constantly. This is not a person out to dispel and destroy the Gospel accounts. Rather, this is the work of Christian scholar who takes the text to be his authority.
2) Brown avoids heavy use of technical language and lots of Greek. Although not a light read, knowledge of Greek and/or a seminary education is not necessary to make use of this book.

If you want to read about the Passion of our Lord, this and volume 1 are it.

"The Death of the Messiah" is the most exhaustive commentary I have ever seen on the Passion Narrative. While the books are usually reserved for seminary students, some undergrads such as myself have had to drudge through the 2,000 pages of material. Hard as it may be to get through the chapters, every page is very informative into both the literary history of particular passages, as well as the physical probality that such events actually occured during the life of Jesus.

Yet another amazing achievement by Fr. Raymond Brown. While not a book for an easy read or a quick spiritual uplifting experience, it gives the reader an opportunity to explore the passion narratives in an exhaustive manner and become enlightened by the sheer depth found in the recordings of the Passion of Christ in the Gospels.

This is a very scholarly, theologically oriented text. It is very dense and focuses on comparison of different biblical texts, language interpretations and corroboration through ancient literary works or histories. It is not the inspirational or devotional text I was seeking, but may be a delight to serious student of theology and biblical studies.