Shadow of the Galilean

Gerd presents an excellent fictional representation of what it is to be a Jew during the time of Y'shua. I really don't want to give anything away, but this is a worthy fictional, yet fact-filled, read. Immerse yourself in the land of biblical Israel and see the issues at hand during Y'shua's ministry, to more fully understand the social-economic implications of His revolutionary messages. Be sure to read the after notes as well, so you can see the intensive amount of research involved in this process.

In this beautiful, interesting and easy to read narrative, imaginary characters are introduced from around the time of Jesus. In this "story" Theissen creatively allows the parties, issues, concerns, and major characters of Historical Jesus research to arrive within the storyline itself. In so doing he makes them believeable and sympathetic. This is an utterly unique way of beginning the educational journey through Jesus' history and all of the theories and personalities present. I was hooked from the first page. If you are interested in historical Jesus research I recommend this book as an interesting, unusual, and brilliant way to begin the journey.

It is told from a very interesting point of view. A person who is seeking Jesus, always one step behind, gets to see the results of Jesus' good deeds along the way. Some of them didn't quite come out as one would expect. Often, chaos fell upon the villages, resulting from the interference of Jesus. It's a different view point of Jesus and his work along the way.

In this amazing and enjoyable book, Gerd Theissen (pronounced "Tyson") allows us to experience Jesus the Galilean in a way which demonstrates the manner in which the Christian Testament came to exist. To attempt to understand Jesus is to interpret Jesus, and through the eyes of Theissen's characters we see a theoretical construct at work which is not only insightful, but also faithful to the methods of modern biblical criticism and Christian theology as a whole. I highly recommend this book for those who would like insights into the development of the Christian canon of scripture and for those who wish to better understand the Jewishness of Jesus.Pastors, lay leaders and religious educators of all types will gain invaluable information from this work. It is both scholarly and easy-to-read and it has been enjoyed and cited by educators and theologians alike.

Wow! This is a super work! Theissen takes the reader to the historical setting and depicts various aspects through the eyes of a fictional character. The main character, who is also a Galilean Jew, makes observations of political and social agendas as he unintentionally becomes submerged in the subjection of these movements. There are plenty of notes throughout the book that gives reference to the historical data that is woven in this work of art. This is a creative reconstruction of emotion and desire from a variety of perspectives in the ancient setting.