ETS 2003, Atlanta, Georgia
Excavating Jesus or Inventing a Jesus?
2
A recent work that seeks to overcome these problems and present a coherent picture of
Jesus, is by the co-chair and founders of the Jesus Seminar, John Dominic Crossan, and the
lead archaeologist of the Sepphoris site in Galilee, Jonathan L. Reed.
3
In Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Text, the authors have sought do
examine the ten most important archaeological discoveries and the ten most important ex-
egetical discoveries
4
in a parallel effort to excavate the real Jesus. The ten archaeological
discoveries listed by Crossan and Reed are as follows:
1.
The ossuary of the high priest Joseph Caiaphas
2.
The inscription of the prefect Pontius Pilate
3.
The house of the apostle Peter at Capernaum
4.
The fishing boat from the Sea of Galilee
5.
The skeleton of the crucified Yehochanan
6.
Caesaria Maritima and Jerusalem: cities of Herod the Great
7.
Sepphoris and Tiberias: cities of Herod Antipas
8.
Masada and Qumran: monuments of Jewish resistance
9.
Gamla and Jodefat: first-century Jewish villages in the north
10.
Stone vessels and stepped, plastered pools: Jewish religion
5
The ten exegetical discoveries listed by Crossan and Reed are as follows:
1.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
2.
The Nag Hammadi Codices
3.
The dependence of Matthew and Luke on Mark
4.
The dependence of Matthew and Luke on the Q Gospel
5.
The dependence of John on Mark, Matthew and Luke
6.
The independence of the Gospel of Thomas from the canonical gospels
7.
The Common Sayings Tradition in the Q Gospel and the Gospel of Thomas
8.
The independence of The Teaching (Didache) from the gospels
9.
The existence of an independent source in the Gospel of Peter
10.
Papyrus codices and sacred abbreviations
6
Interestingly enough none of the 10 archaeological discoveries are all that recent
7
; and, it is
3
John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed. Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Text. (San
Francisco, California: HarperCollins, 2001).
4
Ibid., p. 1.
5
Ibid., p. 2.
6
Ibid., p. 6.