In five chapters, France critically assesses the claims and counter-claims of sceptics, apologists and historians thereby establishing a very responsible historical basis for an assessment of Jesus who has affected the course of history more than any other individual. G.A. Wells for instance stressed that Jesus never existed, but was a mythical figure carved out of Paul's mystical experience, for whom history was subsequently invented. The Semitic scholar, John Allegro, vehemently argued that Jesus was initially a cipher for a sacred hallucinogenic mushroom around the use of which the Christ cult first arose. Perhaps the most offensive presentation of Jesus is by Morton Smith who dismisses him as a practitioner of magical rites with damaging sexual overtones. Smith's argument is that his true historical assessment is based on what is referred to as suppressed evidence.
The authors of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail weave incredible stories around medieval traditions to present views about Jesus in consonance with ancient Gnosticism and Rosicrucianism. The secret society they discovered for instance was believed to have dedicated to the restoration of the Merovingian dynasty in France, direct descendants of Jesus. France comments on the role of North America in supplanting the traditional understanding of Jesus with an erroneous and misleading alternative based on scholarship. This has been the focus of the magazine, Free Inquiry, which led to an 'International Symposium on Jesus and the Gospels' held in Michigan in 1985 under the title 'Jesus in History and Myth'. Liberal and humanistic Christians contributed to this magazine with a united conviction that Jesus in the Gospels does not represent any real figure in history. This volume therefore is not just an attempt to reconstruct the real historical Jesus but goes further to analyse the parameters to base such a reconstruction. The author not only lists the various types of evidence for Jesus, but also further discusses the relative value to be attached to them.
France's discussion of non-Christian evidence in the first chapter highlights the influence of Gentile writers (Tacitus and Mara bar Serapion) and Jewish sources (Josephus and Rabbinnic traditions), indirect and background evidence (Qumran, Galilee, Holy Men, Freedom Fighters, The 'man in the street' and the distinctiveness of Jesus). In the second chapter, he shows how early Christian materials outside the New Testament give additional information about Jesus. Supportive evidence is provided by sources like Egerton Papyrus 2, Oxrhynchus Papyri I, The Nag Hammadi Library, Agrapha, The Protevangelium of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Peter and a 'Secret Gospel of Mark'. The author's forceful argument is that some of these extra biblical materials must have been preserved genuine traditions of the historical Jesus. His lengthy discussion of the evidence of the New Testament shows that it contains the most direct or explicit for Jesus. In spite of the criticism from the critics, France concludes this section by observing that any responsible reconstruction of the real Jesus is based on the four Gospels.
Even though France limits the archaeological evidence to things, one appreciates the nature of the society in which Jesus lived even though the evidence is indirect. The end of the book follows the trend of reinforcing the human reality of Jesus by removing the layer of tradition, a response to Docetism. His cautious advice is to avoid two extremes of assuming that all one has traditionally believed about Jesus corresponds to historical reality and that of the over-enthusiastic iconoclasm which distrusts New Testament evidence. France's text is a brilliant response to critics of the Gospels and an invaluable resource for those who intend to defend their reliability.
The database of the American Theological Library Association at West Africa Theological Seminary in Lagos reveals the importance and relevance of the text. Although there is presently no access to the full texts, this catalogue shows torrents of ink by biblical scholars on the evidence of Jesus. It is incredible to note from the afore-mentioned database that France's text, The Evidence for Jesus, has been extensively reviewed by countless scholars such as Jurgens (1990) in Reformed Review, 44:79-80, Skinnon (1990) in CBRF Journal, 12:63, Burnside (1988) in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 40: 186-187, Fairchild (1988) in Journal of Evangelical Theological Society, 23:119-120, Grace Theological Journal, 9:148-149, Belleville (1987) in Eternity, 38(9): 52-53, Drane (1987) in Evangelical Quarterly 59 (3): 266-268, Spanner (1987) in Churchman, 101 (2): 163-164, Bush (1987) in South Western Journal of Theology, 30:60-61 and Martin (1987) in Reformed Journal 37:24. These reviews show the importance of issues discussed in the text.
The notes and index manifest the high degree of research and cautious attempt to present and explain, with supportive evidence, controversial issues. Reference to other scholars gives the reader an opportunity to interact with the authorities in specific fields.
A major weakness is that France did not lengthily discuss the evidence of the New Testament outside the Gospels that he identified. Since he realistically observes that Paul's letters constitute our earliest written witness to what first-century Christians believed about Jesus, it is necessary for France to have extensively discussed these letters. This he failed to do although he summarises the material he uses as supportive evidence. Furthermore, one wonders why his discussion did not start with the biblical evidence since he forcefully argues that the primary evidence is that of the canonical Gospels.
The above notwithstanding, the reviewer strongly recommends this text to Christians and non-Christians since the author brilliantly succeeds in presenting the historical Jesus from his critical and objective analysis of diverse historical data ranging from archaeological evidence and non-Christian sources to Christian sources both in and out of the New Testament.
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