Amazon

Customer Review 
 9 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
*****Strauss is my Hero of Christion Scholarship, December 5, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Strauss Life of Jesus: From George Eliot VOLUME 1 (Paperback)

My Hero of Christian Theolgy
I have read many books about Bible and Jesus ranging from missionary works to the works of scholars such as Prof. B. Metzger. Never have I come across a Book such as Strauss' Life of Jesus. About 1000 pages (in English)of rigorous and detailed analysis of the Life of Jesus in the four Gospels without bias (as far as I can tell).It is a big loss to the humanity that Strauss not only was denied teaching positions (for which he was overqualified: knowing Hebrew, Greek, Latin as well as German and having a genius' intelligence) also his marvelous work(s) were suppressed and kept away from the humanity. I hope and pray that many more Christians will have the opportunity to read this enlightening book of Strauss and learn some of the facts about their scriptures and Faith which are kept away from the believers by the Church for millennia. (My use of millennia about one month before 2000 may sound inaccurate, how ever if we take Matthew's word that Jesus was born in the Days of Herod (not paying attention to the fact that Luke assigns birth of Jesus to the time when Quarinius was Governor of Syria which didn't take place until a decade after the death of Herod the Great(Strauss' Life of Jesus & Westminster Dictionary of the Bible))and knowing that Herod died around 4 BC. (Westminster Dictionary of the Bible) also considering the two year(from the killing of children under two year of age) stay of Jesus and His Mother and Joseph in Egypt (Only in Matthew, no other Evangelist noticed this incident including Josephus who recorded detailed life of Herod (Staruss' Life of Jesus)) before Herod died, Jesus must have been born around 6 BC so that for those faithful to Matthew (rather than Luke) true second millennium was 1994. Therefore we are already in the second millennium. TOO BAD WEE MISSED THE 2ND MILLENIAL CELEBRATIONS.)
In concluding, Strauss is a forgatton hero among Christian Scholarsip
My God Have Mercy on Strauss.

Comments
 Jack H says:

 One appreciates your faith, even fervor, for your, um, daring skepticism. One cannot argue with it -- faith is the evidence of things unseen. But, if details actually matter to you, consider that Luke is using Greek, not Latin; 'hegmoneuontos' is generally translated as 'governor', but it's not specific to the Latin title of 'Legate', the actual position of Quirinius in Syria. 'Hegmoneuontos' can be rendered as Legate or Propraetor or Procurator or Quaestor  or Praefectus, or perhaps even Censor, cf Cato the Elder. Further, Tacitus records Pontius Pilate's title in Judea as 'Procurator' (a sort of military CFO), while the Pilate Stone has it as "Prefect" -- see?

Further, the correct title for the Governor of Syria could not be legatus Augusti pro praetore, which was used only for the  senatorial provinces, and always filled by a Senator.  "Legate" as a term means a general who is a senator.  Sentius Saturninus 'governed' Syria 9-7 BC, and Josephus tells us that Quinctilius Varus succeeded him in the time of Herod.  This does not exclude Quirinius from coeval titled responsibilities in that region.  Surely you see how loosely titles can be used.

Further, one of the grand old men of archaeology, W. Ramsay, discovered several inscriptions that showed Q to be "governor" of Syria twice, at least.

Further, for at least three centuries the empire required a census about every 14 years. The date of proclamation and the date of completion are, as you might see, necessarily not the same -- it would take years. The Q census of 5-6 AD is the official announcement. The movement of peoples to their home towns would be even later. See? The first census, announced prior to Herod's death, would have been announced c. 8 BC, and completed locally as circumstances allowed. Too vague? Only to those unfamiliar with the raw data of history.

Further, Greek, like everything, can be ambiguous. Luke, here, can be fairly translated as: "This census was before that made when Quirinius was governor of Syria."

Re your dismay or glee that Dionysius the Inadequate was off by a few years, well, he was off by a few years, therefore Luke, the Bible, and Christianity are wrong and false. QED.  Hurrah.

 Bothersome, what?

 Dogma, sir or madam, bites.


 J