Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict

Product Information

Some readers may be irritated by the retro-fitting of 19th and 20th century language to a first century setting (the Twelve Disciples are referred to as the Jesus Movement’s “Politburo,” and the desired millenarian outcome as a “Dictatorship of the Peasantry,” for instance). This account of the life of Jesus is neither a historical novel nor a scholarly monograph. It represents an excellent fusion of these approaches: copious and informed material information by way of well-wrought and well-written biographical narrative. The book conveys a sharp sense of the times and places, the issues and discussions, the difficulties and possibilities. A marvelous idea on the part of Crossley and Myles—altogether well done! Crossley, J. (2022). Mary Magdalene and the Life of Judith in Life of Brian, Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, s. 156 - 169. Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus, ISSN: 1476-8690 This book moves on from the Third Quest for the historical Jesus, so focused on seeing Jesus as a great innovator within a particular cultural, religious and societal context. Seeing such portraits as romanticized and overly idealized, the interest here is on the social and economic forces that produced the Jesus movement, so that Jesus and his associates are seen as responding to the material upheavals of the time.

A work of exceptional scholarship, the greatest story ever told as told from below is more compelling than ever. I was utterly engrossed. What impresses the most, though, is in how by demystifying an epic class struggle of the past lessons of strategic relevance to struggles for liberation in the present can be drawn. Essential stuff. Dr Robert Myles of Wollaston Theological College in the University of Divinity, together with Professor James Crossley of MF Oslo, have co-authored a new book: Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict. The book, published by Zer0 Books, was officially released on 24 th February 2023. Although containing little original research, authors James Crossley and Robert J Myles have painstakingly examined many of the mainstream interpretations of the life, teachings and execution of Jesus.I will admit to being inordinately skeptical, so there are of course lots of points where I simply don't think much (read 99%) of the Gospels are historical (sorry, not even John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus). I also don't think Q existed or similar. So, of course, Crossley and Myles come to rather radically different conclusions than I would, but that is irrelevant to the quality of the volume ultimately. Even where I firmly disagree with them, their cases are still well argued and entirely plausible. I have always been partial to historical materialist understandings of Jesus, and this one as a millenarian prophet, and a failed revolution (which did not bring about the theocratic dictatorship of God, or the systemic economic changes it wished) is, I will say, the most convincing I have read. This combination produced a millenarianism that was both ideologically focused on right behaviours, and adroitly pragmatic enough to embark on a sustained “mission to the rich” to swell its numbers and financing. Crossley, J. (2022). John Ball and the 1381 English Uprising: From Rebellion to Revolutions, Religion in Rebellions, Revolutions, and Social Movements,, s. 71 - 88. Routledge, ISBN: 9781003177821 We are part of the pro-democracy media contesting the vast right-wing media propaganda ecosystem brainwashing tens of millions and putting democracy at risk. There needs to be more study, not of history as a science, but of the genres of historical writing and their way of asserting the truth, or, rather what truth they mean to assert. It is often the message rather than the details of the story which is important and, therefore, inspired. Several times, Watson uses as an example the hat worn by Napoleon at Waterloo. What is important from the biblical point of view is not which hat he wore, but what the author wishes to convey by mentioning it, nor whether skeletons rose from their tombs at the death of Jesus (Matthew 27.52) rather than the message that this conveys.

His research and teaching interests can be put into two broad categories: historical Jesus, Christian origins and Judaism in the first century; politics, religion, and reception history. He has supervised and welcomes PhD students in both areas. There are more updates to come in the lead up to the book’s release next year. In the meantime, I include the book’s cover art (above), blurb, and Table of Contents to pique your interest: Crossley and Myles locate Jesus’s class position as that of a tektōn, an ancient Greek noun meaning craftsman or carpenter. Being born and raised in this artisan rural working stratum, Jesus and his immediate family would have felt the full force of the economic dislocations and displacements caused by the massive Herodian building schemes at Sepphoris and Tiberias.We are not neutral. Our mission is to be a voice for truth, democracy, the environment, and socialism. We believe in people before profits. So, we take sides. Yours! Sometimes, Crossley and Myles try too hard in their debunking mission. The claims of hyper or “servant” masculinity and the downgrading of the Movement’s radical inclusion of women needs far more substance to stand up than they provide here.

This combination produced a millenarianism that was both ideologically focused on right behaviors, and adroitly pragmatic enough to embark on a sustained “mission to the rich” to swell its numbers and financing. Two of our most capable Marxist biblical interpreters offer a historical materialist life of Jesus, grounded in the social and material forces of Jesus’ age rather than on efforts to read Jesus’ mind. Precise, clear, accessible, and important. I can think of no better introduction to the historical Jesus for the general reader, no clearer statement on the legacy of the Jesus movement in the sweep of subsequent history, or a more worthy challenge to contemporary scholarship on Jesus and the rise of Christianity.They have found most to be wanting, if not serious distortions predicated upon the writers’ own contemporary class interests, including revered Biblical scholars such as E.P. Sanders. Crossley and Myles have recaptured the mind-blowing excitement generated by the original quest to distinguish the Jesus of history behind the myth.” – Deane Galbraith, Lecturer in Religion, University of Otago TWO books about the historical Jesus, taking diametrically opposed positions. The former is written by a distinguished Christian scholar, formerly Director of the prestigious Farmington Institute for Christian Studies, and seeks to show that the Gospel accounts are basically historically reliable. The latter is written from a Marxist viewpoint, presenting Jesus not as “a Great Man of history”, but as a religious organiser, formed by and emerging from the peasantry of Galilee and Judaea, the vanguard of a new political party with its own politburo, a dictatorship to serve the interests of the non-elite peasantry, but also with a mission to the rich.

For some in Galilee, these grandiose projects, constructed in part to solidify the status of the comprador bourgeoisie of their day, resulted in great wealth and an enhanced social standing.

eBook Details

They have found most to be wanting, if not serious distortions predicated upon the writers’ own contemporary class interests, including revered Biblical scholars such as EP Sanders. Crossley and Myles have recaptured the mind-blowing excitement generated by the original quest to distinguish the Jesus of history behind the myth. Although Jesus scholarship has struggled to let go of the fantasy of a man who dropped from the sky, this book places Jesus firmly on his feet, a product of his agrarian class and imperial repression. Crossley and Myles have found Jesus: in the Galilean dirt under his fingernails. Jesus: A Life in Class Conflict provides an important refocusing and reprioritizing of earlier Scriptural studies as seen through the lens of historical materialist analysis. This volume greatly accomplishes such a task, and does so in a thoroughly compelling way. Of all the Marxist works I have read on the origins of Christianity and on Jesus (Machovec, Kautsky, Kalthoff, Lenzman, Kryvelev, Robertson, Mongar, Chiakulas, etc.) this is perhaps the most fully engrained, and truly Marxist (historical materialist) analysis of Jesus and his life, and, personally, I think that as far as biographies of Jesus are concerned this is probably the best they can get.