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Craig Evans - Jesus and His World - Recent Discoveries - All the most important archaeological finds related to Jesus of Nazareth. Life among the dead

OK. Claremont McKenna College, Western Baptist Seminary (Portland, Oregon), Claremont Graduate University in California. Teaches New Testament at Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Author of 50 books, biography of Jesus, Jewish context of the Gospel.

http://www.craigaevans.com

In Russian: Fabricated Jesus. M.: Eksmo, 2009.

Review by Gleb Yastrebov:

A new book about the life of Jesus has been published: Craig Evans, “Fabricated Jesus: How Modern Researchers Distort the Gospels” (M.: Eksmo, 2009; trans. N. Kholmogorova). Evans is a renowned American New Testament scholar with a particular knowledge of the Jewish world and the context of the New Testament. The book's cover is littered with recommendations from superstar biblical scholars (Charlesworth, Meyer, Theisen, Dunn) but also non-biblical superstars (evangelical journalist Lee Strobel). This reflects the ambivalence of the book and my ambivalent impressions of it.

The book is a crusade against popular authors, scientific and non-scientific, who create images of Jesus different from those in traditional Christianity, and also deny the historical accuracy of much of the gospel material.

It is built as follows. First there is a short story about the "skeptics of the old and new schools" - Funk, Robinson, Price and Ehrman (Chapter 1). Then on the methods of historical reconstruction: Evans contrasts the methods of the majority - plurality of evidence, dissimilarity, etc. - with which he agrees, with some other approaches (chapter 2). Then in chapters 3 and 4 he trashes the authenticity of the non-canonical Gospels: the Gospel of Thomas (Syria, late 2nd century), the Gospel of Peter, the Gospel of Mary and the secret Gospel of Mark (a modern forgery). Chapter 5 is spent refuting the theory that Jesus was a Cynic, chapter 6 criticizing doubts about the reliability of the oral tradition. Evans then turns the focus from Jesus' teachings to his actions, emphasizing healings and miracles (chapter 7). In chapter 8 he defends the authenticity of the Passion accounts and addresses the testimony of Josephus. Chapter 9 challenges the now widespread theory that early Christianity was deeply diverse. In Chapter 10, Evans turns to popular laymen like Baigent and Lee, among whom he somehow includes James Tabor. Then there is a long account of Evans's own Jesus (chapter 11). The idea runs through the entire book as a leitmotif: skeptics are scientists who are not conscientious enough, often former fundamentalists who have rushed from one extreme to the other. Genuine Science produces results that confirm traditional Christianity.

What can I say about all this? Of course, Evans is not Josh McDowell or Lee Strobel: the scientific level is maintained throughout. Anyone who likes Wright's books will likely like Evans. Apologists are strongly encouraged to read: without a doubt, Evans will raise their level (if they descend to him from the heights of their empyreans). Moreover, in terms of erudition, this book will give non-specialists a lot. I think Evans is also right on a number of specific points: Jesus was an eschatological prophet and deeply immanent in Judaism; secret Mk - modern fake, etc.

On the other hand, the book does not create a completely correct impression of what is happening in science. One can literally go page by page and show how Evans simplifies the arguments and views of his opponents, and sometimes does not consider it necessary to inform the reader that his own views are not shared by many specialists.

A few examples. The spiritual odyssey of the “skeptics” is presented in an extremely simplified form. It is enough to read Ehrman’s book on theodicy to see how complex this man’s internal doubts and struggles actually are, and how they cannot be reduced to a banal disappointment in fundamentalism (by the way, Ehrman’s arguments from textual criticism are presented very crookedly). In a completely incorrect way, Funk, Robinson, Price and Ehrman are listed in one line, and an ignorant reader may have the wrong opinion that these are some kind of scientific outcasts. Price is, yes, a fringe (although his views are simply described incorrectly: far from “uncritically accepting the dubious methods and results of the Jesus Seminar,” he completely rejects them! Apparently Evans hasn’t read Price). But Robinson and Ehrman are not. Funk is described in such a way that no one would recognize him as the man who wrote the most complex works on biblical hermeneutics and largely created the American Society of Biblical Literature.

