Fatherless in Galilee: Jesus as Child of God [Paperback]

"Defending the abandoned and disdained, Jesus found the male identity that was otherwise denied him: the identity of father. This book offers a challenge to the quest of the historical Jesus, but might also be of interest to clergy interested in the roles of father and family in Jesus' time."--Sakari Hakkinen, for Religious Studies Review, July 2002 (Sakari Hakkinen )

"...challenging...stimulating book that should be recommended to all who are seriously interested in the academic study of Jesus traditions and the implications of this study for the life of the church." --Carolyn Osiek, Professor of New Testament, Catholic Theological Union (Carolyn Osiek )

In ancient Israel, being unable to specify one's father put one in a caste apart. The implications of that are here woven into the theoretical discussion of the historical Jesus, which has for the most part ignored this vital aspect of his persona. --Bruce Chilton, Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion and Executive Director of the Institute of Advanced Theology, Bard College (Bruce Chilton )

"This book offers a challenge to the quest of the historical Jesus, but might also be of interest to clergy interested in the roles of father and family in Jesus' time.--Sakari Häkkinen, Religious Studies Review, July 2002. (Sakari Häkkinen )

"His [van Aarde's brief but elegant conclusion draws one to connect this Jesus, the champion of the fatherless, abandoned, and down-trodden, as an inspiration to the 'millions of children…growing up fatherless.'" He has, after a fashion, almost produced a devotional or preaching piece as his book comes to an end." -Larry Swinford, Review of Biblical Literature

“Andries van Aarde has taken a novel approach to the to the study of the historical Jesus. Whereas most attempts to explain the historical Jesus commence with Jesus’ encounter with John the Baptist at Jordan, van Aarde argues that it is possible, even helpful, to move beyond Jesus’ baptism to his adolescence and early years to elucidate the historical figure. This book has many strengths. Foremost, it is an interesting read that offers and alternative approach to understanding the historical Jesus. Van Aarde displays his erudition in the field with his clearly sketched contours of the current quest for the historical Jesus and where his work is situated in that quest. He draws out many interesting features about the father figure Joseph and ties them together through an innovative series of links. Van Aarde marshals the evidence and the source material in such a way that he paints a coherent and plausible picture of the historical Jesus. One has to applaud van Aarde for undertaking this novel enterprise of trying to find a fresh angle on the well plowed field of historical Jesus research.” – Lincoln H. Blumell, University of Calgary, Review of Biblical Literature, March 2004

According to the earliest sources, Jesus grew up fatherless. Joseph does not appear in Paul, the Gospel of Mark, Q, or the Gospel of Thomas. Although later Christian traditions establish Joseph as Jesus' father, Joseph's role is minimal. For all intents and purposes, Jesus led the life of a fatherless child in the Gospels. In first-century Galilee, such children were marginalized and excluded from being considered "children of God." Yet Jesus' followers considered him to be just that- the child of God.

In Fatherless in Galilee, Andries van Aarde explores the stories of the fatherless child, Jesus, who called upon God as his father. He offers an explanation of the historical figure of Jesus who claimed and trusted God as his father and destroyed conventional patriarchal values by caring for fatherless children within the sociological framework of family distortion and divine alienation in Herodian Palestine. Aarde's compelling portrait adds a whole new dimension to historical Jesus scholarship, and convincingly demonstrates that being fatherless was foundational in Jesus' life and ministry.

Andries G. van Aarde is Professor of New Testament at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.