This book is a monumental work of scholarship. That said, I had a hard time reading it and I must admit that I have only read a little over a hundred pages. I am writing this review now because I have to return it to the library and would like to remember to return to it in the future and encourage others to look into it. Mr. Eisenman recommends reading the book with a collection of reference books but it is already like reading a reference intensive study. He does not use footnotes. There is a lot of information regarding the strengths and weaknesses of supporting texts and contextual analysis incorporated into the book. I believe this is the weak point in its literary merits. I do understand that anyone who seeks to tease out the reality of the times and characters in the bible needs to provide overwhelmingly scholarship to not be disregarded out of hand. This book provides that but in doing so renders itself impenetrable. The paperback edition that I have is 958 pages long followed by over 75 pages of notes and other information and then a detailed index. I believe the story as seen by the author could have been conveyed in 200 pages and the supporting evidence could have been appended for those who required his insightful analysis to accept his view.This book challenges the traditional roles applied to the cast of characters addressed in the bible and as such will make those who blindly accept the church version of reality quite uncomfortable. If you like your religion just the way it is then stay away from this book. If you are interested in seeing what an intelligent modern-day scholar of the most insightful religious and historical documents available to man has concluded then you would be hard pressed to find a better book.
Every once in a while a book comes along that offers a complete paradigm shift and really makes you stop and think. This is such a book. As a piece of literature it is probably 4 stars because it does get tediously repetitive and dwells on a subject for a very long time, but this is somewhat necessary to connect all of the dots. The ideas presented more than make up for this, though. The book tires to discover the historical Jesus by discovering the historical James, Jesus' brother and the leader of the Jerusalem Church. The book demonstrates how many accounts in the book of Acts fly right in the face of the historical data of the time. Eisenman connects James' community to the community at Qumran. At first, I was skeptical, but his research has convinced me to read the Dead Sea scrolls in a new light. Essentially, he claims some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are arguing directly against the teachings of Paul. As a person trained in history, I appreciated his historical approach to the New Testament. He takes about the various rulers, political affiliations, and Jewish sects in great detail. This book is thick, almost 1,000 pages of text, but well worth it. I was consumed by this book for almost a full month, but it was well worth the time. It has really made me want to go read Josephus and the Dead Sea Scrolls. If you want to try to find the historical Jesus, read this book.
This is not a book of fluff. But serious scholars and historians will enjoy the fresh, sometimes relatively new approach to understanding what actually happened during the century Jesus lived. to those of us that are interested in learning the truth (and let the chips fall where they may), Dr. Eisenman is a modern hero. He was instrumental breaking the monopoly on the majority of the Dead Sea Scrolls that were kept hidden from the rest of us for more than thirty years. You may not agree with all of his conclusions. But his scholarship is outstanding.
—Rick Massey
I read about 50% of this massive tome. At first, I was very interested in it: little is known or written about James, the brother of Jesus, who seems from hints in the Bible to have played a very prominent role in the early church. But there was so much speculation crafted out of such a small amount of historical evidence, and it was written in such a dry academic tone, that I eventually gave up. The long and short of it seemed to be that Paul should not have been, in essence, the founder of Christianity, and that James was the true heir to Christ's ministry and teaching, and his place was suprressed and supplanted by Paul. Like so many of these academic works, too little distinction is made between fact and theory and outright speculation.
—Skylar Burris
L'autore ha scritto questo tomo per esporre la sua tesi: che il cristianesimo delle origini non era altro che il gruppo degli Esseni di cui si sono trovati i rotoli a Qumran sul Mar Morto, che Paolo di Tarso, oltre che essere un collaborazionista romano, era parente di Erode e nemmeno ebreo, e che Giacomo, fratello di Gesù in quanto figlio di Giuseppe e Maria, era il vero capo della chiesa cristiana primitiva, e una figura molto più importante di Gesù stesso. Si potrebbe immaginare che tutto questo derivi dalla lettura dei rotoli di Qumran; invece gli accenni ad essi sono rari e così generici che potrebbero andare bene per tutto. Le fonti usate sono quelle già note: il Nuovo Testamento, le opere dei padri della Chiesa e quelle di Giuseppe Flavio, nelle quali Eisenman sceglie le parti che gli interessano, decide autonomamente che dei nomi diversi indicano in realtà la stessa persona, sorvola sul fatto che Giacomo dovrebbe avere trent'anni più di Gesù, ritarda di quasi un secolo la redazione degli Atti anticipando contemporaneamente le lettere paoline, e crea così il proprio puzzle personale. Ma tutto ciò non sarebbe poi così male, se Eisenman si fosse limitato ad affermarlo una volta, e avesse scritto un agile libretto da 150 pagine. No, ogni affermazione è ripetuta tre, quattro, cinque volte, forse sperando che il lettore accetti le sue supposizioni per stanchezza o abitudine. E questo per me è un peccato mortale, che cancella anche gli spunti interessanti sul tipo di messianesimo della comunità ebreo-cristiana di Gerusalemme. Questo è insomma uno dei casi in cui i libri condensati della fu Selezione dal Reader's Digest sarebbero stati utili!
—Maurizio Codogno
