"Why did Jesus happen when and where he happened?" is the question that drives Excavating Jesus, a collaboration between the leading historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan and noted Galilean archeologist Jonathan Reed. Excavating Jesus is a groundbreaking work of popular biblical scholarship, an extraordinarily mature and accessible integration of textual study with archeological research. "Words talk. Stones talk too. Neither talks from the past without interpretive dialogue with the present. But each demands to be heard in its own way," the authors write. True to this principle, Crossan and Reed consider archaeology and exegesis "as twin independent methods, neither of which is subordinate or submissive to the other." The bulk of the book identifies, analyzes, and integrates what the authors believe to be the "top 10" archeological discoveries pertaining to the life of Jesus (such as the house of the apostle Peter at Capernaum), and the top 10 exegetical discoveries (such as the Dead Sea Scrolls). Their excavation of the most important sites and texts, accompanied by stunning illustrations and photographs, provide perhaps the most precise picture of the world in which Jesus lived. For many readers, this information will also shed light on the central themes of Christianity. For instance, in the first century in Galilee, "the Kingdom" meant the Roman Empire. "When, therefore, Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of God, he chose the one expression most calculated to draw Roman attention to what he was doing. Not the 'people' or the 'community' of God, but the 'Kingdom' of God." That's why the Baptism movement of John and the Kingdom movement of Jesus started there and then." --Michael Joseph Gross


From Publishers Weekly
In his monumental The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, Crossan brilliantly challenged conventional historical Jesus scholarship. Using social-scientific and literary critical methods, he uncovered the layers of the Jesus traditions in the Gospels, excavating not an eschatological prophet preaching a future divine kingdom, but an itinerant Galilean peasant preaching a kingdom based on "commensality," or the just distribution of food. Many critics disagreed violently with Crossan, contending that his book was full of outlandish assertions. Now Crossan partners with archeologist Reed to demonstrate the material basis of his earlier textual arguments. With exceptional skill, the authors weave a spellbinding tale of the ways that recent archaeological finds support the rich textual layers of the Gospel stories. For example, Crossan and Reed show the radical nature of Jesus' kingdom of itinerancy and commensality by using the archeology of Herod's palace to demonstrate that his meals, far from the all-encompassing feasts associated with earlier temples, had become elite affairs. Jesus' invitations to the marginalized and outcast to sit at the table flew in the face of this social and political structure. Like any other book that uses archeology to support its claims about biblical texts, this one will be criticized for using material remains to read the Bible in a particular way. However, Crossan and Reed's book provides a fascinating, beautifully illustrated and elegantly written account of the life and times of Jesus, providing readers with one of the richest glimpses into Jesus and his world now available. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Crossan, author of several best-selling books about Jesus, now goes beyond biography to examine what clues archaeology can offer about Jesus' life and times. With coauthor Reed, a Galilean field archaeologist, Crossan examines the 10 most significant archaeological digs in the towns of ancient Palestine (Nazareth, Tiberias, and Jerusalem) in context with 10 important textual discoveries, including the Dead Sea Scrolls and writings such as the Gnostic gospels of Thomas. First-century Palestine comes alive here. Readers are invited along to visit places like Sepphoris, an urban center only four miles from Nazareth; the Sea of Galilee, where a boat was found and carbon-dated to the time of Jesus; and Peter's house at Capernaum. This is another winner for Crossan, written in language simple enough for the layperson but stimulating and provocative for readers of all kinds. To be illustrated with black-and-white archaeological drawings throughout and a full-color insert. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Booklist
First-century Palestine comes alive here...another winner for Crossan.


Publishers Weekly
A fascinating, beautifully illustrated and elegantly written account of the life and times of Jesus.


Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God
"This is a fascinating and exhilarating study, which breathes new life into the quest for the historical Jesus."


Michael Coogan, Professor of Religious Studies, Stonehill College, editor, The New Oxford History of the Biblical World
An original, nuanced synthesis of archaeological finds and textual exegesis, one that is rich in insights and in provocative interpretations.


William G. Deever, Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Arizona
"Comprehensive, expertly integrated, and powerfully illuminating...in keeping with the best of current archaeological theory and method."


Book Description
Follow the premier historical Jesus authority and a brilliant archaeologist as they search the texts and stones of antiquity for the real Jesus.


About the Author
John Dominic Crossan was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland in 1934. He was educated in Ireland at Maynooth College, in Rome at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and in Jerusalem at the Ecole Biblique.Crossan was a member of the 13th-century Roman Catholic religious order, the Servites, from 1950 to 1969 and an ordained priest from 1957 to 1969. He taught at DePaul University for 25 years and held a visiting professorship at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts. He has been a guest lecturer at many distinguished universities including the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. He was co-director of the Jesus Seminar from 1985-1996 and chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature from 1992-1998.He has contributed articles and reviews for dozens of journals and has written 18 books over the last 30 years. The Birth of Christianity was a Publishers Weekly 1998 "best book of the year" while all four of his most recent -- The Historical Jesus, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography, Who Killed Jesus and The Birth of Christiantiy --were national bestsellers for a combined total of 22 months. In a recent book, Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts, Crossan joins a brilliant archaeologist to illuminate the life and teaching of Jesus against the background of his world. He has received numerous academic awards over the years including the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in Religious Studies and the Via Sapientiae Award, DePaul University's highest honor.The list of his print, radio, and television interviews and reviews takes up over 13 full pages. Crossan's interviews include The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, National Public Radio's "Fresh Air", Larry King Live and he will be featured in the upcoming ABC special "The Search for Jesus" with Peter Jennings on Monday, June 26th 2000, 9:00-11:00 p.m. (ET).He lives with his wife Sarah near Orlando, Florida.

FROM OUR EDITORS

Historical Jesus scholar John Dominic Crossan teams up with Galilean field archeologist Jonathan Reed to investigate the ten most significant archeological digs and the light they cast on the historical and biblical record. The sites explored include: the house of the apostle Peter at Capernaum, the location of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the "Crucified Man" of Jerusalem, and the fishing boat from the Sea of Galilee. This unique approach to the study of the historical Jesus is both a fascinating tour of his world and a testament to the ordeal he faced at the hands of Rome.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Recently there have been pheonomenal strides in the historical understanding of the world Jesus lived in, as well as lesser-known archaeological discoveries from the early centuries of the common era that explain a great deal about Jesus, his followers, and his teachings. This is the first book that combines the historical and the archaeological in a way that will appeal to a broad general readership interested in discovering the key finds that comprise the state of the art of our knowledge of Jesus and his world. Each chapter of the book focuses on a significant modern archaeological or textual discovery and shows how that discovery opens a window onto a major feature of Jesus' life and teachings.

FROM THE CRITICS

Karen Armstrong

This is a fascinating and exhilarating study, which breathes new life into the quest for the historical Jesus.

Eric Meyers

Linking ground and gospel, archaeology and exegesis, Excavating Jesus offers a unique glimpse into the world of Jesus.

Michael Coogan

An original, nuanced synthesis of archaeological finds and textual exegesis, one that is rich in insights and in provocative interpretations.

William G. Deever

Comprehensive, expertly integrated, and powerfully illuminating...in keeping with the best of current archaeological theory and method.

Publishers Weekly