The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity [Abridged] [Unknown Binding]

Professor Tabor has written the definitive "Historical Jesus and Family". I quite literally could not lay down book in order to sleep - I had to finish it! This is the best of a growing number of books dealing with James the Just and his leading role in the early Church. The Dead Sea Scrolls prophesised two messiahs, one was Jesus and the other was...but, read the book. We see Jesus as he actually was, a Torah observant Jew. We find the identity of the "Beloved Disciple". Some of Tabor's ideas are unique but quite plausible. We see that Paul "stole" Jesus and blended him into Greek mythology. Jesus would be outraged and astonished by the idea that he was creating a new religion. I was impressed by the some 250 notes and Tabor's use of archeological and historical critical methods. I was quite surprised to find that I was feeling sympathy and respect for Jesus who was a hero on the level of Judas Maccabeus and his brothers! This book is quite unlike the DaVinci Code and the sensationalism of Baigent; this has verasimilitude and is quite readable - popular as a Best Seller, yet with the carefully nuanced details of a scholarly investigation. A beautiful, captivating book...

This is not a sensationalist book. The hype and the timing of the book may suggest otherwise, but as highlighted by BBC Radio's Roger Bolton "Dan Brown it isn't". Dr James Tabor has been studying the `historical Jesus' for over 40 years and is as much a scholar as he is an archaeologist. This combination, along with his very conscious decision to write this book as an historian, lead to the most lucid, straightforward, yet insightful look at the Jesus of history that I have read.

Dr Tabor openly shares the science of piecing together the events of 2000 years ago. He not only draws conclusions about which sources are credible, for what sort of information and which aren't, but allows the reader in to this world and shows them the decision processes involved. In other books that attempt to do this the text becomes very technical, referring to different codices, geographical areas, as well as translations and languages. Dr Tabor, however, is able to present this technical, detailed information in the most accessible form yet. Dr Tabor is able to show us that the information is right in front of us in the New Testament itself, without having to rely on `suppressed documents' or `secret coded messages'.

He is very careful in all he writes. He does not over speculate, and yet he is not shy to at times to start statements with `Presumably' or `Possibly' or `It is not impossible that'. What this means is that you have a detailed text that predominantly sticks to what is well documented but that allows speculation and gives the reader a chance to think freely also. Dr Tabor as an archaeologist also has the ability to bring any distant far-off ideas about events 2000 years ago sharply and quickly in to focus by relating his first hand experiences of 1st century archaeological sites in Palestine he's examined. All the material of the book is brought to life through this means, and also it allows the less scholarly reader to keep an interest in the material as it's made very relevant regularly with explanations about actual tombs, ossuaries and skeletons.

Despite this careful scholarly methodology it should be not thought for one moment that Dr Tabor's ideas and conclusions are in anyway conservative or orthodox. The book examines in detail many areas including:

- Who was the real father of Jesus? Could it have been a Roman soldier?

- Did Mary have other children? After Joseph's death did his eldest brother marry Mary as was, and is, the Jewish custom?

- Was Jesus in fact a follower of John the Baptist?

- Did Jesus and John believe they both together fulfilled the messianic prophecies of a Davidic King and a Levitical Priest?

- Was James the real successor for the Jesus movement? Was Paul's influence a corrupting one?

- Is theological Christianity today a product of Jesus or Paul?

Dr Tabor takes us along a wondrous journey. A journey that revitalises our understand and appreciation of Jesus. He shows a Jewish man convinced he was the Messiah, living and dying with full faith in God, aiming to fulfil the prophecies of the ancient and to deliver his people from their current plight.

It was not until I read the conclusion that I realised that Dr Tabor is well aware of the importance and scope of this work. He appreciates that this view of Jesus presented in his book is something that worlds of Judaism, Christianity and Islam can use as almost a common base for dialogue. It is a fact that Jesus is the initial division point between these three great belief systems and the portrait that emerges from Dr Tabor's research is one that helps unite these faiths.

I recommend this book to all. Anyone looking for controversy and radical new ways of viewing Jesus will enjoy not be disappointed with this book, whilst equal enjoyment will be gained from a seasoned scholarly Christian who has his sets views and ideas. I myself as a Muslim found this book fascinating, informative and expertly composed.

Dr James Tabor's book is a very important one for the world at large. One crucial point highlighted by Dr Tabor is that his book is more `constructive' than it is `destructive'. The aim is not to try and undermine and ridicule faith in Jesus or the Church, but the aim is to firstly extract the real Jesus from between the lines of the New Testament and then to slowly build up the story around these ideas through history, archaeology and scholarship. From this reconstruction emerges a different view of John, Jesus and James his brother.

This was an excellent and highly informative read. Previous reviewers have pretty much covered the aspects and arguments of the book so I won't repeat what has already been said.

Along with E P Sanders' "The Historical Figure of Jesus", I consider Tabor has got the closest to the real Jesus, that is, the Jesus living in first century Galilee. I have no trouble viewing Jesus as both a "viceroy for God" (as Sanders asserts Jesus saw his role as) and a would-be king of an independent Israel with apocalyptic tendencies (as Tabor sees him).

Tabor writes in a scholarly, yet popular and easy to follow manner, which helps to make a difficult subject accessible to scholar and layman alike. The notes and references at the back are plentiful, complete with with up to date scholarship, website references and a good use of primary sources, be it canonical, non-canonical, Roman, Jewish or pagan. One criticism is that there is no bibliography setting out all the sources in one section, the reader is left trying to "construct" one by the references used.

The illustrations are an added bonus, including pictures of the famous Talpiot tomb before being built over, the possibly genuine James Ossuary, the Pantera inscription (the possible, but highly unlikely father of Jesus), the Caiaphas Ossuary and the Temple Mount. Also featured are some drawings which bring to life events of Jesus' life and the world in which he lived.

All in all an essential read for anyone interested in Jesus and the origins of Christianity. This is a scholarly work without the pseudo-historical or sensationalism of other authors.