The Jesus Dynasty?

Excerpt: "At first glance, The Jesus Dynasty seems like another dubious book cashing in on the notoriety of Dan Brown’s bestseller The Da Vinci Code. However, a quick perusal of the book will dispel this notion, given the academic credentials of the author, James Tabor. Tabor comes across as an archaeologist who has patiently collected and coordinated solid evidence to support his bold thesis. The Jesus Dynasty bears the marks of a well-researched academic book.

At the outset, The Jesus Dynasty argues for an alternative history of the origins of the Christian faith in Jesus the Messiah..."

"What is it that motivates Tabor to propose the radical thesis in his book? Tabor expresses hope that his reconfigured Christian faith will make Christians more amenable in inter-religious dialog between Christians, Jews and Muslims. Such sentiments are noble indeed. But noble sentiments aside, we must ask whether Tabor correctly read the biblical texts and sufficiently grounded his thesis on historical facts. In this regard, I find Tabor’s project wholly inadequate.

Tabor sandwiches his textual reading between layers of informative and entertaining accounts of his archaeological outings. The reader is gently led to place his trust in an authoritative archaeologist whose reading of the text is correspondingly trustworthy. In reality, the alert reader should know that there is little connection between Tabor’s stories and his textual readings. His expertise in one area does not make him an authority in others."

Read on for the FULL article

Read also Darrell Bock's response here