Introduction

The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth early in the first century of the Common Era may seem to be the most certain thing we can know about him. But some scholars have genuine doubts that it occurred. Burton L. Mack points out that the Gospel of Thomas and the Q Gospel are texts of Jesus' earliest followers but do not mention the crucifixion. That might imply that it did not happen.[1]

Others accept the crucifixion as an actual event but disagree on the degree of reliability of the accounts in the New Testament. For the most part, E. P. Sanders affirms the Gospels' (derivatively combined) tale as given.[2] Jesus entered Jerusalem in an imitation of a prophecy of Zechariah (that of a humble man riding a donkey). He then exhibited rowdy behavior in the Jewish temple; temple guards arrested him on orders from the High Priest, who sent him to the Roman governor with a recommendation to execute.

John Dominic Crossan, on the other hand, argues that things would not have been so tidy.[3] Disturbances at the temple would likely have met a firm immediate response from soldiers of the Roman garrison. Especially during festivals, they may have had standing orders to execute -- on-site -- whenever "criminal activity" arose. Crossan believes the accounts of the Passion of Jesus represent his early followers' equating his death with that of the symbolic scapegoat based on the trespass sacrifice in Leviticus 16. (Along with an embellishment of their leader's stature.) From that point of view, it is unlikely any "common bandit" would have much of an audience with Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect of Judaea, Idumea, and Samaria.

This summary of three scholars' views on the death of Jesus gives some idea of the problem of trying to understand him in historical terms. It can be too daunting, as it involves the very substance of religious faith. But the work of such scholars provides intriguing information to consider. In what follows, I will attempt a study of the man known as John the Baptist, which will be less formidable than an exploration of the life of Jesus. I hope it may be of some help to those who have an interest in these subjects.

Notes

     1. Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q & Christian Origins (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993), pp. 138-9, 239-41, 247. Also cp. Mack, Who Wrote the New Testament? The Making of the Christian Myth (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 61, 87. One might wonder then why the Apostle Paul was mentioning it so much at the time. (As in I Corinthians 1.23 and 2.2.) It may be that when the sayings were committed to writing, his fate was so widely known (among interested parties) that there was no need to mention it. And since Roman authorities had put him to death, that would be an even better reason to keep quiet about it.
     2. E. P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus (London, New York: Allen Lane, Penguin Press, 1993), pp. 252-74. (Prophecy at Zechariah 9.9)
     3. John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992), pp. 360, 375-94.

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