Likewise with science. Not to say anything about it, to keep silent about it, to present the opponent in the most stupid and pathetic form possible - alas, all these standard methods of apologetics are noticeable in Evans on almost every page. Even where I agree with Evans, I often cannot agree with such methods in argument. Take, for example, chapter 5: I myself have had occasion to criticize the “cynic theory,” but first we need to at least describe it correctly! Evans simplifies it to kindergarten level, doesn't mention that it comes in different varieties, doesn't mention how much it was modified by Crossan (a major target of criticism) in works like The Birth of Christianity (1999). A person who has read the recommendations on the cover will not know that one of the founders of the “cynic hypothesis” was Gerd Theisen (“Wanderradikalismus...” ZTK 70:245-271)! And the ignorant person will not know that the old arguments retold by Evans have been answered long ago: in particular, by Kloppenborg in Excavating Q (2000). How Evans knows as an undoubted fact that Jesus never saw a living Cynic in his life, one can only guess: apparently Evans is a clairvoyant. Or let's say, the Gospel of Thomas. Evans was so convinced by Nicholas Perrin's dissertation that EF relied on Tatian's Diatessaron that he wrote these results in the list of "FACTS" on the first page of the book. But Perrin’s conclusions, to put it mildly, have not yet become a scientific consensus and have been criticized by many reviewers (Shedinger - JBL 2003; Wilson - JTS 2003). In general, the chapter on EF is perhaps the weakest in the book: Evans practically does not consider the arguments of Patterson, Davis, Theisen and other scientists in favor of the early origin of EF, but retells almost exclusively the arguments of the opposite side.

In general, he too easily writes into “facts” (we read a list of them at the very beginning of the work) what has not yet been proven. Let's say, again, I'm inclined to agree that Morton Smith forged the secret Gospel of Mark. Moreover, Evans gives a gift to the reader by retelling a very interesting book by Stephen Carlson (which convinced me too). But in the end, this is not proven. To this day, scientific debates continue and conferences are held. Just three months ago this issue was debated again at the Westar Institute with presentations for and against; a little earlier - in SBL. Evans makes no mention of the correspondence between Smith and Scholem, which is very important for assessing the whole problem.

What's in the "dry residue"? If the question is whether to buy and read this book, yes, buy it; yes, read. It is useful to know the point of view of an educated person even if he is biased and does not report all the facts. Evans has a lot of information that has not yet appeared in Russian. But when reading, remember that in reality all the views criticized by Evans are much better reasoned than one might think from his presentation.

berggeist.livejournal.com/48934.html - 2009

A world-famous Bible specialist, archaeologist, expert on ancient languages and an expert on apocrypha exposes fashionable images of Jesus of Nazareth: the scandalous books of Dan Brown "The Da Vinci Code", Michael Baigent "The Jesus Papers", etc., the ideas of radical scientists, secrets The Gospels of Judas and other ancient apocrypha - the truth is much more interesting than all such “discoveries” and “sensations”!

From the book Fabricated Jesus by Craig Evans

Archeological issues

Sometimes things are a little better - there is evidence. But evidence of what? This question boggles the mind as we carefully and critically examine the claims and their “evidence” made by James Tabor in his latest book, The Jesus Dynasty: The Secret History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006) .

Let's consider a couple of his theses.

It is worth noting that Tabor is a more serious author than Michael Baigent and Dan Brown. He is a professional archaeologist and biblical scholar, properly and thoroughly educated, holding a doctorate from the University of Chicago, and now on the faculty of the University of North Carolina (Charlotte). Moreover, his book “The Jesus Dynasty” contains a lot of good material. I have no doubt that the student or scholar who seriously studies the Bible and the origins of Christianity will read it with benefit. However, I fear that non-specialists reading this book may not notice how far-fetched some of its arguments and conclusions are.

The first big problem with Tabor's book is that the father of Jesus turns out to be a Roman soldier, possibly a Jew by birth. (The idea that Jesus' conception could have been supernatural is strongly rejected by Tabor.) Tabor suggests that he has found the tomb of this soldier in Germany. He further hypothesizes that Jesus could have visited this man in the region of Sidon (on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea), which is supposedly hinted at in Mark 7:24: “And departing from there, he came into the borders of Tire and Sidon; and having entered the house, he did not want anyone to find out.” What evidence does Tabor offer us?

