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Young Jesus: Restoring the "Lost Years" of a Social Activist and Religious Dissident
A revolutionary look at the early life of Christ. Drawing on new evidence from the historical and archeological record, as well as insightful close readings of both the canonical and the Gnostic Gospels, Dr. Jean-Pierre Isbouts paints a fascinating portrait of Jesus as a grass-roots reformer with a social agenda who’s as much dissident as messiah. Dr. Isbouts reveals an adolescent Jesus scarred by peasant rebellion, economic repression, and the wholesale displacement of the Galilean peasantry. Using modern economic, forensic, and psychological models as well as information from Roman and Jewish documents, Isbouts shows how these horrifying conditions galvanized Christ’s mission as a social activist and religious rebel. Isbouts’s approach is sophisticated and secular, though respectful of faith, and results in a narrative of compelling interest for a wide range of readers—from scholars to skeptics to believers. A 16-page color insert with photos of historic sites, archaeological digs, and artwork enhances the text.
- GenresHistoryChristianity
336 pages, Hardcover
First published March 4, 2008
3 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Jean-Pierre Isbouts
65 books58 followersJean-Pierre Isbouts was born in 1954. He is a humanities scholar and graduate professor in the doctoral programs at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California. He has published widely on the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, including the bestseller Biblical World: An Illustrated Atlas; Young Jesus: Restoring the "Lost Years" of a Social Activist and Religious Dissident; From Moses to Muhammed; The Shared Origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam; and The Mysteries of Jesus. An award-winning filmmaker, Isbouts has also produced Charlton Heston's Voyage Through the Bible, The Quest for Peace, and Young Jesus.
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March 13, 2021
Ordered after watching author's 'History and Archeology of the Bible' on Great Courses Plus. The 'young Jesus' is an interesting concept and the book puts in context things that were happening in Galilee at possibly the time of Jesus and explains what may have happened to Joseph and why he may not have had family responsibilities though he was the eldest child of Mary. But it's all conjecture that the author afterwards treats as fact. Also, the book tells about the subsequent life and death of Jesus that one would not expect from the book title.
June 27, 2025
SOME CREATIVE IDEAS ABOUT HOW JESUS’ EARLY BACKGROUND SHAPED HIS MINISTRY
Jean-Pierre Isbouts is a professor at Fielding Graduate University. He wrote in the Foreword to this 2008 book, “this book will attempt to show, the principal impetus for Jesus’ work as a social activist and religious dissident was his experience of growing up in Galilee at a time of an intense social and economic crisis.” (Pg. v-vi)
He explains in the Introduction, “Jesus’ childhood in Galilee wasn’t anything like the traditional image of happy years … by the time Jesus would have been old enough for his bar mitzvah, he and his parents had witnessed not one, but two violent revolts in Palestine… instigated … by farmers, crushed by the triple yoke of taxes, tithes, and tribute…. It was an experience, moreover, that not only stirred in him the seeds of social activism, but also inspired him to become a religious dissident, wholly devoted to reform Judaism from within.” (Pg. 1-2)
He explains, “Jesus, we are told in the Gospels, hailed from a small village in Galilee… Nazareth. [I]n 1st century Palestine [this] had far-reaching implications. Galilee was different from Judea… Galilee was a land of peasant farmers… these differences added up to a growing prejudice against Galileans… and this prejudice would follow Jesus whenever he strayed from his ancestral territory.” (Pg. 16)
He continues, “As far as Joseph is concerned, we do not know whether he received any form of education or not. Rabbinic sources … indicate that larger villages typically maintained a synagogue where young boys … were trained in Scripture, starting at age five or six… The main purpose of this schooling was … to expose them to the Hebrew Scriptures and the precepts of Covenant Law.” (Pg. 31-32)
He argues, “Tradition tells us that Jesus was a carpenter, which would strongly suggest that his father Joseph was a carpenter as well. The identification of Joseph as a carpenter, however, is based on the Gospel of Mark… the Greek word Mark uses… translates not as ‘carpenter’ but as ‘laborer’ or ‘worker’ … neither the Gospels [nor] the Q source… give us the impression that Jesus was a carpenter at all. On the contrary, when Jesus searches for metaphors … he uses …. the language of the field… The impression we get is that Jesus was intimately familiar with agriculture… we will therefore assume … that Joseph was a farmer.” (Pg. 33-34)
