Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography by Bruce Chilton
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think we picked this book up from a yard sale. I could tell from the beginning that it would be quite a liberal spin on the life of Jesus--the kind of thing that the fatuous Jesus Seminar would produce (Chilton worked with that ultra-liberal project). But, I thought there might be some good historical stuff to glean from this book and so pressed on. Well, there were some insights worth the read, but overall it was a sad, liberal, twist-it-to-make-it-fit-my/our-liberal-biases volume. Who came up with the title that included "intimate?" Speculative and watered-down, weak-kneed would be more appropriate. The emphasis on the Ezekiel "Chariot of God" rabbinical experience and the "person who was a person" (Chilton's translation of "Son of Man") got tiring and only served the author's intention to present Jesus as a brilliant rabbi--a young disciple of John the Baptist (??)--whose dreams of overturning the Roman rule of Palestine were prematurely squashed by a politically fearful Pilate & jealous Jewish leaders--and whose "alleged" resurrection was all a mystic vision of his deluded disciples who thought it would be a neat idea to start a new religion to carry on Jesus' teachings. What rubbish! Please, Mr. Chilton, read and mediate on this: "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." (I Cor. 15:17-19).


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