Customer Reviews
The Jesus Dynasty - James D. Tabor - By: Matthew Turner, 07 Oct 2007 
This was an excellent & highly informative read. Previous reviewers have pretty much covered the aspects & 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 livingin first century Galilee. I have no trouble viewing Jesus as both a "viceroy for God" (as Sanders asserts Jesus saw his role as) & a would-be king of an independent Israel with apocalyptic tendencies (as Tabor sees him).
Tabor writesin a scholarly, yet popular & easy to follow manner, which helps to make a difficult subject accessible to scholar & layman alike. The notes & references at the back are plentiful, complete with with up to date scholarship, website references & 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 sourcesin 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 & the Temple Mount. Also featured are some drawings which bring to life events of Jesus' life & the worldin which he lived.
Allin all an essential read for anyone interestedin Jesus & the origins of Christianity. This is a scholarly work without the pseudo-historical or sensationalism of other authors.
A Good Read for an Un-Decided - By: Simon Plumley, 12 Jun 2007 
Although some of the findings here are also mentionedin the book; "Truth & Fictionin The Da Vinci Code", this is an excellent read.
As mentionedin other reviews, Tabor clearly states when he's expressing views, & presents some compelling evidence.
Thoroughly recommended. Even if like me, you know very little about religion, or history for that matter.
Discounting God, not a good thing to do - By: Tripden Fell, 03 Oct 2006 
If you liked The Da Vinci Code for its historical questioning of Jesus, His life & His linage, then you will probably like another "conspiracy" novel, The Jesus Dynasty, by James D. Tabor. With that said, ironically, Tabor himself blasts The Da Vinci Code for lack of evidence. At the outset Tabor lets us know that "The Jesus Dynasty has no connection to the recently popularized notions that Jesus married & fathered children through Mary Magdalene. While gripping fiction, this idea is long on speculation & short on evidence. But as is so often the case, the truth is even stranger than fiction - & every bit as intriguing" (pg 4).
The premise of The Jesus Dynasty is simply this: Jesus, a human, followed John the Baptist into starting a Two Messiah preaching of the establishment of God's Kingdom on Earth. Both men were executed & James, the brother of Jesus continued the lineage of Jesus & the introduction of Christianity to the world.
In his writing Tabor refutes the five basic tenants of Orthodox Christianity: Jesus' virgin birth, sinless life, sacrificial death, resurrection & His coming again. I will focus on the two most significant tenants - Christ's death & resurrection.
Concerning the sacrificial death, (that is where Jesus stated that no man takes His life, but that He lays it down, or as statedin the familiar verse, John 3:16.... For God so loved the world that He gave...), Tabor implies that Jesus was foolishin His thinking. Tabor says he is "convinced that he (Jesus) expected that he would be saved from death," (page 181). And again, on page 310 Tabor states that "he (Jesus) expected God would intervene to save him from his enemies at the final moment, & usherin the Kingdom of God" (pg 310). Tabor believes Jesus was tragically surprised when the crucifixion actually took place. Of course Tabor has no documents to support these claims, so he sounds a lot like Dan Brown, author of the Da Vinci Code.
Concerning the resurrection, Tabor states that there was none. His theory is that Jesus died from the crucifixion, but was buried twice; buried quickly the first timein a local tomb because of the Passover holiday, then reburied laterin a grave closer to His homein Galilee (pg 238). Tabor then shares personal experiences of visiting different tombsin Israel to draw his conclusions.
Unfortunately, Tabor never examines or addresses the resurrection appearances of Jesus. If it can be shown that Jesus was alive after His crucifixion, then the basis of Tabors book.... that there is actual tomb with bones of Jesus' family (and most likely Jesus' also)... is bogus.