He suggests, “The Gospel literature… refers to Joseph as a ‘tektoon.’ Many scholars accept this to mean ‘(skilled) worker,’ as opposed to an unskilled day-laborer… Elsewhere in the Greek world the word ‘tektoon’ could also signify a man skilled in the working of wood. This led to the unfortunate translation … as ‘carpenter.’ … What this translation failed to take into account was that [in] Palestine … wood crops were sparse… What little workable wood that existed was … transferred to wood shops in or near Jerusalem itself, there to be worked by skilled craftsmen for the only clientele who could pay for such luxury.” (Pg. 119)
He notes, “in the Gospels Joseph disappears from view, never to be heard from again… The death of a father in ancient times was a significant event… it made the eldest son the new head of the household… we are left to speculate about what happened to Joseph.” (Pg. 125)
He contends, “I believe it is reasonable to assume that the development of Sepphoris as the preeminent administrative center in Galilee would have attracted a large number of Pharisaic professionals… I believe that only in Sepphoris could the young Jesus have found an opportunity to be educated to the extent attested in the Gospels, and that the only group willing and able to give Jesus the level of learning would have been a group of Pharisees working in Antipas’s newly built capital. Why would some of these Pharisees have taken this young boy under their wing? The answer may be that Jesus had recently lost his father…. The Pharisees, for their part, were devoted to educating the young… How Jesus would have been educated in Sepphoris is open to speculation. Perhaps he frequented the local synagogue… where his quick mind may have caught the attention of a kind Pharisaic scribe or teacher.” (Pg. 129-130)
Of Jesus’ healings, he asserts, “Jesus… rejected the idea that illness… is the by-product of sin… Jesus’ approach to healing… begins by telling his patients that they are no longer sinners… Jesus’ unorthodox strategy … provoked angry outbursts from observers…. The second phase of the healing formula is Jesus’ recurrent question, ‘Do you have faith?’… The implication is that the sick CURE THEMSELVES by placing their full and complete trust in Jesus’ words. This is borne out by a third aspect of Jesus’ healing formula: the statement ‘your faith has made you well.'" (Pg. 151-152) He speculates, “I believe there is a strong probability that Jesus was endowed with the gift of electromagnetic healing, and that he only became aware of this gift when confronted with the epidemic incidence of disease during his travels… through Lower Galilee.” (Pg. 155)
He suggests, “I believe that Jesus must have sensed a very special affinity with Jeremiah. There are obvious parallels between the Judah of the 6th century BCE and the Palestine of the 1st century CE… By forsaking social justice and true faith, Jeremiah said, the people of Israel had violated Covenant Law, and they would soon feel the wrath of the Lord. Jesus knew, of course, that the inexorable slide of Judah into moral and social depravity would end in … the capture of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the dispersal of thousands of Jews across the Babylonian Empire… The example of a charismatic man like Jeremiah rousing the people of his time… must have struck a chord with Jesus…” (Pg. 162-164)
He argues, “Jesus’ sojourn with John the Baptist could be seen as the [next] stage in his intellectual development… John’s view that Israel faced a cataclysm… is wholly in line with Old Testament prophecy… Furthermore, John’s clever use of immersion in the waters of the Jordan gave the downtrodden a tangible instrument of … individual transformation… It is this quality of John that must have resonated with Jesus. In the Baptist, Jesus had his first opportunity to observe a bona fide charismatic leader up close… [from] the Jordan rose a new man: a social activist, dedicated to transforming the people of Galilee into the nation under God they had once been.” (Pg.186-190) He summarizes, “It was all very clear to him now. Neither the Essenes, the Pharisees, nor John had held the key to the solution of Israel’s ills… The only solution, in his eyes, was to go back to the fundamental idea of Israel as a land of God.” (Pg. 213)
He points out, “it was a group of Pharisees who came to warn Jesus about the threat. ‘Get away from here… for Herod wants to kill you.’ Luke then continues… with Jesus sitting down for an amicable dinner with ‘a leader of the Pharisees’ on the Sabbath… far from being Jesus’ sworn enemies, many Pharisees would have found much in common with Jesus’ teaching, even if they took issue with his liberal interpretation of the Law.” (Pg. 231)
