John Dominic Crossan is the author of The Historical Jesus (T&T Clark, 1991). He chairs the Historical Jesus section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
"It is above all the journey that impresses. In this enterprise,
methodology is all. Farewell to woolly generalisations. Apply
cross-cultural anthropology, history, archaeology and literary
criticism, in interactive and ordered fashion, to each crucial
question. Begin not with text but with context; move to the
establishment of the earliest possible layer of tradition; expose
their point of conjunction. It is all carried through with rare
precision.Throughout, the style is informal, conversational,
relentless, questioning, pervasively expansive. This monumental
enquiry remains an impressive example of how such work should be
done and relentlessly probes questions that must continue to be
engaged with comparable persistence. It is a mine of information, a
model of clarity and a delight to read." --The Expository Times
"Those who have been enthused by Crossan's earlier writings,
especially their culmination in his The Historical Jesus, will come
to this closely related and equally magisterial volume with high
expectations and not a little anticipation. They will not be
disappointed for, once again, we have vintage Crossan, hugely
confident, invariably engaging, massively learned and carried along
by a sustained brilliance which allows a complicated argument to be
unfoleded clearly as it is driven forward inexorably by a
combination of daring imagination and total conviction. Convinced
by Crossan or not, he forces us to re-examine our beginnings and to
recognise the subjectivity inherent in every response. This book
compels us to look again to see how far our own myth does justice
to what gave it birth. It forces us back to see the nature of the
God in whom we believe and to acknowledge that a Christianity which
does not put at its centre a God of justice is not worthy of its
name." --Modern Believing "Crossan's work is dynamic and frequently
persuasive. He writes compellingly, if luxuriantly, with a
surprising degree of personal autobiography." --Church Times ". . .
full of unexpected and often brilliant insights." --Internationale
Zeitschriftenschau fur Bibelwissenschaft und Grenzgebiete "Crossan
has a brilliant and fertile mind. He writes superbly". --Heythrop
Journal
*Blurb from reviewer*
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