Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium

by Bart D. Ehrman

Book Overview

In this highly accessible discussion, Bart Ehrman examines the most recent textual and archaeological sources for the life of Jesus, along with the history of first-century Palestine, drawing a fascinating portrait of the man and his teachings.

Ehrman shows us what historians have long known about the Gospels and the man who stands behind them. Through a careful evaluation of the New Testament (and other surviving sources, including the more...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019512474X
• ISBN13: 9780195124743
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

One of the Best

I previously reviewed Margaret Barker's book as the best book written about Jesus in modern times. From a spiritual and esoteric perspective, I still feel that way. However, from an historical perspective Ehrman is the best and most concise. Ehrman doesn't try to create his own gospel. He accepts the gospels for what they are and cuts through to the basic common denominator. Jesus, from an historical perspective, started out as an apocalyptic prophet who continued the message of his mentor, John the Baptist as a result of the turbulent political climate in Palestine. Jesus saw his role as preparing Israel for the imminent end of the world heralded by Daniel's "Son of Man" and the coming Kingdom of God. This is not a comforting book for people who subscribe to the warm and fuzzy gospel of health and prosperity. The radical teachings of Jesus have to be taken at face value (which so many so-called "fundamentalists" refuse to do.) Jesus did not support family values and seemingly had no regard for the present world. The idea of leaving your home and family, giving away all of your wealth and possessions, and taking up a cross of martyrdom can only make sense if one believes that the present system is going to end very soon and thus has no real value. Jesus had no interest in making the world a nicer place because it was going to end. His role was to prepare Israel for the future. One of many examples Ehrman gives is the nonchalant attitude Jesus has about rendering unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Far from being a gesture of submission, Jesus essentially was saying that Roman coins would have no value in God's Kingdom and since Caesar and his kingdom would soon end, why fight it? The same applies to Jesus' teachings of unconditional forgiveness, love of enemies, and turning the other cheek. In the real world, there could be no law and order or justice if this were put in practice (a point excellently brought out by Joseph Klausner's "Jesus of Nazareth"). Jesus wanted his followers to cancel all the debts that others owed them since they would soon be judged by God. Jesus demanded unconditional love of God and man as well as a fearless willingness to die as a martyr for the sake of the Kingdom. To prepare for the Kingdom, all ties with the present have to be broken. Ehrman claims that Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the Temple was authentic in light of it being replaced by a new Temple. The fact that "no stone would be left in place" is contrary to the fact that after 70 a.d., the Western Wall was left standing. Thus it is not a gospel writer trying to explain that event. Ehrman's explanation of the parable of the mustard seed is that Jesus and his followers represent the Kingdom coming into the present which would someday encompass the entire world. Jesus' miracles and exorcisms were a prophetic demonstration of the presence of that Kingdom where the sick would be healed, the dead would be raised, and

The sky is falling

Last night I celebrated my completion of Bart Ehrman's tome Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium. It took a bit of searching before I could find a scholar such as Bart Ehrman, but now that I've found one I'm eager to explore the whole of his writings. He is like my pet historian now. I will name him Squishy and he will be mine and he will be my Squishy.In this book Ehrman takes on the staggering task of trying to find the true historical Jesus. Giving his reasons for rejecting the Jesus Seminar's attempts of doing the same by rejecting the gospel accounts and relying strictly on outside evidence, (Ehrman covers exactly how scarce this evidence is) he instead dissects the gospels to try to understand Jesus's original message.Throughout the book Ehrman paints a pretty clear and logical picture of the popular view among historians, that the probability is Jesus was one of many apocalyptic Jewish prophets living in that era, his only unique characteristic being that some people believed he was resurrected by God (and later, that he was God). He believed that the end of the world would be coming during his lifetime, when a cosmic judge known as "The Son of Man" would ride down from the heavens, destroy all evil and establish a physical "Kingdom of God" on Earth in which the lower-class would rule over the rich and pious. Ehrman then illustrates how Jesus's teachings and ethics make perfect sense in this context.Prominent throughout the book is Bart Ehrman's trademark... the exteme care in not offending the faithful. He handles the topic with wit and sensitivity, reassuring the reader that he is not attempting to undermine anyone's faith, but merely to illustrate what is historically probable based on the materials we have to work with.On the downside, in order to preserve this view of Jesus one must edit out huge portions of the gospels, and while Ehrman does a good job justifying which parts are likely true and which are probably made up, the question still arises how you can trust what's left in a religious text after you've stripped out the parts that are obviously false.In the end, we still can't really know anything for sure... this message seems to be written between the lines of every page in this book. The book feels like it's more of an answer to the many other Jesus books on the market that try to paint him as some kind of early Marxist or gay rights advocate. And I believe that's this book's true purpose: To present to the layperson the limited information an honest critical review of the gospels gives us about the historical Jesus while keeping him in his own context, as a Jew living in the first century, instead of as a screen to project your world view onto... whether it's cynicsm, feminism, Marxism, Republicanism, Christianity or any other modern belief structure.

This is the one

As an amateur scholar who has read/studied over thirty works on the historical Jesus, I would like to take this opportunity to highly recommend Bart Ehrman's Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millenium. If you read only one popular book on the historical Jesus, this should be the one. If you are waiting impatiently for the third installment of Meier's A Marginal Jew; this should provide a pleasant and useful distraction. If after reading Ehrman's book, you find yourself wanting more of the same, I would like to suggest Dale C. Allison's Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet. Shalom.

The best book in its field

I have read many books about the historical Jesus. Ehrman's Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium is by far the best. Although a popular account, Ehrman presents evidence and evaluates it logically. His main thesis is that Jesus believed that God would intervene, destroy all evil, and establish a Kingdom of God on earth (rather than in heaven), and that this would occur during his lifetime. Ehrman concludes that many of Jesus' sayings and deeds are best explained by Jesus' assumption that the present world would soon end. People must repent and prepare for the imminent judgment. One consequence of this belief is that Jesus was not a proponent of family values. Ehrman stresses that apocalypticism was an ideology that tried to make sense of the suffering of the Jewish people, giving them hope for the near future. To me, Ehrman's arguments are far more persuasive than those of members of the Jesus Seminar who believe that Jesus was not an apocalypticist. Ehrman does not push unorthodox views, but presents consensus views of Bible scholars to the general public. Ehrman emphasizes Jesus' Jewish environment during the first century. He explains that Jesus was not unique except in his supposed resurrection. Christianity is based not on the actual resurrection of Jesus, but on belief in his resurrection. Written sources claim that healings and exorcisms were accomplished by other Jews in ancient times, and by Hebrew prophets. Ehrman also points out the diversity of Christian views during the first and second centuries. As any scholar taking a true historical approach must, he makes no evaluation of supernatural events. A special treat is Ehrman's sense of humor. A must read for those wishing to understand the historical Jesus, as opposed to a theological Jesus.