He admits, “The idea that Jesus believed his campaign had failed may come as a shock to some. But the Gospels… are unequivocal on the issue. Jesus had wandered tirelessly from township to village… And yet… Galilean society had NOT heeded his call. They had NOT opened their doors to the poor… Only the paupers, the vast mass of humanity, had hearkened to his words… We can imagine the depth of Jesus’ despair… But the bitterest denunciation was reserved for Capernaum, the city of Simon Peter, where Jesus has started his campaign with such high hopes. ‘And you, Capernaum… you will be told to go to HELL!’” (Pg. 231-232)
Of the scene in the Temple, he observes, “by inciting a violent demonstration in … [an] already tense situation, Jesus had provoked the entire security apparatus of the Temple and the Roman army. His angry outburst, ‘you have made it a den of thieves’---quoted from Jeremiah---was undoubtedly reported to the senior priesthood. This would have given the warrant for Jesus’ arrest even greater priority… We can only imagine Caiaphas’s reaction. The last thing the high priest needed was a repeat of last season’s protests… It had to be done quickly, before the Romans decided to intervene… destroying the sanctity of the festival in the process.” (Pg. 246-247)
This is a very thought-provoking book, that will be of great interest to anyone studying the life of Jesus.
Jean-Pierre Isbouts is a professor at Fielding Graduate University. He wrote in the Foreword to this 2008 book, “this book will attempt to show, the principal impetus for Jesus’ work as a social activist and religious dissident was his experience of growing up in Galilee at a time of an intense social and economic crisis.” (Pg. v-vi)
He explains in the Introduction, “Jesus’ childhood in Galilee wasn’t anything like the traditional image of happy years … by the time Jesus would have been old enough for his bar mitzvah, he and his parents had witnessed not one, but two violent revolts in Palestine… instigated … by farmers, crushed by the triple yoke of taxes, tithes, and tribute…. It was an experience, moreover, that not only stirred in him the seeds of social activism, but also inspired him to become a religious dissident, wholly devoted to reform Judaism from within.” (Pg. 1-2)
He explains, “Jesus, we are told in the Gospels, hailed from a small village in Galilee… Nazareth. [I]n 1st century Palestine [this] had far-reaching implications. Galilee was different from Judea… Galilee was a land of peasant farmers… these differences added up to a growing prejudice against Galileans… and this prejudice would follow Jesus whenever he strayed from his ancestral territory.” (Pg. 16)
He continues, “As far as Joseph is concerned, we do not know whether he received any form of education or not. Rabbinic sources … indicate that larger villages typically maintained a synagogue where young boys … were trained in Scripture, starting at age five or six… The main purpose of this schooling was … to expose them to the Hebrew Scriptures and the precepts of Covenant Law.” (Pg. 31-32)
He argues, “Tradition tells us that Jesus was a carpenter, which would strongly suggest that his father Joseph was a carpenter as well. The identification of Joseph as a carpenter, however, is based on the Gospel of Mark… the Greek word Mark uses… translates not as ‘carpenter’ but as ‘laborer’ or ‘worker’ … neither the Gospels [nor] the Q source… give us the impression that Jesus was a carpenter at all. On the contrary, when Jesus searches for metaphors … he uses …. the language of the field… The impression we get is that Jesus was intimately familiar with agriculture… we will therefore assume … that Joseph was a farmer.” (Pg. 33-34)
He suggests, “The Gospel literature… refers to Joseph as a ‘tektoon.’ Many scholars accept this to mean ‘(skilled) worker,’ as opposed to an unskilled day-laborer… Elsewhere in the Greek world the word ‘tektoon’ could also signify a man skilled in the working of wood. This led to the unfortunate translation … as ‘carpenter.’ … What this translation failed to take into account was that [in] Palestine … wood crops were sparse… What little workable wood that existed was … transferred to wood shops in or near Jerusalem itself, there to be worked by skilled craftsmen for the only clientele who could pay for such luxury.” (Pg. 119)
He notes, “in the Gospels Joseph disappears from view, never to be heard from again… The death of a father in ancient times was a significant event… it made the eldest son the new head of the household… we are left to speculate about what happened to Joseph.” (Pg. 125)
