Books on the Historical Jesus

Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus 8 (2010) 183–194 brill.nl/jshj

CHARLESWORTH, James H. (ed.), Jesus and Archaeology (Grand Rapids, MI/ Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006), xxv + 740 pp. ISBN 9780802848802. $50.00. Pbk.

In this volume James H. Charlesworth proff ers contributions to a Jerusalem symposium that brought archaeologists and biblical scholars together around the reference point of the historical Jesus. In a Preface (‘Th e Historical Jesus and Biblical Archaeology: Questions’) Charlesworth challenges the stereotype of New Testament specialists as faith-driven theologians and archaeologists as disinterested scientists. And in an Introduction (‘What is Biblical Archaeology’) Avraham Biran extols the sub-discipline of biblical archaeology and, drawing upon excavations at Tel Dan, articulates how, in his judgment, ‘archaeological research and biblical studies…are intertwined’ (p. 2). Charlesworth categorizes the contributions under two main headings: ‘Studies in Archaeology’ and ‘Archaeology and Th eology’. For the fi rst, ‘Studies in Archaeology’, the contributors and papers are Charlesworth, ‘Jesus Research and Archaeology: A New Perspective’; Sean Freyne, ‘Archaeology and the Historical Jesus’; Bruce Chilton, ‘Recovering Jesus’ Mamzerut ’; Richard A. Batey, ‘Did Antipas Build the Sepphoris Th eater?’; Peter Richardson, ‘Khirbet Qana (and Other Villages) as a Context for Jesus’; Rami Arav, ‘Bethsaida’; Frédéric Manns, ‘Mount Tabor’; Esther Eshel, ‘Jesus the Exorcist in Light of Epigraphic Sources’; Henry W. M. Rietz, ‘Refl ections on Jesus’ Eschatology in Light of Qumran’; James D. G. Dunn, ‘Did Jesus Attend the Synagogue?’; Benedict Th omas Viviano, op, ‘Synagogues and Spirituality: Th e Case of Beth Alfa’; John S. Kloppenborg, ‘Th e Th eodotos Synagogue Inscription and the Problem of First-Century Synagogue Buildings’; Achim Lichtenberger, ‘Jesus and the Th eater in Jerusalem’; Dan Bahat, ‘Jesus and the Herodian Temple Mount’; Bargil Pixner, osb, ‘Mount Zion, Jesus, and Archaeology’; Craig A. Evans, ‘Excavating Caiaphas, Pilate, and Simon of Cyrene: Assessing the Literary and Archaeological Evidence’; Daniel R. Schwartz, ‘“Stone House”, Birah , and Antonia during the Time of Jesus’; John W. Welch, ‘Miracles, Malefi cium, and Maiestas in the Trial of Jesus’; Yizhar Hirschfeld, ‘Ramat Hanadiv and Ein Gedi: Property versus Poverty in Judea before 70’; Jürgen Zangenberg, ‘Between Jerusalem and the Galilee: Samaria in the Time of Jesus’; Michele Piccirillo, ofm, ‘Th e Sanctuaries of the Baptism on the East Bank of the Jordan River’; Joseph E. Zias, ‘Th e Cemeteries of Qumran and Celibacy: Confusion Laid to Rest?’; Brian J. Capper, ‘Essene Community Houses and Jesus’ Early Community’; William Klassen, ‘Judas and Jesus: A Message on a Drinking Vessel of the Second Temple Period’. For the second major heading, ‘Archaeology and Th eology’, the contributors and papers are Urban C. von Wahlde, ‘Archaeology and John’s Gospel’; Paul N. Anderson,

‘Aspects of Historicity in the Gospel of John: Implications for Investigations of Jesus and Archaeology’; John Painter, ‘Bultmann, Archaeology, and the Historical Jesus’; Émile Puech, ‘Jesus and Resurrection Faith in Light of Jewish Texts’; John Reumann, ‘Archaeology and Early Christology’; J.K. Elliott, ‘Th e Christian Apocrypha and Archaeology’. Charlesworth closes (‘Th e Historical Jesus and Biblical Archaeology: Reﬂ ections on New Methodologies and Perspectives’) by listing several ‘provisional answers and insights’ (p. 693) about the historical Jesus, gleaned from the essays. Th e contributions are illustrated with eighty-one black and white photographs. For reference, the volume is furnished with a glossary of terms prepared by Jacob Cherian, a selected bibliography prepared by Jonathan E. Soyars and two indices, for Scripture/Ancient Texts and for Geography.

Michael Allen Daise