ETS 2003, Atlanta, Georgia
Excavating Jesus or Inventing a Jesus?
14
that the roofs were of a lower economic class, a conclusion based largely due to the com-
plete absence of roof tiles
54
uncovered in the area. The problem of course is that in the pa-
rallel passage in Luke 5:19, Luke mentions that the man was lowered, through the tiles.
The authors reconcile these passages in the following manner:
A generation later, miles away and a social stratum higher, Luke edits Mark to read that
they lowered him through the tiles (5:19), a statement inapplicable to Capernaum, but
certainly appropriate to Luke`s more urban environment and upper-class audience, who
lived under tiled roofs.
55
Later in the same section the issue of the synagogue in Capernaum is addressed, the authors
denying the existence of a Jewish synagogue in town during the lifetime of Jesus. The prob-
lem is that Luke not only speaks of a synagogue in Capernaum, but mentions in 7:5 that a
Roman Centurion had effected the construction of it. This problem is answered in a like
manner as the first example, the authors state:
But Luke narrates events from a viewpoint outside Palestine, where Jewish diaspora
communities more clearly use this term [synagogue] for an actual structure
56
, and at a
much later period, when the classical synagogue structure was developing. Luke, re-
member was also wrong about the roofs at Capernaum, the synagogue at Nazareth, and
the scrolls read by Jesus . . . The issue of a building at Capernaum was surely incidental
to Luke, and to speak about the synagogue of Jesus at Capernaum has no archaeologi-
cal credibility.
57
The assertion is made, based on their evaluation and interpretation of the archaeological
data, that Luke erred at various points in his gospel. But what archaeological data is this? It
must be remembered that when archaeologists speak of excavating a site normally very
54
Crossan and Reed, Excavating Jesus, p. 83.
55
Ibid., p. 83-84.
56
The authors argue that references to a synagogue in the Capernaum is not a reference to a building, but rather
to the literal meaning of the word of an assembly gathered together at some location within the city.
57
Ibid., p. 91. Of course, the authors also deny that the official that is cited in Luke was actually a Roman Cen-
turion, stating that there is no archaeological evidence that Rome garrisoned any troops in the city.