James the Brother of Jesus and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
More Buying Choices
66 used & new from $6.78

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls
 
 
Start reading James the Brother of Jesus on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls (Paperback)

~ Robert H. Eisenman (Author)
Key Phrases: killing backsliders, close family cousins, extreme purity regulations, Damascus Document, High Priest, New Testament (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)

List Price: $28.00
Price: $18.48 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $9.52 (34%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Friday, November 13? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
26 new from $12.49 40 used from $6.78

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition $14.78 -- --
  Hardcover -- $75.00 $9.04
  Paperback $18.48 $12.49 $6.78

Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians: Essays and Translations by Robert Eisenman

James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls + The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians: Essays and Translations
Price For Both: $28.87

One of these items ships sooner than the other. Show details

  • This item: James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls by Robert Eisenman

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians: Essays and Translations by Robert Eisenman

    Usually ships within 1 to 3 weeks.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The New Testament Code:  The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ

The New Testament Code: The Cup of the Lord, the Damascus Covenant, and the Blood of Christ

by Robert Eisenman
3.5 out of 5 stars (27)  $40.00
The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity

The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity

by Jeffrey J. Bütz
4.4 out of 5 stars (18)  $10.17
The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered: The First Complete Translation and Interpretation of 50 Key Documents withheld for Over 35 Years

The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered: The First Complete Translation and Interpretation of 50 Key Documents withheld for Over 35 Years

by Robert H. Eisenman
The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity

The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity

by James D. Tabor
4.1 out of 5 stars (140)  $6.40
The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History (Plus)

The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History (Plus)

by Michael Baigent
2.9 out of 5 stars (162)  $12.44
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Robert Eisenman, one of the most eminent researchers of early Christianity working today, has produced an exhaustive study of the historical milieu at the time of Jesus and come to the conclusion that James, rather than Peter, was heir to his teachings. Because the historical material regarding James is actually quite plentiful, a clear picture arises not only in regard to who James was, but by extension, who Jesus was also. Controversy is assured; still, given a patient reading, one will discover that Eisenman's research is meticulous, his arguments cogent, and his conclusions persuasive. This should prove to be a popular and influential book. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From Library Journal

In previous writings (most recently, The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, LJ 2/1/93), Eisenman drew attention to apparent parallels between the Qumran community reflected in the scrolls and the early Jewish Christian community led by James, the brother of Jesus. In his latest work, he attempts to examine further those parallels and to rescue James from "the scrapheap of history." Eisenman believes James's role in early Christianity has been downplayed in the tradition(s) preserved in the New Testament, primarily the Gospels and Acts. Vestiges of the real James are blurred. Eisenman, therefore, chooses to place more confidence in extra-biblical writings, especially the Dead Sea Scrolls, for understanding James and his role in early Christianity; he takes every opportunity to deprecate the writings of the New Testament (except where they can be pressed into service to strengthen his case). At times it is difficult to determine whether the author's goal is to reclaim James or defame the New Testament. This piece of tendentious research is not the key to unlocking anything about early Christianity.?Craig W. Beard, Univ. of Alabama Lib., Birmingham
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 1136 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 1, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 014025773X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140257731
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 2.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #264,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #30 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Church History > Dead Sea Scrolls

More About the Author

Robert Eisenman
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's Robert Eisenman Page

Inside This Book (learn more)




What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls
73% buy the item featured on this page:
James the Brother of Jesus: The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls 3.7 out of 5 stars (79)
$18.48
The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity
11% buy
The Brother of Jesus and the Lost Teachings of Christianity 4.4 out of 5 stars (18)
$10.17
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians: Essays and Translations
6% buy
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the First Christians: Essays and Translations 5.0 out of 5 stars (5)
$10.39
How Jesus Became Christian
6% buy
How Jesus Became Christian 4.2 out of 5 stars (25)
$11.55

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

79 Reviews
5 star:
 (32)
4 star:
 (17)
3 star:
 (12)
2 star:
 (8)
1 star:
 (10)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (79 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
56 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the effort, September 15, 1999
By A Reader "snailgate" (Newark, DE United States) - See all my reviews
  
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
Theology and bibical study has a tradition of tough-mindedness and intellectual rigor that makes extreme demands on the modern reader who has grown up with Sesame Street and Chicken-Soup For The Lazy. Eisenman cuts the reader no slack.

