I just finished reading What Have They Done With Jesus? Beyond Strange Theories and Bad History – Why We Can Trust the Bible by Ben Witherington III. I like Ben Witherington’s stuff and I read his blog regularly.
However, I was disappointed in this book in a way. The disappointment is actually with the title. It sounds as if the book is dealing with the bizarre biblical theories that are out there in a way similar to Craig Evans’ Fabricating Jesus.
Although Witherington’s book touches on these ideas briefly (there is an appendix on James Tabor’s Jesus Dynastyand there is some great work on the Gnostic gospels), it really is a study on important figures of the New Testament. Witherington has interesting chapters on such figures as Joanna, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, Peter, the Beloved Disciple, James and Paul.
Despite my disappointment in how the title does not reflect the content, it actually is an extremely good study. Some interesting theories that Witherington promotes is that the Joanna of the Gospels is the Apostle Junia of Paul’s letters and the Beloved Disciple and author of John’s Gospel is actually Lazarus whom Jesus raised in John 11. I find this last theory very interesting and I think Witherington puts forward a very good argument.
The chapters on James the brother of Jesus is also very good. Although not strictly an apologetic book, What Have They Done With Jesus? is a great example of how scholars should piece together biblical data. I recommend this book.
Thanks for posting the reviews.
Your blog has been added to the blog-roll. Keep up the good work. Thanks
You said you found theory on the beloved disciple interesting so you might like to check out a free study that cites nothing but the scripture in an effort to shed light on this topic.
TheDiscipleWhomJesusLoved.com seeks to compare every passage of overt Biblical evidence about the unnamed “other disciple whom Jesus loved” to the facts reported in scripture about John. If one wants proof that this unnamed beloved disciple was NOT John then this is all that they need to do.
For if the Bible presents FACTS about John that are mutually exclusive with FACTS that it presents about the unnamed “other disciple” who “Jesus loved”, then those who believe the Bible must conclude that the one “Jesus loved” was not John (no matter how many non-Bible sources teach that he was) – because to conclude otherwise would leave the Bible in contradiction with itself.
The truth is there is not a single verse that would justify promoting the idea that the unnamed one whom “Jesus loved” was John. This is why, in spite of the warning of verses like Ps. 118:8, those who want to promote this man-made tradition have to rely on NON-Bible sources whenever they are challenged on this idea.
I agree that it seems unlikely that the Beloved Disciple is the Apostle John. However, Richard Baukham makes a good argument that the Beloved Disciple is John the Elder mentioned by Papias. At this point I am undecided. Thanks for your comment.
the truth about the Gnostic Gospels http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1426748967/bclid1407533218/bctid1427347561
Thanks for that link, it looks like a helpful resource.
Thanks