This book has a rather refreshing view on Jesus’s life rather than the religion built around him.
It struggles with that concept however, because it’s honestly hard to examine Jesus without any pre-assumptions. If you simply ignore the introduction and the revised ‘modern’ foreword chapters, the bulk of the book is well researched, and provides constant references to support the the authors assumptions.
In other words, it strives to get to the bottom of who Jesus really was without all the modern day hype.
It was originally written in 1976, and is still available new, which says something good.
The book reveals that Jesus actually existed, arguing that even if you ignore the bible completely, he is mentioned in Roman historical records at the time (he caused a riot at a market among other things)
Jewish society at the time was quite segregated, much like the Indian caste system or the English upper/lower class.
Prestige was more valued than money in Jewish society, in much the same way that it is in Japanese society even today. (p70), and they were very much into virtue signalling.
As an example, Sinners were a well defined class of their own and included those who had sinful or unclean proffessions like tax collecters, thieves, gamblers, etc. Included were herdsman because they ‘could’ purposefully let their stock graze the neighbours property. Once you were classed as a sinner, you were there for life, although in theory a prostitute could redeem themselves via a rather tortuous procedure. (p30)
Another point to remember is that Jewish society was doomed at the time -the Romans were slowly taking over, and setting up a tax system in Judea. This rather ramped up the anxiety and tension at the time, as it would mean paying tax to the Romans rather than sacrifices to God.
Of note is the vally of Gehenna which is the origin of hell for both the Christians and the Jews. It was a most unholy place where centuries before, the most wicked of all deeds had been committed to appease pagan gods. In Jesus’s time, it was the site of a rubbish dump, where continously smoldering fires, where everything was decomposting and been eaten by worms (p114)
Most of the book is written like a biography and recalls Jesus’s life in those ancient times and what he was likely to be thinking.
In conclusion, I found it to be an informative book, that manages to give us an insight into the times that Jesus lived in, and the political and religious struggles that they endured.
Uncoffined 
I’ve wondered if figures like Jesus or the Buddha actually existed, or if they are an amalgamation of different people who were widely admired, and whose ideals have been combined to form a “perfect” human. For instance, perhaps there was a widely admired man named Jesus, but less perfect than the one portrayed in the Gospels. Maybe his traits were combined with someone else’s, or maybe he was mythologized beyond the reality.
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Good review. Thank you. 🙂
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I read a book similarly on the “real” human Jesus and found it inspiring. Inspiring that one real man inspired a story and tenements to a religion that lives on powerfully today. What saddens me though is how that same religion in real human hands has been the proponent of wars, crimes, and incalculable misery but also given faith and light and hope – which proves I guess that it is all in the interpretation and probably always has been. Jesus himself didn’t plan to start a religion so much as a revolution and that revolution continues to unfold today. He must have been an incredible human. And yes the fact that he was real is undisputed and inspiring.
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Theres a big difference between reading about Jesus’s life, and the old testament which is just violent and bloody.
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