Customer Reviews

Who Killed Jesus?: Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am not a scholar in theological or Christian studies. I am a specialist in Eastern Europe. I came to this book seeking an explanation for the origins of Christian Anti-Semitism. I got far more than I bargained for: a satisfying and profound answer to my questions on Anti-Semitism, and a powerful analysis of the origins and meaning of the central story in the Christian drama. This is simply one of the finest books I have ever read. I recommend it to the general reader as an introduction to the world of historical Jesus research. It has certainly opened up a whole new world for me. I have read two more of Crossan's books, and find myself coming back to this one over and over again. The author's autobiographical epilogue is a work of great rhetorical power and integrity and can stand by itself as a work of genius. Reading it is worth the price of the whole book. I regularly recommend this book to believing and non-believing friends alike. The moral conclusions to be drawn from this book are too important not to share.

Although Crossan says he aimed at writing a "popular" book, his task of showing the gospel roots of anti-semitism is too ambitious. While he starts out strongly, his bent for detail and covering all the angles will lose many readers, especially those unfamiliar with modern biblical scholarship. I don't think one can read Crossan carefully and not conclude he is honest and sincere in coming to his views about Jesus. His Christianity will seem heretical to most fundamentalists who refuse to look at the Gospels as anything less than the absolute historical truth. However, for those seeking thoughtful questions and possible answers on an important topic--how the gospels depict Jews in relation to Jesus' death and how much of that treatment is (1) real history or (2)creative application of old testament biblical prophecy presented as history--this book will provide much of substance. It takes some work to get the whole message of this "popular" book, but it is worth the effort.

Some of the other reviews need to be ignored by people unfamiliar with the topic. To say, as one of the reviewers did, that Christianity has never claimed that the Jews killed Christ is either ignorant or naive. As I don't know the person, I cannot comment either way. The Gospels are an infamous source of anti-semetism and anyone who has studied theology in an academic setting knows this to be fact.

As for the book being "another angle on Mel Gibson's film," well of course the Gibson film is flawed in many resepcts, particularily historicity. And Crossan's book is an "angle" on the Bible, not a film.

The book is exceptional and I would recommend it without hesitation.

John Dominic Crosson's 1995 book is written in response to Raymond Brown's 1994 book The Death of the Messiah. Crosson systematically takes Brown's positions apart, one by one, closely examining the gospels with a special focus on the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Peter (which appears in an appendix). Crosson demonstrates what is most likely historical and what is literary, and his analyses are very impressive. His focus on the death of Jesus provides ample opportunity to accumulate some formidible information about this facet of the life of Jesus.

Despite the obvious scholarship and Crosson's easy to read writing style, the book never gets beyond the "Brown said, I say..." level of exposition. Moreover, Crosson has an annoying habit of opening up a topic and then telling the reader to "stay tuned" because he is really going to discuss it later.

There is value in this book, but not as much if Crosson had simply written his own book instead of trying to critique Brown's book. To get the full value from this book, one has to read Brown's original book.

The book definitely represents a very interesting approach towards 'historical Jesus', which was very unexpected for me. The author supports his reasoning with convincing research that takes a very different, from established, look on Jesus crime, arrest, trial, abuse, execution, burial and and resurrection. The epilogue, where the author talks about himself and how his personal history could have affected his view, very well worth mentioning. Although I would highly recommend this book I have two reasons for caution. First, although the author intends this book for wide audience, it pretty much reads as scholarly work, meaning it is not an easy read. This point is also confirmed by many references to the other book on this subject that the author is constantly argues with. Second, although the subtitle of this book is 'roots of anti semitism', this book is not really about it. Yes, relationship between Jews and Jesus plays very important role in this book. Bot not the main role as somebody could expect from the cover.