According to contemporary scholar Gary Habermas, "virtually all scholars agree that 1Corinthinans 15:3ff records an ancient oral tradition (s) that reports the Gospel data: Jesus Christ's atoning death, burial, resurrection & appearances to many persons. Critical scholars usually agree that this tradition introduced by Paul had a remarkably early origin. Most scholars who provide a date think that Paul received this creedal tradition between two & eight years after Jesus' death, or from approximately A.D. 32 to 38. Even skeptics frequently agree." The significance of the early dating of 1Corintians 15 is that those familiar with the situation would have been alive & able to refute these claims. Habermas shares that a "consideration is the failure of the Jewish leadersin Jerusalem to disprove the resurrection, even thought they lived precisely where Jesus had died & been buried just a brief time before. These ancient scholars werein the best position to expose any error, both because they strongly opposed his teaching & because their location allowed the most through inspection. In brief, these leaders had a motive, great location, & a method, but even as the resident skeptics, they did not refute the evidence."
Habermas goes on to say that there are "at least nine independent sources... all attesting to the resurrection appearance of Jesus. Such richness of texts is almost unheard ofin the ancient world."
By concluding that Jesus died, & stayed dead before examining the resurrection appearances, Tabor has not been a true scholar & his conclusions are suspect. Anyone making eternal decisionsin their own life based on Tabor's book would be foolish.
An interesting twist at the end of this novel is the politically correct way that Tabor melds together Judaism, Christianity & Islam. Tabor "offers new avenues of understanding between Jews, Christian, & Muslims" (pg 314). He goes on to state that "there is little about the view of Jesus presentedin this book that conflicts with Islam's basic perception" (pg 316). In our post 911 political atmosphere perhaps Tabor feels that disclaimer is necessary. The Jesus Tabor presents is just another guyin history, not the Son of Godin flesh.
Allin all Tabor gives bizarre reasons for his views based on naturalistic thinking. Unfortunately, discounting the supernatural is like discounting God.... something they would not even dare to do at K-Mart during a blue light special.
A splendid book, but .... - By: Will Stevens, 18 Jul 2006 I completely agree with all the other reviewers about what an informative, well written, thought-provoking book this is. I especially admire the wayin which Professor Tabor is so scrupulousin attaching his own estimates of certainty to the statements which he makes: quite likely to be true ... possibly true ... mere conjecture. This is a refreshing contrast to the wayin which so many other searchers after the 'historical Jesus' set about their work - orthodox believers & non-believers alike.
Yet, paradoxically, it's this feature of the book which, ultimately, makes it a bit disappointing. Especially when you read the bookin conjunction with some of the critiques of it on the Web (which vary from the highly intelligent to the downright stupid) what's bornein on you is the sheer impossibility of reconstructing any reliable portrait of the `historical Jesus' from the available evidence. It's salutary to remember that the idea that the New Testament is a completely reliable & accurate record of events was disposed of over 150 years ago. Many Christian organisations have fought a long drawn out & stubborn rearguard action to conceal this uncomfortable fact, but the cat is out of the bag, & it is now generally accepted. However, to date, nobody has produced an account of `what really happened' which can hope to receive universal respect or acceptance.
Professor Tabor certainly shows what progress has been made, though, for anyone who keptin touch, even vaguely, with developments, the book contains few surprises. Crucially, & possibly without intending to, he also shows how limited we are by the available documentary & archaeological evidence. To me, he seems to demonstrate that,in the absence of new major documentary or archaeological discoveries, the end of the road has been reached, & that the search for the `historical Jesus' is,in a serious sense, a wild goose chase. Most believers & some non-believers will find this a very disappointing conclusion, but I can't see how it can be avoided.
But it's an excellent book - if the subject matter interests you even slightly, do read it.
Albert Schweitzer has a successor. - By: Pipistrel, 24 May 2006 Having read Schweitzer's Quest for the Historical Jesus fifty years ago, I have been disappointed by almost everything I have read on the subject since then - until James Tabor came along. He seems at last to have taken the quest forward & found a credible Jesus, rootedin a family & a society, shaped by its beliefs & expectations, a real human being whose virtues are highlighted by his shortcomings. One of the most striking things is that Tabor makes it clear how much Jesus was an exile, not only as a member of a Davidic family living outside Judaea, but also, during his mission, spending much of his time fleeing from Herodian Galilee. Like Muhammad, he is someone for all outcasts & emigrants & victims of persecution to identify with. It is time for the rest of humanity to reclaim Jesus from the Christians who have tried to make him their monopoly. He belongs to us all - Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, freethinkers...