At the end of the 2nd century AD. A philosopher named Celsus wrote a polemical work directed against Christianity. His book is preserved in numerous quotations given in a refutation (Contra Celsum) written by Origen, a Christian biblical scholar, in the mid-3rd century AD. Among other things, Celsus wrote that Jesus lived in Egypt, where he learned magic, then, returning to Israel, amazed everyone with magical “miracles,” called himself God, and so on. Here's an interesting point: among other things, Celsus writes that Mary, the mother of Jesus, became pregnant by a Roman soldier named Panther (or Pandira). The same gossip is repeated in later rabbinic literature (for example, in the Tosefta, dating no earlier than 300 CE; see Tosefta Hullin 2.22–24). Tabor correctly points out that Panther is a real name used by Roman soldiers in the time of Jesus. He believes that a tombstone with an epitaph for a certain Panther, discovered in 1859 in Bingerbrück, Germany, may be directly related to the father of Jesus. Here's the epitaph:

Tiberius Julius Abdes Panther from Sidon, 62 years old, who served in the army for 40 years, in the 1st cohort of archers, lies here.

Tabor quite reasonably suggests that Abdes is a Latin transliteration of the Hebrew (or Aramaic) name Ebed, meaning "servant". This possibility, plus the fact that the buried soldier came from Sidon, not too far from Galilee, may well mean that he was Jewish and therefore may have known Mary. Tabor stops there and solemnly announces: “The secret of the Panther has been revealed!” But is this true? Before declaring anything "revealed", one should at least inquire into the exact dates of this Panther's life, his presence in the village where Mary lived, and the physical possibility of fathering her child in 5 or 6 BC. Naturally, Tabor has none of this - and other scientists discussing this gravestone express fair doubts.

Tabor points out that some of the church fathers took the Panther claim seriously. For example, Epiphanius (315–403) in his work Against Heresies (78.7.5) writes that Jacob Panther was the father of Joseph. Tabor believes that this confirms the historicity of the legend. Otherwise, why would Epiphanius and other church fathers seriously refute it and look for other explanations for it? However, Epiphanius and other later Christian authors simply try to refute gossip and to do this they express various assumptions - most likely having no more value than the gossip itself. Refutations of the Panther story dating back to the 4th century (or even later) give us no evidence that the Panther rumor told by Celsus has an early origin or serious basis.

In my opinion, the claim that Jesus' real father was a man named Panther (or Pandira) is related to the Christian belief that Jesus was born of a virgin (parthenos in Greek). It's just a play on words. “Panther” sounds closest to “parthenos”; moreover, this name was common among soldiers - that’s why the enemies of Christianity said that Jesus was born not from a virgin (“parthenos”), but from a soldier named Panther. Before us is just abuse, mockery. There is no archaeological evidence that there is anything serious behind it.

The second major problem with Tabor's book, in my opinion, is his desire to find the remains of Jesus. Tabor, of course, believes that Jesus died and stayed dead. He didn't rise again. Once again, as with the conception and birth of Jesus, Tabor dismisses the possibility of a miracle out of hand.

According to Tabor, Jesus' tomb was found empty because Jesus' body was taken away and buried somewhere else. This in itself is possible. Eventually, Jesus' body was placed in a tomb for criminals. He was not buried in the family tomb. The authorities could well have taken him away from there. However, Jewish burial laws allowed relatives to take the bones of the deceased within a year after death and rebury them in the family tomb. It is unlikely that Jesus' body was moved without the knowledge of his family. Recall that when Jesus' tomb was found empty, his disciples initially thought that someone had taken the body, and this caused great confusion (see John 20:13-15). If Jesus' body had been taken away and buried somewhere else, his family and disciples might have known about it - and probably would have. But they didn’t do this - because no one took the body anywhere. There simply was no second tomb.

