spencesational's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating and I'm unsure as to why it has such a low overall rating.
I'm old enough to vaguely remember this back in the 80s but didn't pay it too much attention as these sorts of things crop up very frequently.
If it is proved beyond all doubt that Jesus had skeletal remains it would destroy Christianity or at least parts of it so maybe the low ratings are from religious people whose very foundation would be destroyed if this were to be the case. I don't know.
What I do know is that I enjoyed it and anything that takes a different angle on popular themes and challenges said themes and beliefs piques my interest and this certainly did exactly that.
I'm old enough to vaguely remember this back in the 80s but didn't pay it too much attention as these sorts of things crop up very frequently.
If it is proved beyond all doubt that Jesus had skeletal remains it would destroy Christianity or at least parts of it so maybe the low ratings are from religious people whose very foundation would be destroyed if this were to be the case. I don't know.
What I do know is that I enjoyed it and anything that takes a different angle on popular themes and challenges said themes and beliefs piques my interest and this certainly did exactly that.
speesh's review against another edition
5.0
The problem with this kind of book nowadays, post-Dan Brown anyway, is that many people will dismiss them out of hand as being Da Vinci Code-like. Still, even if the 'real' Jesus turned up nowadays, most Christians wouldn't believe he was the real Jesus. Neither would the archaeologists and/or biblical scholars who have made a very nice living thank you very much out of their view of things being the view. A bit like how Christianity became after Paul. More on that sort of thing at a later date. So, to come from another background than dusty academia, you better have all your scholarly ducks in a row. So, that is what a lot of this book is about. There is the premise, that they have found the tomb of the family of Jesus and then there is the background for that reasoning. To try and head critics off at the pass, they basically play devil's advocate with themselves, the whole time, to try and back up their findings before others try and tear them down.
It works very well, all in all. I'm not sure how respected James Cameron is in these circles, but I maybe would have left him as a shadowy backer, I'd suspect 'the director of Titanic' wouldn't carry much weight in scholarly circles. That the majority of objections come from Jewish scholars, is also good, as I'd assume they'd be more objective (I can't recall, but I think that Simcha is Jewish as well). I think too, that the title, second part, would refer to the fact that it would have been easier, less disruptive to their lives, if they had 'overlooked' the discovery. Maybe so. There is of course, a lot of background to the times when they say the tomb is from and about current Jewish laws and feelings, which is fascinating and equally as strong as the actual arguments for their hypothesis for me.
I used to and have read a lot of 'this sort of thing' in the past and this is perhaps one of the best, most open and non-sensational books I've read on the subjects.
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It works very well, all in all. I'm not sure how respected James Cameron is in these circles, but I maybe would have left him as a shadowy backer, I'd suspect 'the director of Titanic' wouldn't carry much weight in scholarly circles. That the majority of objections come from Jewish scholars, is also good, as I'd assume they'd be more objective (I can't recall, but I think that Simcha is Jewish as well). I think too, that the title, second part, would refer to the fact that it would have been easier, less disruptive to their lives, if they had 'overlooked' the discovery. Maybe so. There is of course, a lot of background to the times when they say the tomb is from and about current Jewish laws and feelings, which is fascinating and equally as strong as the actual arguments for their hypothesis for me.
I used to and have read a lot of 'this sort of thing' in the past and this is perhaps one of the best, most open and non-sensational books I've read on the subjects.
The only book blog you need: Speesh Reads
Now a Facebook Page: Speesh Reads
matt_and_cheez's review against another edition
4.0
I've never actually read an archaeological-type book from cover to cover except for this one. It gives stunning detail of Jesus and his family's lives and their deaths.
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