He contends, “I believe it is reasonable to assume that the development of Sepphoris as the preeminent administrative center in Galilee would have attracted a large number of Pharisaic professionals… I believe that only in Sepphoris could the young Jesus have found an opportunity to be educated to the extent attested in the Gospels, and that the only group willing and able to give Jesus the level of learning would have been a group of Pharisees working in Antipas’s newly built capital. Why would some of these Pharisees have taken this young boy under their wing? The answer may be that Jesus had recently lost his father…. The Pharisees, for their part, were devoted to educating the young… How Jesus would have been educated in Sepphoris is open to speculation. Perhaps he frequented the local synagogue… where his quick mind may have caught the attention of a kind Pharisaic scribe or teacher.” (Pg. 129-130)
Of Jesus’ healings, he asserts, “Jesus… rejected the idea that illness… is the by-product of sin… Jesus’ approach to healing… begins by telling his patients that they are no longer sinners… Jesus’ unorthodox strategy … provoked angry outbursts from observers…. The second phase of the healing formula is Jesus’ recurrent question, ‘Do you have faith?’… The implication is that the sick CURE THEMSELVES by placing their full and complete trust in Jesus’ words. This is borne out by a third aspect of Jesus’ healing formula: the statement ‘your faith has made you well.'" (Pg. 151-152) He speculates, “I believe there is a strong probability that Jesus was endowed with the gift of electromagnetic healing, and that he only became aware of this gift when confronted with the epidemic incidence of disease during his travels… through Lower Galilee.” (Pg. 155)
He suggests, “I believe that Jesus must have sensed a very special affinity with Jeremiah. There are obvious parallels between the Judah of the 6th century BCE and the Palestine of the 1st century CE… By forsaking social justice and true faith, Jeremiah said, the people of Israel had violated Covenant Law, and they would soon feel the wrath of the Lord. Jesus knew, of course, that the inexorable slide of Judah into moral and social depravity would end in … the capture of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the dispersal of thousands of Jews across the Babylonian Empire… The example of a charismatic man like Jeremiah rousing the people of his time… must have struck a chord with Jesus…” (Pg. 162-164)
He argues, “Jesus’ sojourn with John the Baptist could be seen as the [next] stage in his intellectual development… John’s view that Israel faced a cataclysm… is wholly in line with Old Testament prophecy… Furthermore, John’s clever use of immersion in the waters of the Jordan gave the downtrodden a tangible instrument of … individual transformation… It is this quality of John that must have resonated with Jesus. In the Baptist, Jesus had his first opportunity to observe a bona fide charismatic leader up close… [from] the Jordan rose a new man: a social activist, dedicated to transforming the people of Galilee into the nation under God they had once been.” (Pg.186-190) He summarizes, “It was all very clear to him now. Neither the Essenes, the Pharisees, nor John had held the key to the solution of Israel’s ills… The only solution, in his eyes, was to go back to the fundamental idea of Israel as a land of God.” (Pg. 213)
He points out, “it was a group of Pharisees who came to warn Jesus about the threat. ‘Get away from here… for Herod wants to kill you.’ Luke then continues… with Jesus sitting down for an amicable dinner with ‘a leader of the Pharisees’ on the Sabbath… far from being Jesus’ sworn enemies, many Pharisees would have found much in common with Jesus’ teaching, even if they took issue with his liberal interpretation of the Law.” (Pg. 231)
He admits, “The idea that Jesus believed his campaign had failed may come as a shock to some. But the Gospels… are unequivocal on the issue. Jesus had wandered tirelessly from township to village… And yet… Galilean society had NOT heeded his call. They had NOT opened their doors to the poor… Only the paupers, the vast mass of humanity, had hearkened to his words… We can imagine the depth of Jesus’ despair… But the bitterest denunciation was reserved for Capernaum, the city of Simon Peter, where Jesus has started his campaign with such high hopes. ‘And you, Capernaum… you will be told to go to HELL!’” (Pg. 231-232)
Of the scene in the Temple, he observes, “by inciting a violent demonstration in … [an] already tense situation, Jesus had provoked the entire security apparatus of the Temple and the Roman army. His angry outburst, ‘you have made it a den of thieves’---quoted from Jeremiah---was undoubtedly reported to the senior priesthood. This would have given the warrant for Jesus’ arrest even greater priority… We can only imagine Caiaphas’s reaction. The last thing the high priest needed was a repeat of last season’s protests… It had to be done quickly, before the Romans decided to intervene… destroying the sanctity of the festival in the process.” (Pg. 246-247)
This is a very thought-provoking book, that will be of great interest to anyone studying the life of Jesus.
