The Last Week: A Day-by-Day Account of Jesus's Final Week in Jerusalem (Hardcover)

by Marcus J. Borg (Author), John Dominic Crossan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
*Starred Review* Taking Mark, the earliest Gospel, as their guide, Borg and Crossan "retell a story everyone thinks they know too well and most do not seem to know at all." So doing, they offer an alternative passion of the Christ, the primary feature of which is not suffering (Latin passio) but passion understood Anglophonically as "consuming interest, dedicated enthusiasm, or concentrated commitment." Jesus' passion was the kingdom of God declared in terms of God's justice, they say, and the fact that such declaration was seen, despite Jesus' nonviolence, as a threat to the system of domination by Rome and its wealthy Jewish collaborators led to his suffering. Borg and Crossan parse Mark's reportage (so to speak) on the days from Palm Sunday to Easter to demonstrate the challenges Jesus made to Roman and Herodian-temple rule. They point up Jesus' insistence on justice, especially equitable distribution of necessities, and such too-little-noticed matters as Jesus' great popularity, attested by the crowds who hang on his words and his adversaries' fears of angering those crowds; so fearful are they that they must find a traitor, seize Jesus at night, and whisk him through the courts. Written with Crossan's scholarly scintillation rather than Borg's sometimes plodding earnestness, this is politically concerned analysis of Christianity at its best. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"If there is [...] one book for the redemption of Holy Week, this is it. This is a must read..." -- Peter J. Gomes, Harvard University

"[...] Borg and Crossan show one of the most careful and insightful readings of the Bible I’ve ever come across." -- Brian McLaren, author of A New Kind of Christian

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060845392
• ISBN-13: 978-0060845391
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #341,204 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timely, Thoughtful, Well Researched and Written, March 4, 2006

By	A. E. Persico - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are looking for well researched insights, interpretations, and translations of current and historical contexts for the meanings of biblical parables and perhaps more importantly the historical contexts of St. Mark's gospel, read this timely and well researched interpretation of the Passion of Christ and the details related to the 7 days from Palm (Passion) Sunday to Easter Sunday by Borg & Crossan.

Whether you are researching or interested in the fundamental roots of Christianity or curious about the historical context of the Roman and Jewish framework of the times surrounding the events of easter week you will not be disappointed by the scholarly research and interpretations presented regarding the 'cipher' meanings embedded in St. Mark's account.

I truly enjoyed the author's viewpoints expressed and this book is a welcome addition to the bookshelf of those who are interested in the probable nature of how these events transpired.

81 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important new approach to understanding Jesus's message, March 12, 2006

By	David J. Krause (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is far more than just two prominent biblical scholars combining to tell us what they think "really" happened during Easter week. Rather, Borg and Crossan focus their skills on what they call a much "simpler" and "humbler" task: retelling and explaining "the last week of Jesus's life as given in the Gospel According to Mark. . . a story everyone thinks they know too well and most do not seem to know at all." Virtually every biblical scholar agrees that Mark's gospel is the first to be written, but anyone who thinks that its author viewed Jesus's passion and death as an atonement for our sins and the way to heaven for those who "accept" that fact simply MUST read this book. It represents a genuine step forward in understanding the New Testament on its own terms, rather than on the terms that we today impose on it.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Perspectives, New Insights in to the Old, Old Story, April 17, 2006

By	Big D (Auburn, AL. USA) - See all my reviews

At first glance, and through much of the first third or so of the book, it appears as if this is a book for the learned and scholarly, much too "academic" for the casual reader seeking a new perspective or new insights....then, as Thursday approaches, the book "takes off," telling once again, the " Old, Old Story" with new insight and different perspectives, all of them reverent and respectful---respectful of those who want to take the Bible literally, but also respectful---and reassuring and challenging--to those who want to see and beleive the Bible in a different manner. Good book, well worth the read...Especially meaningful when read during Holy Week, one day at a time. A good addition to the Easter Literature and Perspective. Good addition.