Comparison of 2 Books on Jesus

While not totally dissimilar, there are few points of commonality between the two books. The most obvious is each author's reliance on Josephus (Against Apion/Contra Apionem, Jewish Antiquities/Antiquitates Judaicae, and Jewish Wars/De Bello Judaico) for much insight into first century Jewish thought and practice. But Sanders relies principally upon the Bible for his portrait of Jesus--supported with Jewish rabbinic literature such as the Midrash and Talmud--in order to provide the fabric of Jesus' ministry among the Jews of His time, while Crossan expends extraordinary effort in consulting an extensive list of "Pagan" authors for an understanding of the historical background which would have possibly influenced the life of Jesus, and more likely influenced the canon of books which collectively constitute the New Testament.

Sanders' stated purpose is "to take up two related questions with r

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tians to the detriment of their fuller understanding of the faith. This is perhaps a conditioning on the part of the church to identify the Hebrew Scriptures as the "Old" Testament--inferior to the "New" Testament which fulfills all desire to understand. Sanders has chosen to bring forth the most difficult aspects of Judaism, the prophetic warnings of the end times, place them squarely on Jesus' shoulders, and attempt to show them as the foundation for that which has become Christianity. On the other hand, Crossan's book is definitely not easily digested. It is certainly not recommended reading for the novice Christian. But it is a remarkable work, and achieves a certain remarkable result. Crossan essentially removes Jesus from the traditional concept of "Son of God" in the immaculate conception sense. He does not diminish Jesus as the Son of God, although this may not be immediately clear. And it is for this reason that the "historical" Jesus he presents is sharply distinguishable from the "factual" Jesus of the New Testament. Crossan necessarily devotes more than half of his book to the historical literature of the Romans and Greeks, and the Jewish Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. During his discussion and treatment
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Mark Gnostic, Testament Sanders', Historical Jesus, Hillel Essenes, Messiah Hebrew, Testament--inferior Testament, Crossan Sanders', Matthew Luke, Sanders Crossan, Pharisees Sadducees, historical jesus, vast majority christians, jesus life, life mediterranean, century judaism, jewish peasant, hypothesis sanders, thorough understanding, astutely observes, jewish practice, sanders relies,
Approximate Word count = 1471
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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