Just finished reading a wonderful book: "Who Killed Jesus?" by John Dominic Crossan (1996,Harper, San Francisco). Crossan is a former Catholic priest. At the time the book was published he was professor emeritus of religious studies at DePaul University in Chicago, and co-director of the Jesus Seminar. In his book Crossan develops several theses: 1. The followers of Jesus constituted one among the diverse group of Jews extant at the time of Jesus, such as the Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots,etc., with the difference that they carried Jesus' message to the Gentiles. 2. The Gospels are not a true biographical relation of the life of Jesus. They are "prophesy historicized" rather than "history remembered." 3. By the way in which they were written, the Gospels place the blame for Jesus' death on the Jews and exonerates the Romans. Therefore, the seeds of anti-Semitism are imbedded in the Gospels. 4. Christianity didn't really take off until Constantin converted, which gave Christians the powers with which they would persecute dissenters. The book draws not only on the four canonical Gospels, but also on the Gospels of Peter and of Thomas, and on the writings of Tacitus, the Jewish historian Josephus, and others. This is a very important book. You'll enjoy it.

Crossan compares and contrasts the Passion Narratives (written to explain the crime, arrest, trial and abuse, execution, burial, and resurrection of Jesus) in the four Gospels and includes a fifth, the Gospel of Peter. With uncompromising scholarship, Crossan contrasts the stories with the history of first century Palestine, and discuses the origins of the Passion of Jesus in the Old Testament. While readers must be prepared to let go of myth and miracle, we are left with the sense that something even more powerful existed in the person of Jesus. He was a rebel in the truest sense, fighting against the 'normalcy of civilization,' i.e., empire/domination as usual. God's Kingdom--available here and now, not somewhere hereafter--directly opposed the rule of Rome. As was typical in those times, any troublemaker was quickly dealt with via execution.

I had the privilege of meeting Dr. Crossan at a seminar this past February. He calls us to a mature Christian faith, a faith which strives to restore justice (equality) through service to an unjust world. This is not 'new' Christianity, but original Christianity.

For a book written for the non-scholarly, it sure seems to be a scholarly book. but I guess Crossan did his best. like all of his books this is jammed full of information and, from a catholic point of view, it should be required reading if only to expose any anti-semitism in the church, it does have some. though I do disagree with his theory of a mass burial, Crossan does put some reasons behind this, like he does for everything else. this is not a book about faith, or your spiritual relationship with God. this ia about an inner jewish religeous struggle in the first century, that when gentiles entered the church, became a racial conflict. Crossan is consistant with his method as well as his desire to overload your brain. This is a scholarly book, but it is also a good one.

A riveting and much needed book! Analyzes religious propaganda which was included in the New Testament by the early Christian church in which the Jews are blamed for the execution of Jesus. Crossan shows how that this did not really matter at the time, because Christianity was just a bunch of disconnected movements without much power. But after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, these passages were used in programs of Jewish extermination. The Nazi Holocaust was built on this Christian foundation.

I saw Crossan interviewed during a television special prior to the opening of Mel Gibson's The Passion. I knew, based on that interview, that he would dissent from the story conveyed in that film, and therewith from the literal reading of the Gospels as related to the passion of Jesus Christ. The film itself, which I saw last night, is a deeply moving, almost traumatic experience. Crossan's book, Who Killed Jesus? will be rejected by many believers prima facie, simply by virtue of his presumption that one should place the Gospels in their historical context rather than read them at face value. Crossan defines the problem as follows: "Jesus stands before a Roman governor who declares him innocent and wants him released while a Jewish crowd declares him guilty and wants him crucified. The crowd wins. Is that scene Roman history, or Christian propaganda?" Elsewhere, he asks, is it history remembered, or prophecy historicized? As an example, early-on he concludes that the three-hour eclipse, the darkness at high noon, foretold in Amos, was not an historical event, but an emendation to the written record for the purpose of establishing a link with a prophecy, and therewith winning believers. Again, many readers will reject Crossan's methods from the outset: divine revelation does not require interpretative feats. Crossan is not for everybody. But those who have read the Gospel narratives and view the film but remain curious about alternative interpretations, will find it in Crossan.