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"Anti-Semitism means six-million Jews on Hitler's list but only twelve-hundred Jews on Schindler's list. This book is about anti-Semitism, not, however, in its latest European obscenity, but in its earliest Christian latency. It is about the historicity of the passion of the narratives, those terribly well-known stories about Jesus arrest and trial, abuse and crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It is about the accuracy and honesty of Christian Scholarship in its best reconstruction of those ancient yet ever-present events... Why should ordinary people care about discussions and debates among scholars'... the historicity of the passion narratives is not a question just for scholars and experts but for anyone with a heart and a conscience." --from the preface

The death of Jesus is one of the most hotly debated questions in Christianity today. In his massive and highly publicized "The Death of the Messiah", Raymond Brown-- while clearly rejecting anti-Semitism-- never questions the essentialhistoricity of the passion stories. Yet it is these stories, in which the Jews decide Jesus' execution, that have fueled centuries of Christian anti-Semitism.

Now, in his most controversial book, John Dominic Crossan shows that this traditional understanding of the Gospels as historical fact is not only wrong but dangerous. Drawing on the best of biblical, anthropological, sociological and historical research, he demonstrates definitively that it was the Roman governme

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Library Journal Review

The two main theses of this extraordinary book are that the roots of anti-Semitism spring from gospel narratives of the death of Jesus and that the Romans, not the Jews, killed Jesus as a revolutionary agitator inimical to their continued governance of Judea. Crossan, a former Roman Catholic priest and now a noted expert on the life of Jesus, fascinatingly describes here two types of historical writing: 1) history remembered‘history written as it actually happened‘and 2) prophecy historicized, a tendentious interpretation of what really happened made to conform to or "fulfill" ancient prophecies‘in this case, supposed prophecies about the life of Jesus uttered by Hebrew prophets. According to Crossan, the passion accounts blaming the Jews for Jesus' arrest and crucifixion are based on this second type of writing and are thus myths if not downright lies. He pleads for a reevaluation of the passion stories, which have caused such animus toward Jews for the past 2000 years. An excellent study for lay readers and specialists; recommended for larger religion collections.‘Robert A. Silver, formerly with Shaker Heights P.L., Ohio (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In a book sure to generate both conversation and controversy, John Dominic Crossan, author of two well-regarded books on the historical Jesus, names the New Testament Gospels' insistence on Jewish responsibility for Jesus' death as Christianity's ``longest lie.'' Crossan argues particularly against many of the theories posed in Raymond Brown's The Death of the Messiah. While Brown finds that many of the events in the stories of Jesus' last days are plausible historically, Crossan claims that almost none of the events are historical. According to Crossan, they are ``prophesy historicized,'' accounts written by looking back at the Old Testament and other early materials and then projecting those prophecies on whatever historical events occurred. Because many of those early writers were persecuted by the Jewish authorities, they threw in a heavy dose of propaganda against the Jews. As Crossan aptly states, these gospels were relatively harmless when Christians were a small sect. When, however, Rome became Christian, those anti-Semitic narratives became, and continue to be, lethal. Well argued and highly readable, Who Killed Jesus? also includes an important epilogue stating Crossan's own faith perspectives on the divinity and resurrection of Christ. Scholars rarely go this far, yet such a confession provides another valuable entry into this fascinating material. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Crossan (DePaul Univ.), a former Roman Catholic priest and a cofounder of the Jesus Seminar, is the author of many books, including The Historical Jesus (CH, Jun'92), Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (CH, Oct'94), The Essential Jesus (1994), and The Cross That Spoke (1988). His purpose here is "to ensure that a wider population [than] scholarly experts, knows as clearly as possible that there already existed a radically different interpretation of the passion stories from that given in Raymond Brown's The Death of the Messiah." Crossan's "different interpretation" is based on six fundamental disagreements with Brown. According to Crossan, the Passion stories in the New Testament were preceded by the one in the Gospel of Peter, and they are all prophecy historicized and not history remembered. Beginning with Jesus's crime and ending with the resurrection, Crossan concludes in every case that the texts are prophecy historicized. Of the "events" reported in the Gospels, historicity can be claimed only for the barest minimum: crucifixion "by a conjunction of Jewish and Roman authority under Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem at Passover"; most of these reported events "never happened." The author's view of the gospel accounts as novelistic fiction created from the historicization of prophecy does little to expose the roots of antisemitism in Christianity. There is too much assertion without accompanying evidence. Also, Crossan writes deliberately in a popular style but sometimes seems condescending. Good bibliography; translation of the Gospel of Peter in an appendix. J. W. McCant; Point Loma Nazarene College

Booklist Review

Crossan extends his controversial work on the historical Jesus by arguing that the Gospels' blaming of the Jews for Jesus' Crucifixion is "the longest lie," a classic case of factional propaganda turning, with the acquisition of power, into savage racism.

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Considered by many to be the most learned scholar on the topic of Jesus Christ, John Dominic Crossan's adversaries question how he reconciles his Catholic faith with 20th century secular study. A former priest, Crossan is the author of The Essential Jesus: Original Sayings and Earliest Images, The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography; The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus, and The Cross That Spoke: The Origins of the Passion Narrative, among others.

(Bowker Author Biography)