Southwestern Journal of Theology (48.1)
Southwestern Journal of Theology
Volume 48, No. 1 - Fall 2005
Editor: Paige Patterson
Jesus and Archaeology. Edited by James H. Charlesworth. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, xxv + 740 pages. Softcover, $50.00.
Recent searches for the historical Jesus attempt to set Jesus free from centuries of theological overlay. Ironically, the attempt to set Jesus within his first-century context has tended to recast Jesus in the image of the particular theology of various New Testament scholars of the twenty-first century. While biblical archaeology has emphasized research into Old Testament sites, there has been a quiet trend of research into sites associated with the New Testament period. While archaeology of the second temple period has focused on the Hellenistic and Roman political structure, several scholars are now addressing currents in New Testament studies with the results of archaeological investigation. Unfortunately, these trends have not impacted the wider attempt to place Jesus in his historical context. The publication of Jesus and Archaeology solves this problem. This book is an excellent example of the coalescing of archaeological and textual data to address issues of the historical Jesus.
This book is a collection of papers presented at a conference held to celebrate the new millennium. It contains contributions by thirty-one Christian and Jewish scholars in the fields of historic Jesus studies and archaeology of the second temple period. Most of the scholars are either archaeologists or historians. Each contributor excels at presenting their data in the context of the life and times of ancient Palestine during the early Roman period (e.g., during the life of Jesus). All the articles purposefully integrate material culture and text. Several of the contributors purposefully address the context of Jesus’ teachings within his cultural and sociological environment.
The book is divided into two major parts: the first part is entitled “Studies in Archaeology.” It contains twenty-four essays dealing with the archaeological data. Several essays are site reports (e.g., Sepphoris, Cana, Bethsaida, Mount Tabor, Beth Alpha, Mount Zion, Ramat Hanadiv, En Gedi, and Qumran) or regional reports (e.g., “Between Jerusalem and the Galilee: Samaria in the Time of Jesus”). In addition to site reports, various architectural elements and epigraphic and textual data are discussed. Some essays deal with historical figures (e.g., “Excavating Caiaphas, Pilate, and Simon of Cyrene: Assessing the Literary and Archaeological Evidence”). The second part is entitled “Archaeology and Theology” and contains six articles addressing the historicity of the Gospel of John, early Christology, and the resurrection. An introductory essay on “What is Biblical Archaeology” by A. Biran and a synthetic overview by the editor, “Jesus Research and Archaeology: A New Perspective,” provide useful frameworks for the importance of the research for New Testament studies. In addition, Charlesworth provides a conclusion that places Biblical Archaeology of the New Testament within a broader research agenda.
While the book is not a synthetic work, it is still valuable for classroom use as a complementary text for the backgrounds to the life and times of Jesus or Gospel studies. It is well written with the non-specialist in mind, providing a selected bibliography, glossary, and index of scripture and other ancient texts. This book is a required reference for every student and scholar of the New Testament. It will provide many new insights into the historical, cultural, and political context of the world of Jesus.
