Amazon Summary
"[...]At last count," Ehrman begins, "there were something like 8 zillion books written about Jesus .... It's not there aren't enough books about Jesus out there. It's that there aren't enough of the right kind of book. Very, very few, in fact. I'd say about one and a half."
The right kind of book, according to Ehrman, is one that portrays Jesus roughly as Albert Schweitzer did, as a first-century Jewish apocalypticist: "This is a shorthand way of saying that Jesus fully expected that the history of the world as we know it (well, as he knew it) was going to come to a screeching halt, that God was soon going to intervene in the affairs of this world, overthrow the forces of evil in a cosmic act of judgment, destroy huge masses of humanity, and abolish existing human political and religious institutions. All this would be a prelude to the arrival of a new order on earth, the Kingdom of God."
Ehrman's is a historical-Jesus book, a very smart, humble, and humorous popular summary of Christian and secular evidence of Jesus' life, work, and legacy. He believes that apocalypticism is the true core of Jesus' message, and that comfortable middle-class complacency among scholars, clergy, and laypeople has forged a counterfeit, domesticated, "ethical" Jesus to cover up their befuddlement about his misprediction of the apocalypse.
The book will frustrate many readers because it offers no real guidance regarding what one should do with Jesus' apocalypticism. Its project--to prove that Jesus was wrong about the apocalypse--may even appear destructive to some. Yet the argument is convincing enough to induce among careful readers a constructive experience of confusion. Jesus makes readers ask the very question it appears to ignore, in a newly humble way: how, then, should we live? A serious matter, but considering humanity's endless string of wrong answers and infinite capacity for self-delusion, worthy of some good belly laughs, as well.
Since many messed up crazies have written about Jesus, I feel the need to preface this review by introducing the author, so as to show you that he isn't just a random nut with a bible, free time and an internet connection.
Dr. Bart D. Ehrman first attended Wheaton College where he earned his B.A., followed thereafter by a M.Div. and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary. He currently serves as the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina where he teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses on a variety of subjects: New Testament Textural Criticism, Early Christian Apocrypha, The Apostolic Fathers, Literary Forgeries in the Early Christian Tradition, New Testament Greek and Exegesis and more are his domain. Dr. Ehrman has developed courses for The Teaching Company, and is frequently sought after by universities worldwide as a guest speaker. Bart is also the author of nearly two dozen books--some written as academic texts and others penned for a general audience--with three New York Times bestsellers to his name.
In short, the dude knows his stuff. Now that we know his credentials, let's move on to the book itself.
First Impressions
The thesis posited in this book is that Jesus is best understood as a Jewish apocalypticist. While this is not a new theory--in fact, it has been the dominant view of biblical academia for the better part of a century--Dr. Ehrman has taken it upon himself to climb down from the ivory tower and communicate this theory to a larger reading audience.
As with all books written by Dr. Ehrman, the information provided is well organized, thoroughly researched and presented clearly for ease of reading. The notion of Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet, Ehrman explains, is backed by strong evidence; namely, Jesus' abundance of apocalyptic messages are independently attested by numerous sources, including our earliest biblical resources available (Mark, Paul, and Q). Take just one example into account:
"And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." - Mark 9:1
The speaker of this prophecy? Jesus of Nazareth. It is fitting to note that Jesus addresses the people he is speaking with, and reassures them that some among the crowd--some of those listening to Jesus right then and there!---would still be alive when the kingdom of God has come into power, heralded by the Son of Man.
This recurring prophecy of forthcoming cosmic judgement saturates the New Testament, especially within the gospels. If you're skeptical, you can read them for yourself, or read this book and see Ehrman explain the multitude of verses attributed to Christ that are clearly apocalyptic.
Ehrman argues, convincingly, that it should come as no surprise that Jesus was familiar with, and advocated, apocalyptic teachings. As a devout Jew, Jesus would be well familiar with the prophets of the Old Testament. The Book of Daniel is one such apocalyptic tale that Jesus would have heard read in the synagogue. Furthermore, Ehrman reminds us that the man who baptized Jesus, John the Baptist, was also an apocalyptic prophet who preached of repentance and the imminent day of judgement. Take the parable of the ax and the tree, which is difficult to understand in any context other than apocalyptically:
"The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire" - Matthew 3:10
So let's recap. We know that some of the prophets of the scriptures that Jesus read were apocalypticists. We also know that his confidant--the one who baptized Jesus himself--John the Baptist, was also an apocalypticist. Ehrman goes into further detail by showing how Paul (who is responsible for more books of the New Testament than any other author and ultimately shaped the faith) was also apocalyptically inclined (1 Cor. 15:20-28 | 2 Cor. 5:1-3 | 1 Thes. 4:15-18).Yet somehow, even with those who he read being of this persuasion, Jesus himself making such statements, and his greatest followers ardently believing this as well, most Christians today do not.
Why is this? Well, I won't get into the specifics (Ehrman does a much better job at it than I possibly could), but it is not surprising that the longer that Christians went without the world coming to an end, the less likely they were to emphasize apocalypticism, especially apocalyptic prophecy spoken by Jesus himself. This slight change from Jesus claiming an imminent end within a generation or two to an indefinite "soon" was an act of revision by the faithful. This is not quackery or the musings of scholars, it's evident to anyone who reads the gospels side by side, and takes notes of the slight changes in language and context; especially when read from earliest written gospels to later counterparts.
Earliest Sources: Mark, Q, Paul - All placed heavy apocalyptic themes on Jesus' lips
Later Sources: Matthew, Luke, Acts - Begin to see apocalyptic themes downplayed or slightly muted
Later Still: John, Thomas, Nag Hammadi Texts - The authors outright refute and attack apocalyptic views
If one's spiritual leader predicts, falsely, of an imminent end that never came, should it surprise any of us that later authors did not continue to write such things, and minimized, redefined or altogether eliminated teachings that said leader espoused? Such was the case for Christians in the years following Christ's death.
This is just a few of the arguments presented within the book. The proof is abundant, Ehrman is a wonderful teacher, and it all makes for a fascinating read.
Final Thoughts
The book was written in such a clear and astute manner, which is something that I've always appreciated from Bart Ehrman books. He doesn't dumb down the subject for the readers--he's just incredibly talented at presenting academic evidence to a general reading audience.
This book is great for anyone with an interest in the historical Jesus, or the transformation and development of early Christian beliefs subsequent to Christ's death. Since this was written in accordance with what can be historically demonstrated, one does not need any particular theological belief to enjoy reading this book.
With all that said, if you're new to Bart Ehrman, I suggest one of his more popular reads, such as Misquoting Jesus, God's Problem or Jesus Interrupted before tackling this book, which has a specific focus and may not appeal to all readers.
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