Boy Jesus, Joan Taylor
Boy Jesus, Joan Taylor
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Boy Jesus
Growing Up Judean in Turbulent Times

Author: Joan Taylor

Narrator: Tracy Russell

Unabridged: 12 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/11/2025

Synopsis

As a boy, Jesus was a refugee, an outsider, an immigrant in Galilee in which he grew up, and affected by horrific atrocities by the occupying Roman overlords.All this and more is explored in this scholarly but highly accessible investigation into the world of Jesus, ranging from his birth to his coming of age and beyond. Joan Taylor, a world authority on the history and literature of the first century CE, draws both on the latest archaeological findings and on the historical clues to be found within ancient texts of the period. The result is a book that brings the story of Jesus' childhood clearly and vividly to life as never before, while also pointing to the many ways in which Jesus' experiences as a child are likely to have influenced his life, attitudes, and actions as an adult.Figures, images, and further reading can be found in the audiobook companion PDF download. 

About Joan Taylor

Joan Taylor is Professor Emerita of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism, King's College London, and Honorary Professor in Biblical and Early Christian Studies, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne. Her recent books include The Essenes, the Scrolls and the Dead Sea (OUP, 2012), What Did Jesus Look Like? (Bloomsbury, 2018) and (with Helen Bond) Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples (Hodder, 2022).

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bob on May 29, 2025

This is, at first glance, the story of Jesus in his childhood, up to the age of 12 or so -- and based on inference from the four biblical Gospels. It's much more than that, however, in a formidably-researched book on his life and times then (the bibliography, footnotes and such run to about 90 pages......more

Goodreads review by David on April 05, 2025

The subtitle should be highlighted: turbulent times. Jesus's boyhood environment was characterized by extreme violence, government oppression, and great danger, especially for someone of Jesus' background and ethnicity. Nazareth was not a peaceful agrarian village, but was located right in the middl......more

Goodreads review by Falon on December 07, 2024

I was able to read this book in advance of publishing to write some reviews about it, and I found it hard to put down. The history is dense but accessible, and the challenges to some standard historical-critical interpretations of Jesus’ childhood were compelling. (Biblegateway, Churchsource, and Fa......more

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