This volume should be read with the understanding that any commentary on the Dead-Sea Scrolls published more than perhaps 5 years ago was warped into meaninglessness by the pious orthodoxy of the guardians of those scrolls. Any reader of the King James version of the New Testement must acknowledge that James was the brother of Jesus and the designated leader of the church after Jesus departed the scene. Orthodoxy has never explained how the theology of Paul came to dominate the Christian tradition and the little letter of James is taken with such a large grain of salt. Eisenman is a giant step in that direction and deserves a respectful counter-argument from the orthodox tradition

John P. Meier's 2 vol work "A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus" is a good supplement to Eisenman. Meier has more extensive footnotes with good expanding remarks on Josephus where Eisenman only cites his sources. Eisenman makes good use of "the normal canons of historical argument and literary analysis" particulary as they have developed in redaction criticism of the bible. The reader need not have a degree in bible studies to slog through this difficult intellectual swamp. But the reader will drown if they depend on a traditional Christian fundamentalist life jacket to keep their faith afloat while making this journey.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Creates a different perspective from which to read history, July 29, 2000
By John Rice (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The reader is not a scholar, but enjoys reading scholarship concerning early Christianity. Eisenman's book produces so much detail it is hard to keep it all in mind. Yet after 400 pages this reader, through meticulous repetition on the part of the author, was able to make sense of what the author was trying to say. And that is: that James is the blood brother of Jesus; James was the one who succeeded Jesus; and very importantly, if James Messianic version of what would become Christianity had succeeded, there probably would have been no Christianity because it would have died in the ruins of Jerusalem.

Eisenman's work challenges current mythologies of Jesus in the Gospels as well as the Pretine succession. But a faithful Christian need not fear his conclusions, because one can see how important tradition is. Tradition interprets events and scripture.

The rewrites, overwrites and omissions in the New Testament are a teastment themselves of how what would become the prevailing understanding would see the impact of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Eisenman at the beginning of the study warns the reader to beware of what comes from the predominant view of any particular time.

Eisenman being a scholar does not always write things directly because he is working with material that has shifting meaning. Several languages are involved and studies from the first several centuries did not understand Hebrew and Aramaic languages. Yet there were times when the reader would have wished for a statement about where he was going.

There is to be volume II, hopefully shorter. But this reader is looking forward to seeing it.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Answers to questions you've always wondered about..., February 24, 2004
By A Customer
This book is long. The author is somewhat tedious in his explanations. BUT... if you have questions like:
- Was "Jesus" the first person of that name?
- Did he have biological brothers?
- What happened to the "Christians" in Jerusalem?
- Why would the Sanhedrin meet at midnight during Passover?
- Why did the Romans crucify Jesus?
- Why is Judas Iscariot the only "apostle" with a surname?
- How did the "apostle" Paul get Roman citizenship?
- Why is so much New Testament material written by Greeks, by people who never met Jesus?
- Where is the material written by those who met him face to face?
- and more....
Then this is THE book for you. Mr. Eisenman is a creditable source, a central researcher of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Palistinian antiquity. I won't say it's an easy read, but the points he makes are consistent and have the ring of truth. Those entrenched in blind faith may find themselves challenged.
Those concerned about the recent movie, "The Passion Of Jesus The Christ", may find that it no longer matters.
I found this book life-changing, though I expect to challenge some of it's tenets by reading the Dead Sea material myself.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars James the brother of Jesus, hidden by Church history- Revived by Eisenman!
Eisenman has produced the most exhaustive work on the most important figure in Church History next to his brother Jesus Christ and opens the door for the Christian to learn of the... Read more
Published 23 days ago by pearlsofgrace

1.0 out of 5 stars Eisenman recanted the book, new scholarship is out there
Jesus is not mentioned AT ALL in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Neither are any of the apostles. The personages mentioned by the sectarian YAHAD group have been identified, all lived in... Read more
Published 4 months ago by T. Marsh

4.0 out of 5 stars This book is not for the novice!
If your a novice or the Da Vinchi code type of reader WARNING this will not be your cup of tea. Robert Eisenman is a complete scholar. Read more
Published 5 months ago by John J. Wright

5.0 out of 5 stars Controversial, But Highly Recommended!
Professor Eisenman is generally recognized as the premier academic with respect to James and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Shafiel Karim

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent story, difficult read
Eiseman's thesis is twofold. 1) James, alleged brother of Jesus, has a lot of stories about him, more even than Jesus. Read more
Published 8 months ago by James Daniels

3.0 out of 5 stars Read Before You Buy!
I know the title of my brief review sounds crazy, but it can mean two things. Either pick up this book in a library or peruse it in a B&N while you are drinking a latte, before... Read more
Published 17 months ago by William Varner

3.0 out of 5 stars Can't see the wood for the trees
This was a challenging read, to say the least. It is almost as though the author believes that his sheer breadth of scholarship and mastery over fine details are enough to... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mark Gibbs

3.0 out of 5 stars read Maccoby instead
Many of Eisenman's ideas are anticipated by Hyam Maccoby's Revolution In Judea and Paul The Mythmaker. Read more
Published on October 8, 2007 by ointment

5.0 out of 5 stars Right Enough to be Revolutionary
Concede that Eisenman is dead wrong in his dating of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Concede that they predate New Testament times by at least one hundred years. Read more
Published on September 25, 2007 by Robert Lewis Egolf

2.0 out of 5 stars Mere Conjecture, Little Sunstance
I found Robert Eisenman's book "James the Brother of Jesus" to be a very lengthy and redundant work that makes big assumptions but proves very little. Read more
Published on June 10, 2007 by E. Dolnack

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   



So You'd Like to...


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.