Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence [Hardcover]

Craig A. Evans is Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He has written a number of books about Jesus and the New Testament at both scholarly and popular levels and appeared as a guest expert on a variety of television shows. "The goal of this book," he writes in the Preface, "is to present what I regard as the most important archaeological discoveries pertaining to Jesus of Nazareth in a way that can be accessed by non-experts."

The book contains and Introduction, five chapters and two appendices. The Introduction notes that "what archaeologists uncover is not so much proof as clarification." In terms of biblical archaeology, this means that archaeology sometimes makes a direct "correlation" between the text of the New Testament and its finds. Generally, however, what if finds works more indirectly, showing that New Testament accounts have "verisimilitude" or "resemblances to the truth." Correlation proves; versimilitude clarifies.

Chapter 1 reviews the archaeological evidence about Jesus' hometown, Nazareth. The Jesus Seminar generally and John Dominic Crossan particularly have argued that the New Testament Gospels misrepresent the historical Jesus. Instead of a Jewish Messiah and miracle worker, they conclude that Jesus was a "cynic sage." For this interpretation to work, Jesus' home life could not have been devout, and he must have been exposed to a significant Gentile presence. Unfortunately, archaeological digs in both Nazareth and Sepphoris (the nearest large city to Nazareth) make this significant Gentile presence. Both the village and the city were inhabited by Torah-observant Jews. This coheres with the Gospel portrait of Jesus himself as a Torah-observant Jew.

Chapter 2 counters the argument, made by Howard Clark Kee in the late 1990s, that synagogues arose in the aftermath of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in A.D. 70. This entails that Gospel narratives involving Jesus participating in synagogue rituals are post-hoc additions to the text, not genuine historical memories. Evans culls both literary evidence (from Josephus and Philo) and archaeological evidence from digs in the Holy Land to prove the existence of synagogues well before the fall of Jerusalem. He also shows how what evidence there is coheres with the notion of the synagogue as a place where, among other things, Jews gathered to worship God, study Scripture, and pray.

Chapter 3 surveys the available evidence on literacy in the ancient world and Roman Palestine to conclude that Jesus most likely was literate. He concludes, "The sudden emergence of a prolific literary tradition from an illiterate founder is not impossible of course, but it is less difficult to explain if Jesus were in fact literate."

Chapter 4 places Jesus' conflicts with the established religious leaders in Jerusalem in its historical context. Warning signs from the Second Temple period have been discovered that help explain Jesus' anger at the aristocratic priesthood which made it difficult for Gentiles to worship God at "the house of prayer for all nations." Moreover, archaeological digs in Jerusalem have uncovered the houses of the ruling elite, which were often large and well furnished, in comparison to those of the general populace.

Chapter 5 looks at "Jewish burial traditions" in the pre-A.D. 70 period. He shows how these widespread burial practices cohere with the Gospel accounts of Jesus' death and burial. Specifically, he counters the notion that the Romans never allowed the bodies of crucified persons to be buried by their family or friends. This lends verisimilitude to the Gospel accounts of Jesus' burial in a tomb known to his disciples and calls into the question that Jesus' body was thrown into a shallow, unmarked grave or left out to rot.

Appendix 1 refutes the contention of Simcha Jacobovici, Charles Pellegrino, and James Cameron that Jesus' family tomb (and perhaps his own ossuary) has been found in East Talpiot. Appendix 2 speculates on what Jesus may have looked like. "Jesus probably looked like most 30-year-old Jewish men in the first century," he concludes, "and we have a pretty good idea of how they looked," based on scientific reconstructions of facial characteristics from a skull as well as from Egyptian mummy portraits of the period.

On the whole, I found Evans's account to be reasonable, well-researched, and clearly written. There are no "bombshell" revelations in this book, but rather the patient reporting of decades of archaeological scholarship. Far from debunking the accounts of Jesus' life in the Gospels, this scholarship adds verisimilitude to their portraits, even correlation where discoveries warrant it.

This book may be written by a scholar, but it's clearly aimed at the general reader. Anyone can pick it up and enjoy it. And one more terrific selling point: Evans has provided lots and lots of pictures, many of them of items locked away in private collections.

It is pleasant for those of us with orthodox Christian beliefs to dwell on the last few decades of archaeological discoveries. Because--sorry minimalists!--time and again the truth has left you with egg on your faces.

David and Solomon were fictional characters, insisted the minimalists, Right up until the moment when the ninth-century BC stone tablet was found at Tel Dan.

Then "Radio carbon dating at Megiddo, Qeiyafa...confirmed the emergence of an Iron Age kingdom of David some time around 1000 BC" which left the minamalists with nothing to mutter about except the lack of any proof positive of literacy. That is, until the famous "ostracon...found at Qeiyafa" (p 2) eroded even that last bastion they clung to.

I believe you can now find minimalists living under assumed names in various university libraries, licking their wounds and generally sulking about.

Evans gives a wonderful overview of the finds in Galilee. Remember Crossan and his silly argument about a Cynic Jesus? Evans explains just how unlikely that idea now looks, in the face of all those archaeological digs in Sephoris and Nazareth.

Before 70 AD neither place shows evidence of pig bones. Instead, there are the very Jewish stone vessels and the presence of many miqvehs in Sephoris. Before 70 AD there are no coins found with pagan images. No pagan idols in any buildings. All those things only appeared after the terrible war that ended with the destruction of the temple.

For a long time, liberal scholars insisted there were no synagogues before 70 AD. It was rather hard to argue for this point, given that Josephus, Pliny, and the gospels insisted there were. But scholars like Howard Kee kept to their beliefs, in spite of logic and the evidence of Josephus, Pliny, and the gospels.

Now, of course, there is the inscription from Berenike, among other recent finds. Conveniently, Berenike has the date right there on the inscription, insisting that, sure enough, Nero helped to repair the city synagogue in 55 AD.

Another liberal theory bites the dust.

For me, the most interesting section was about literacy. Literacy is a vexed question for any scholar of ancient history. The standard book on the subject is called--what else?--'Ancient Literacy' by Harris. Harris estimates that only about 10% of the popular was literate.

Even for those who hold with this number, the situation with the Jews may have been very different.

Evans point out that "Josephus claims that Jewish children were educated and that this education included being taught to read(Ag. Ap. 1.60; 2.204)" (p 63). Also, Philo mentions sitting "down in your synagogues...reading your sacred volumes" (p 73).

In fact, there appears to have been a widespread network of scribes. Any scriptures were valued. They were kept in earthenware vessels, which could keep and protect the writings for a very long time. Evidence of the great length of time such books could keep comes from Qumram. Some of the scripture scrolls there were between 200 to 300 years old. Amazingly, the "fourth-century Codex Vaticanus was re-inked in the tenth century, which shows that it was being read and studied some 600 years after it had been produced" (p 75).

This is one book you will certainly want for your library.

Craig A. Evans picks up the challenge laid down by modern non-Christian scholarship by addressing a number of objections to the historicity of New Testament culture. "Jesus and His World" is published by Westminster John Knox Press, ISBN: 978-0664-2341-33.

Evans' style is appreciated, dealing squarely with evidence without appealing to pity or tradition as the basis from which he proposes his themes. And although dissenting scholarship is addressed, it is not done so in a negative or demeaning manner. This is an honest, forthright study of archeological insights into uniquely historical events that have rightly come under the scrutiny of some of the most respected Biblical critics.

An example of his scholarly integrity can be seen in a chapter dealing with the supposed burial chamber of Christ and His family. Although the existence of the actual burial tomb of Jesus would arguably be a boon to Christian researchers, Evans takes a cautious route, analyzing Jewish funerary customs to show how Jacobivici and Cameron stepped too far over the edge of scholarship into a garden of unjustifiable speculation.

Evans turns the process of intensive archeological processes into a narrative that is accessible to the layman. His ability to address issues like Nazarene culture in the first century is simple, straightforward and compelling.

I could see every reason for including this book on the syllabus of any apologetic course, whether offered in the pew or in a post-secondary setting. Although certainly not an exhaustive examination of every cultural argument against first century Christian origins as portrayed in the New Testament canon, Evans comprehensively addresses the most speculative of contemporary sensationalistic rebuffs of the Christian faith.

I highly recommend "Jesus and His World" by Craig A. Evans. Its engagement of serious issues with sound reasoning and evidentiary based argumentation should certainly be in investigator's win column.