The Trials of Jesus
Evidence, Conclusions, and Aftermath
- Biblical Studies & Commentaries
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Published: 2024
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Publisher's Description
See the Passion narrative like you’ve never seen it before. The Gospels describe a complex chain of events from Jesus’s arrest to his crucifixion—interrogations from multiple high priests, a confrontation with Herod the Tetrarch, and finally Pontius Pilate’s unusual hesitancy leading to Jesus’s execution. The narrative raises several questions: Why was Jesus interrogated so many times? Why was he executed not by the high priests, but by the Romans? What are serious readers of Scripture to make of this narrative, central as it is to the Christian faith? Paul Barnett sheds light on the story behind the Passion, Resurrection, and the subsequent birth of the church. Barnett fills readers in on the four hundred years of history between Malachi and Matthew, setting the geopolitical stage for the very crux of salvation history. With rich context and expert storytelling, The Trials of Jesus will intrigue and enlighten scholars and everyday Christians alike.
Endorsements (7)
“With his characteristic mastery of the historical sources, clarity, and utterly compelling conclusions, Paul Barnett has produced a book that puts the trials of Jesus in their historical context, illuminating the underlying political, religious, and social elements that underpin the Gospels’ portrayals of these pivotal moments in human history. I highly recommend it as a book deserving of careful study and reflection.”
“Paul Barnett's detailed study of the historical and cultural background and the individual characters of the trial narratives is both fascinating and enlightening. The information provided by the trials serves as a window into the meaning and historical significance of the crucifixion, relating it not only to the history preceding it, but also to the history that follows it, in the birth of the church. I know of no other book that provides such a brilliant and helpful synthesis.”
“Here we have another ‘classic Barnett’: a historical investigation combined with theological considerations, a consistent focus on the biblical and relevant extrabiblical texts, and a refreshing refusal to engage with (and drown in) secondary literature. The general reader will benefit immensely from reading Barnett’s latest study of Jesus and the early church.”
“Paul Barnett is a serious and experienced scholar and ancient historian. The latter training comes to the fore in this book, which sheds clear light on the historical background to the life, trial, and death of Jesus.”
“Respected senior scholar Paul Barnett sets Jesus’s trials in an informatively wider sociopolitical context than is typical in other discussions. The book is eminently readable and finds cohesiveness in the ancient evidence.”
“This volume provides a sweeping backdrop to the context of Jesus’s ministry, arrest, and trials. Deeply informative, accessible, and fascinating, Barnett tells the story not just about Jesus, but about all of Israel’s history leading to the climactic finale of the messiah’s death.”
“Informed by a deep grasp of the history, cultural forces, and major players (political and religious) leading up to Jesus’s public appearance in the late AD 20s, this book is a gamechanger for making sense of many New Testament complexities and crosscurrents. Best of all, it accounts for how ‘a culture of hatred of Jesus’ (Barnett’s words) saw his death kick-start what became the largest religion in the world today. This is the best short book on the subject from this angle that I have ever read.”
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