However, Tabor is absolutely sure that the body of Jesus was transferred, and even knows where to look for it. According to him, the tomb of Jesus is located in Safed (Safed) in Galilee. How does he know this? From a legend dating back to the famous 16th century mystic Rabbi Isaac ben Luria. It turns out that Ben-Luria, a Kabbalist sage, once had a vision in which the location of the tombs of various Jewish sages and saints, including Jesus of Nazareth, was revealed to him. I doubt that any scientist will take such “proof” seriously!

It is strange that Tabor, who is ready to place such trust in the vision of a 16th-century mystic Kabbalist, refuses to trust the vision of another 1st-century Jew, Saul of Tarsus. Saul did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, and he certainly did not believe that he had risen from the dead. The empty tomb did not convince him of anything. Saul zealously and mercilessly persecuted the new “heresy.” But one day he met the resurrected Messiah. We know the end of the story. In my opinion, Saul's vision deserves more attention than Ben-Luria's. I would also suggest that Tabor think about this.

http://www.craigaevans.com

In Russian: Fabricated Jesus. M.: Eksmo, 2009.

Review by Gleb Yastrebov:

berggeist.livejournal.com/48934.html - 2009

From the book Fabricated Jesus by Craig Evans

Archeological issues

Let's consider a couple of his theses.

Tiberius Julius Abdes Panther from Sidon, 62 years old, who served in the army for 40 years, in the 1st cohort of archers, lies here.

Findings that became sensations. Secrets that, it would seem, have disappeared forever in the darkness of centuries. Craig Evans collected everything that excited minds to talk about the true meaning of all epoch-making discoveries and the world that looms behind them.

Craig Evans - Jesus and His World - Latest Discoveries - All the Most Important Archaeological Finds Related to Jesus of Nazareth

Craig Evans; [transl. from English M.I. Zavalova]. - Moscow: Eksmo, 2015. - 302 pp. - (Religious bestseller)

ISBN 978-5-699-59520-4

JESUS AND HIS WORLD

The Archaeological Evidence

Craig Evans - Jesus and His World - Recent Discoveries - Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. In the shadow of Sepphoris

Nazareth, where Jesus grew up

Visit to nearby Sepphoris
Jesus and the cities
Let's go back to Nazareth

2. Among the righteous

Religious life in the synagogue

Did synagogues exist in the time of Jesus?
Synagogues of Israel before 70 AD uh
Jesus and synagogues

3. Above the book

Reading, writing and literacy

Literacy in Late Antiquity: Archaeological Evidence
Old books as artifacts
Could Jesus read?

4. Clash with authorities

Ruling Priests and the Temple

5.Life among the dead

Jewish burial customs

How the Jews buried their dead
Burial required
Burials of the Roman era in the light of archaeology..
What was done with the bodies of executed criminals?
in the Roman world
Burial of Jesus
Summing up
Conclusion

Appendix I

Was Jesus' family crypt actually found? . .

Appendix II

What Jesus looked like

Notes
List of abbreviations
For further reading
Index of names

Craig Evans - Jesus and His World - Recent Discoveries - Introduction

If the New Testament Gospels are simply fiction and tales about a person who did not actually exist, how can we explain their verisimilitude and the fact that they contain much information about people who we know existed and about events that we know , happened? Ultimately, according to the Gospels, Jesus was condemned to crucifixion by a Roman governor named Pontius Pilate. This man is mentioned in historical sources outside the New Testament, moreover, a stone was found on which his name is inscribed. We also found the name of the Jewish high priest who condemned Jesus. It was written on an ossuary, a repository of bones. It looks like these people existed. I think the same can be said about Jesus.

This book draws on this tradition of research. Here I have not sought to prove that Jesus really lived or that he was a Jew. This book is not addressed to online skeptics who flippantly criticize Christianity without following the standards of a true researcher and scientist. Rather, it is addressed to those who want to know how modern archeology has influenced our understanding of Jesus and his environment, to those who want to know what aspects of Jesus' teachings and activities have become clearer to us thanks to archaeological discoveries.

In the first chapter I will talk about five important topics. I will talk about archaeological finds in Sepphoris, a city located just a few kilometers from the village of Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. These discoveries shed light on many aspects of life in Galilee at the time of Jesus. They also cast doubt on the fashionable hypothesis, which appeared a few years ago, according to which Jesus was a Cynic for whom Jewish ideas did not play a significant role. This hypothesis poses the question: “To what extent was Jesus a Jew?”