March 11, 2009
Interesting possibilities on what the young Jesus may have been up to during those "lost" years. A lot of meaty political and social history of the time and place that certainly helps flesh out the context for the words we read in the Gospel, even if our speculation about the individual life of Jesus can only ever amount to just that...speculation. Still, it's a story and words that have helped shape history...worth speculating about for me.
November 27, 2012
A very interesting "historical Jesus" concept
Isbouts, like John Dominic Crossan, whom he cites as an important influence, tries to ground the adult Jesus in a childhood and young adulthood in multicultural, heavily Gentile Galilee.
Cognizant of historical scholarship, he starts by assuming Jesus was an illegitimate child, or was perceived as such, "overshadowings" by the Holy Spirit aside. From there, he shows how Jewish peasant farmers in Galilee, under Herodean rule, were getting squeezed ever more by taxes, such that more and more were either becoming "serfs" on landed estates, or day labor on Herodean construction projects, whether it was Herod the Great or Antipas in charge.
From this, Isbouts postulates a Jesus who followed John the Baptist for a year or so, then eventually set up shop on his own. Not apocalyptic like John, nonetheless, we are shown a Jesus who became more and more disgusted with most aspects of Sadducean priestly leadership in cahoots with the House of Herod, tnen, with Roman procurators after the exile of Archilaus.
Eventually, isbouts has him going to Jerusalem for Passover to confront the priestly establishment. However, Jesus did not see himself as the messiah, did not expect to die, and did not see that his death, if it happened, would be salvific, Isbouts continues.
However, his showdown with the moneychangers upset his applecart a bit. Isbouts places this not at the start of what Christians now call Holy Week, but on the day of Maundy Thursday. Unable to escape Jerusalem for Bethany because of the hubbub, he has to celebrate the Passover in town. He then goes to Gethsemane, not a quiet garden at this time of year, but swarmed with camping-out Passover observants with no other place to stay. Judas is needed to find Jesus in this crowd and he's arrested.
Isbouts says Jesus wouldn't have worried up to this point. He would have expected a regular trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin, and, with the support of Pharisees there, an acquittal on any priestly charges.
Of course, that's not what actually happened... Isbouts goes with the Gospels in presuming a stacked kangaroo court, a hand-off to Pilate, and no involvement by Antipas.
And, so, he is crucified.
Isbouts, even for people familiar with critical scholarship, does good not only with the speculation, but in debunking things like the romantic-bathetic Gethsemane.
But, not all is right. I believe no such person as Judas existed, due to Mark misunderstanding what Paul wrote about Jesus' arrest, in I Corinthians.
Paul's passage can be translated as, "On the night Jesus was betrayed," OR, "on the night Jesus was arrested." I believe the second is correct, and there was no "betrayer" known by Paul. Based on a misreading (I think the author of Mark was in Rome, with Latin as his first language, Greek as his second), a "betrayer" entered the picture; based on passages from Psalms 110 and elsewhere, Mark started fleshing out this betrayer.
So, if the priests didn't have a spy, and they were worried about crowd reaction, how did they capture Jesus? Back to the drawing board, Mr. Isbouts, and if you can succeed, then your book gets a fiffth star in revised edition.
Isbouts, like John Dominic Crossan, whom he cites as an important influence, tries to ground the adult Jesus in a childhood and young adulthood in multicultural, heavily Gentile Galilee.
