Young Jesus: Restoring the "Lost Years" of a Social Activist and Religious Dissident »

A revolutionary look at the early life of Christ. Drawing on new evidence from the historical and archeological record, as well as insightful close readings of both the canonical and the Gnostic Gospels, Dr. Jean-Pierre Isbouts paints a fascinating portrait of Jesus as a grass-roots reformer with a social agenda who’s as much dissident as messiah. Dr. Isbouts reveals an adolescent Jesus scarred by peasant rebellion, economic repression, and the wholesale displacement of the Galilean peasantry. Using modern economic, forensic, and psychological models as well as information from Roman and Jewish documents, Isbouts shows how these horrifying conditions galvanized Christ’s mission as a social activist and religious rebel. Isbouts’s approach is sophisticated and secular, though respectful of faith, and results in a narrative of compelling interest for a wide range of readers—from scholars to skeptics to believers. A 16-page color insert with photos of historic sites, archaeological digs, and artwork enhances the text.

Publishers Weekly

The Christian scriptures have virtually nothing to say about Jesus' life as a child. According to tradition, he, like his father, was a carpenter and is often pictured living a quiet life in a woodworker's shop. This, says Isbouts (The Biblical World), is a completely false image. Relying on ancient historians such as Josephus, archeological findings of the Ancient Near East, and scripture, Isbouts shows how, after living for centuries as subsistence farmers, families like Jesus' were pitched into poverty by the taxes levied by Herod and various Roman overlords. As a result, greedy oligarchs bought up foreclosed lands, turning former landholders into indentured servants. Isbouts believes that Jesus' ministry was a response to such injustices. The other key factor in Jesus' youth is his questionable paternity, as described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The rumor of illegitimacy, says Isbouts, would have made him a pariah in his small village. Isbouts argues that like so many famous geniuses, Jesus' stressful childhood paradoxically gave him "greater freedom to observe, cope, and re-create the world "around" him. While some will quibble with the specific interpretations Isbouts puts forth, the result is a vividly moving portrait of one of the best-known but least understood people of all time. (Mar.)

Copyright 2007Reed Business Information

Foreword     v
Chronology     x
Introduction     1
The Betrothal of Mary and Joseph     25
Herod and the Birth of Jesus     45
Growing Up in Galilee     67
Revolt and Reprisals     88
Jesus and Joseph in Sepphoris     109
The Itinerant Worker and Healer     136
In the Footsteps of Jeremiah     157
A Dissident Named John     178
In the Kingdom of God     203
The Road to Jerusalem     225
Arrest and Execution     248
Epilogue     279
Notes     287
Bibliographical Sources     309
Index     316