The second chapter is devoted to archaeological evidence and ancient inscriptions indicating the existence of synagogue buildings in the time of Jesus. Did they really exist as the Gospels claim? And if they existed, what was their function? These are important questions because the Gospels describe the synagogue as the place where Jesus teaches, preaches, and heals.

In chapter three we will continue to explore the world of Jesus and his contemporaries and try to answer the questions: to what extent were these people literate and what role did books play in this world? Who could read? What exactly were they reading? The Jesus described by the evangelists is literate and sometimes faces literate opponents. Does archaeological evidence match this picture?

Chapter 4 will focus on the people Jesus encountered and sometimes literally fought with, namely powerful priests and Roman rulers. If we want to better understand what happened to Jesus in Jerusalem, it is important for us to know who held the power at that time.

In chapter five we will look at Jewish burial customs in the light of archaeological evidence. Knowledge of these customs will help us better understand the accounts of Jesus' death and burial. They also shed light on many aspects of his teaching and ministry and explain why large crowds gathered around Jesus. The Appendix section (Appendix 1) also contains materials that, among other things, will allow us to expand our understanding of this topic. Here is an issue related to the claim of a Canadian television journalist who reported that the tomb of Jesus had been found, containing the remains of Jesus himself, his wife and his son! Is this true, and if not, then why not?

Gleb Yastrebov, biblical scholar, SFI teacher, translator, author of the books “Who was Jesus of Nazareth?”, “Introduction to Judaism”

Craig Evans

Jesus and his world. Latest discoveries

To Chief Petty Officer Gaitor Franklin

from the US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team

as a token of gratitude

Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence

Translation from English M.I. Zavalova

Cover design Petra Petrova

Preface

The purpose of this book is to present to the reader the most important, from my point of view, archaeological discoveries related to Jesus of Nazareth, and I have strived to make it accessible to non-specialists. Over the past twenty years, I have visited excavation sites, viewed them and listened to or read the opinions of archaeologists, as well as visited many excellent museums where artifacts are carefully preserved and accompanied by explanations. All this brought me great benefit. In particular I would like to highlight the Israel Museum with its Tent of Books, the British Museum in London and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. I also used a number of libraries, including the Vaughan Library at Acadia University, the Hollis Library at Harvard University, the Firestone Library at Princeton University, the Speer Library at Princeton Theological Seminary,

The Benicke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University and the famous Bodleian Library at Oxford, as well as the Sackler Papyri Collection Library there. My heartfelt gratitude goes to the patient librarians and those who welcomed me to these places.

Of all the archaeologists who have shown me historical sites and given their explanations, I especially want to mention people like Rami Arav, Gabriel Barkey, Richard Batey, Ronnie Reich, James Strange and the late Doug Edwards. (In the spring of 2009, Acadia was fortunate to host Strange and Edwards, who gave a series of memorable lectures there.) I am also grateful to Dirk Obbink, who showed me papyri from the Sackler collection and provided valuable explanations in the fall of 2009. I am equally grateful to Jane Evans, Shimon Gibson, Frank Goddio, Kurt Ravech, and Shelley Woschmann, with whom I corresponded.

I was glad when wonderful people from publishing houses SPCK And Westminster John Knox Press suggested that I write this book. I am especially grateful to Rebecca Mulhern and Philip Lowe. Many pages of this work were written during my tranquil stay at the Cistercian Abbey of Notre-Dame du Calvary in Rogersville, New Brunswick. I would like to thank Brother Graham Tushy for his hospitality and fascinating conversations about Jesus and archaeology. I am grateful to Jeremiah Johnston, Ph.D., who helped me compile the indexes for this book and also carefully read a draft of it and raised a number of important questions for me.

The book is dedicated to Chief Petty Officer Gaitor Franklin of the US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team (now retired). For 30 years, Gator risked life and limb to locate, disarm explosive materials and teach others at home and abroad to do so. His work saved countless lives.

K. Evans,

Acadia Theological College

Introduction

In an article published in a popular archaeological journal, the venerable Old Testament scholar Ron Hendel gave the following succinct definition of biblical archaeology: “Biblical archeology is devoted to finding close relationships between the texts of the Bible and the material evidence of archaeology.”1 Of course it is. If archaeologists and historians did not see these relationships between archeology and the text of the Bible, it would be impossible to talk about “biblical archaeology” at all. Of course, they find such connections, and there are many of them. This is why there are many magazines and other periodicals devoted to archeology, and many scholars writing archaeological works, not to mention countless specialist and popular books that examine the subject from different points of view.

Archaeologists and historians can also find plausibility, or “correspondence to truth”—correspondence to how things actually happened. This means that the Bible is about real people, real places, and real events. Many of these things can be confirmed with the help of archaeological finds or other ancient sources. Often archaeologists discover rather than proof, A clarifications2. When talking about a particular people, place, or important event, the Bible often gives too little detail. In this case, it is difficult for us to understand the exact meaning of the text. And now archaeologists make a discovery that allows us to understand the text much better.

Of course, sometimes archeology can prove something. Take “biblical minimalism,” for example. This is usually the name given to the position of some scholars of the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible. I mean, first of all, those scientists who claim that David and Solomon are purely literary characters, that the kingdom of Israel, founded in the 10th century BC, did not exist. BC, and that, even if it existed, it did not have such a level of literacy that would allow the stories of the lives and deeds of these kings to be recorded. Some of these scholars claim that all the narratives of the Hebrew Bible were created no earlier than the 5th century BC. e. And here it was archeology that showed that all these ideas of the supporters of “biblical minimalism” are wrong.

In 1993 and 1994, in Tel Dan (now northern Israel), during excavations led by the venerable Israeli archaeologist Abraham Biran, fragments of stones with inscriptions were found by order of the king of Syria in the 9th century BC. e. The first inscription contains the words "House of David". Most researchers believe that an inscription of this kind would hardly have been made only about a hundred years after the death of the legendary non-historical character, if he had not been a real person. In this case, could the king of Syria call a hostile dynasty “House of David” if it were not real? Unlikely. It is more logical to assume that David actually existed3.

The Minimalists retreated, but did not want to give up. Let's say David existed. But was he king, the head of a state with centralized power and a large territory, or just the leader of a small tribe? Not surprisingly, the minimalists leaned towards the latter. But their opinion will seem strange to us if we remember the location of the stone with the inscription in Tel Dan (far to the north of Judea and Jerusalem, near the disputed border between Syria and Israel). So, the minimalists were wrong again.

Archaeological excavations in the most ancient part of Jerusalem have revealed significant evidence that there was a government complex of a centralized and well-organized state. The artifacts found were dated to the 10th century BC. e., that is, the era of the reign of David and his son Solomon. Carbon dating of objects at Megiddo, Qeiyafa and other sites has shown that the Iron Age Davidic kingdom arose here around 1000 BC. e., which quite accurately corresponds to the biblical narrative. Some minimalists, unwilling to give up, began to argue that Qeiyafa was the site of an ancient settlement of the Philistines, not the Israelites. However, during archaeological excavations in Qeiyafa, no bones of pigs or dogs were found (unlike the Philistine city of Gath, where non-kosher animals were eaten), and at the same time, the remains of buildings similar to those found in Judea (but not in Philistine cities)4.

Finally, a 10th-century ostracon, an inscribed pottery shard, was recently discovered at Qeiyafa, providing compelling evidence of literacy levels sufficient to record the historical events of the kings of Judah and Israel. This finding does not prove that any parts of the books of Kings were created in that era, but it does indicate that there could have been - and, if other facts are taken into account, there were - such records on which the authors of the books of Kings relied. I don't know if minimalists will ever admit defeat, but I think most would agree that they've fallen on hard times.

I have briefly mentioned the difficulties faced by minimalist students of the Old Testament because it illustrates how dangerous it is to deny the existence or claim that something is unhistorical simply because we are dealing with ancient literature. We should remember that only 5 percent of all biblical sites have been excavated, and in most cases these were only partial excavations. And do all ancient narratives really need to be supported by archaeological evidence? If we demand archaeological evidence before we begin to trust our literary sources, we will be able to say too little about history - and not just biblical history.