Cognizant of historical scholarship, he starts by assuming Jesus was an illegitimate child, or was perceived as such, "overshadowings" by the Holy Spirit aside. From there, he shows how Jewish peasant farmers in Galilee, under Herodean rule, were getting squeezed ever more by taxes, such that more and more were either becoming "serfs" on landed estates, or day labor on Herodean construction projects, whether it was Herod the Great or Antipas in charge.
From this, Isbouts postulates a Jesus who followed John the Baptist for a year or so, then eventually set up shop on his own. Not apocalyptic like John, nonetheless, we are shown a Jesus who became more and more disgusted with most aspects of Sadducean priestly leadership in cahoots with the House of Herod, tnen, with Roman procurators after the exile of Archilaus.
Eventually, isbouts has him going to Jerusalem for Passover to confront the priestly establishment. However, Jesus did not see himself as the messiah, did not expect to die, and did not see that his death, if it happened, would be salvific, Isbouts continues.
However, his showdown with the moneychangers upset his applecart a bit. Isbouts places this not at the start of what Christians now call Holy Week, but on the day of Maundy Thursday. Unable to escape Jerusalem for Bethany because of the hubbub, he has to celebrate the Passover in town. He then goes to Gethsemane, not a quiet garden at this time of year, but swarmed with camping-out Passover observants with no other place to stay. Judas is needed to find Jesus in this crowd and he's arrested.
Isbouts says Jesus wouldn't have worried up to this point. He would have expected a regular trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin, and, with the support of Pharisees there, an acquittal on any priestly charges.
Of course, that's not what actually happened... Isbouts goes with the Gospels in presuming a stacked kangaroo court, a hand-off to Pilate, and no involvement by Antipas.
And, so, he is crucified.
Isbouts, even for people familiar with critical scholarship, does good not only with the speculation, but in debunking things like the romantic-bathetic Gethsemane.
But, not all is right. I believe no such person as Judas existed, due to Mark misunderstanding what Paul wrote about Jesus' arrest, in I Corinthians.
Paul's passage can be translated as, "On the night Jesus was betrayed," OR, "on the night Jesus was arrested." I believe the second is correct, and there was no "betrayer" known by Paul. Based on a misreading (I think the author of Mark was in Rome, with Latin as his first language, Greek as his second), a "betrayer" entered the picture; based on passages from Psalms 110 and elsewhere, Mark started fleshing out this betrayer.
So, if the priests didn't have a spy, and they were worried about crowd reaction, how did they capture Jesus? Back to the drawing board, Mr. Isbouts, and if you can succeed, then your book gets a fiffth star in revised edition.
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August 4, 2011As a reader and 'fan' of N.T. Wright and Richard Horsley, let me say that I appreciate a lot about this book, but there are quite a few weaknesses including far too many assumptions about what is 'factual/historical' and what he chooses to believe is made up or 'untrue.' Why should we assume that Josephus is more accurate than a first century disciple? Esp. since their readers were much closer to the action and more critical of 'facts' and source material to accuse the original writers of falsifying claims or facts...They themselves tell the reader that many of these people are still alive and can be asked about the veracity of the claims/facts after all!
If you don't like someone dismissing the virgin birth (explained as a rape by a Roman soldier that Joseph covered up to protect Mary's,and her family's, honor/reputation) then you should not read this book as it challenges many of the stories we read about Jesus. One must always be willing to wade through each authors' assumptions about what is 'historical,' but if you are willing to do so there are some gems here regarding the background and life of Jesus.
If you love understanding the life and times of Jesus and first century peoples under occupation by imperial powers, then you will like this book.
If you don't like someone dismissing the virgin birth (explained as a rape by a Roman soldier that Joseph covered up to protect Mary's,and her family's, honor/reputation) then you should not read this book as it challenges many of the stories we read about Jesus. One must always be willing to wade through each authors' assumptions about what is 'historical,' but if you are willing to do so there are some gems here regarding the background and life of Jesus.
If you love understanding the life and times of Jesus and first century peoples under occupation by imperial powers, then you will like this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews