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Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Bauckham
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Category: Book
List Price: $32.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 10462
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 538
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.6 x 1.6
ISBN: 0802831621
Dewey Decimal Number: 226.067
EAN: 9780802831620
ASIN: 0802831621
Publication Date: December 15, 2006
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Book Description
This new book argues that the four Gospels are closely based on eyewitness testimony of those who knew Jesus. Noted New Testament scholar Richard Bauckham challenges the prevailing assumption that the accounts of Jesus circulated as "anonymous community traditions," asserting instead that they were transmitted in the name of the original eyewitnesses. To drive home this controversial point, Bauckham draws on internal literary evidence, study of personal names in the first century, and recent developments in the understanding of oral traditions. Jesus and the Eyewitnesses also taps into the rich resources of modern study of memory and cognitive psychology, refuting the conclusions of the form critics and calling New Testament scholarship to make a clean break with this long-dominant tradition. Finally, Bauckham challenges readers to end the classic division between the "historical Jesus" and the "Christ of faith," proposing instead the "Jesus of testimony." Sure to ignite heated debate on the precise character of the testimony about Jesus, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses will be valued by scholars, students, and all who seek to understand the origins of the Gospels.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Yay for this book July 12, 2008
Unique perspective from a scholar. He takes a topic that is written about extensively and brings a new perspective to it (the eyewitness factor). Great read!
A scholarly assessment of New Testament chronology June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book, in my opinion, will become a classic reference to counter the flurry of books in the 1900's and recent times that have attempted to discredit first century authorship of the gospels and letters that make up the canon of scripture. The author has done a marvelous job at providing a well-researched and cited assessment of the facts, using internal and external analyses of the texts themselves and extra-biblical literature. Biblical scholars and enthusiasts will come away with a renewed appreciation of the historicity and authenticity of the gospels.
 Kind of disappointed April 1, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
I heard many good things about this book, and Richard Bauckham is a terrific New Testament scholar, so I ordered it. His thesis is that the gospels are largely records of eyewitness testimony. He rejects the form critical conclusions of Bultmann and others, and argues that the gospels are more indebted to oral traditions and oral history.
He bases a lot of his views on the reliability of the early 2nd century church father Papias. Papias heard testimony from those who were with the first century Christians. He was told that the Gospel of Mark was a repository of the apostle Peter's memories. He also says that this gospel was the one with the least chronological order.
He also sees John as being the eyewitness testimony of the beloved disciple, who Bauckham takes to be John the Elder (not John the apostle, son of Zebedee).
Bauckham talks alot about the differences between personal memories and collective memories and relates this to the study of the gospels.
Bauckham also has an interesting chapter about the names in the gospels. He arrives at the dubious conclusion that Levi the tax collector in Mark's Gospel is not the same as Matthew the tax collector in Matthew's gospel, believing that the author of Matthew changed the name to apply Levi's story to a bona fide member of the Twelve apostles. Kind of strange.
It is more likely to me that Matthew changed his name from Levi to Matthew because the name "Matthew" is close to the word mathete, meaning "disciple," and Matthew wanted his name to reflect his changed status as a disciple of Jesus.
Other than that, the book was loaded with dense argumentation and analysis, and I had to really concentrate to follow the discussion. This is definitely not light reading. I recommend it to the scholarly Christian leader, but I can't see the average layperson reading it.
Much better reading is Bauchkam's book on the theology of Revelation, and his excellent commentary on 2 Peter and Jude, which is coming out again in a revised edition. I also enjoyed his book of the female witnesses of Christ - Gospel Women.
Accomplishes his goal, but tangential March 31, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Bauckham accomplished, in my opinion, his goal of demonstrating that the canonical Gospels contain eyewitness testimony and that the Gospels themselves indicate this in the same ways as Roman biographies of that period. I felt that he spent far too much time and energy though, presenting his theory as to the identity of the Gospel of John's "beloved disciple" - a point he admitted, early on, really had no bearing on recognizing eyewitness material in the NT. Also seemed to be a great deal of repitition of throughout the book. Bauckham makes some truly excellent points in this work, but he could have delivered them in a slimmer volume.
The Real Jesus January 13, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Often I come across the idea that the four Gospels are creations of the early Christians to express and justify their beliefs. The Gospels, it is said, offer no reliable access to the earthly Jesus. To question this assumption you then are chided for being a literalist.
I don't think Adam and Eve were literal people. I don't worry whether Jonah was swallowed by a big fish. But it has always mattered to me whether Jesus actually did and said the things the Gospels portray.
So I am grateful to this scholar for helping me to see the reasonableness of this position. He offers plenty of evidence to show that the four Gospels are based on eyewitness testimony, each having been written in the living memory of the events they describe. He spends most of his energy on Mark and John, and he explores the issues and the evidence in great detail.
I appreciated his understanding of testimony as something integral to all human knowing, as well as something that inherently blends observed facts with perceptive interpretation. This is what the Gospels do. I also appreciated the restraint in his presentation. These are things that are not able to be proved, so he uses the word "plausible" to describe his conclusions.
On almost every page there were names in the footnotes of scholars he disagreed with, and who likely would disagree with him. There must be a vigorous debate about these things in scholarly circles, and it seemed like I listened in on that debate in this book, or at least part of it.
There were a couple of times when it seemed like Bauckham's conclusions exceeded the evidence, but they were rare. On the whole, he presents a satisfying picture. I feel like I can trust the Gospels to tell me about the real Jesus.
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