Archive for the ‘Jesus Dynasty News’ Category

The Jesus Dynasty has been published recently in three additional languages, Czech, Slovakian and Spanish. The Czech publisher is Knizni Klub, while the Slovakian publisher is Ikar. The Spanish version is published by Editorial Planeta, the largest Spanish publisher in the world. These latest three make a total of eleven foreign language editions: previously, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Portuguese (separate editions in Portugal and Brazil) and Indonesian, with another dozen or so still to go. There is also a separate UK edition published by HarperCollins. I have offered details on most of these editions in previous entries on this Blog.

I have been quite pleased with my foreign publishers. The foreign editions have been done by highly qualified translators and marketed with intelligence and skill. Several of the translators have communicated with me directly as they were doing their work, asking questions, requesting clarifications, and offering input and suggestions. Translating concepts and even subjects that many of us find common in English, at least in the field of the academic study of religions (terms like “apocalypticism,” or the “Dead Sea Scrolls” or “Gnosticism”) can prove quite the challenge in another language. Also, the basic premise of the book, that Jesus had brothers and sisters, and that James, the eldest, took over leadership of his followers after his death, is an unknown and radical thesis in some of these cultures that are dominated by standard forms of Roman Catholicism.

The Jesus Dynasty is doing quite well in all the foreign editions and has been on several of the national Best Seller lists (Germany, Italy, France). It has raised a surprising level of interest in Indonesia, which apparently has a very active evangelical Christian population. I continue to receive hundreds of e-mails from readers all over the world and the traffic on this Web site indicates a worldwide interest in the topics that are discussed. It is quite informative to hear all the varied perspectives. Most readers are positive, a very few are more negative for expressively theological reasons, but many from all sides of the issues offer insightful observations from which I continue to learn. I have been so impressed with the degree to which so many hundreds of my readers have delved into resources on the historical Jesus, voraciously reading all the major scholarly works and forming well considered views and opinions. There is, of course, much more available in English, but it is clear to me that the “Quest for the historical Jesus” has no language, geographical, or cultural boundaries. It is truly a global phenomenon.

The French version of my book, just released and titled, La véritable histoire de Jésus is drawing quite a bit of attention in France, as is the subject of the Talpiot tomb. Despite the “modest” title, which I as an author have no say in, the French translation was done by the imcomparable Bernard Cohen and probably reads better than the original English now that it is in French. He did such a masterful job. I am reading the book in French with great pleasure and it is strange to encounter it in a way that puts distance between me as the author and the expression of my basic ideas in such a lovely language.

More later, from Jerusalem…

One year ago this weekend I completed one of the most difficult tasks I have ever undertaken. I am not talking about writing my book, The Jesus Dynasty, but rather reading it aloud for the Jesus Dynasty CD version.

CD Audio versions of books have become more and more popular, but only a small number of books are actually produced in this manner. By far the majority that do make it to CD contain an opening reading by the author but few authors agree to read aloud their entire book. When Simon & Schuster first approached me with the idea of reading my book they explained to me the extreme demand such a task put on the reader, the fatigue involved, the endless editing, and the dedicated commitment involved. I learned that CD versions are always abridged, but when the oral manuscript arrived, cut down by many thousands of words, I have to admit I was amazed at the skillful job of the abridgement. I made the decision to spend three to four days in NY in the recording studios at Simon & Schuster and to give it my best.

About three hours into the process that first day I began to feel I had made the worst mistake of my life. If you take any book, much less one you have written, and try to read one single page flawlessly you will immediately experience the problem that hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. If you try another page, and another, then several dozen, for an hour or more, not only does ones voice tire (as we parents know who have read endless hours to our children!), but rather quickly one looses much of the normal ability to focus and concentrate. It also becomes almost impossible maintain proper inflection and expression.

The key to it all is a good production person. This is someone who has done this with hundreds of authors and is willing to play the role of an encouraging “slave driver” to keep one going. I was blessed with one of the best in the business. I will never forget collapsing after the first day, with maybe six or so hours of raw reading behind me, and thinking there was no way on earth I could make it back to the studio again the next morning as planned, to do it all over.

But somehow I did it. It took three days in all and the end product is six hours of recording on five CDs. And now one year later all that pain and fatigue and frustration are long forgotten and the CD version of The Jesus Dynasty is one of the things in my life of which I am most proud. The miracle of course is the producer and sound editor, who can turn all your stumbling, mispronunciations, stops and starts, and fatigue into this smooth and flawless production. When you put on the CDs you get the impression that Dr. James D. Tabor just dropped by a studio one day, sat down, and read his book aloud!

Anyway, I write this Blog mostly for my readers so I wanted to remember that time one year ago and also to recommend and commend to you the CD version of the book. It is a very different experience from reading the book itself. It is available on CDs, but also on iTunes as a download. Now a year later when I listen I have the strangest feeling about the voice and the content. I am able to listen as a listener and forget the words and voice are mine, being carried into the incredible unfolding story that I relate. I have listened to it twice now and each time I find myself so strangely moved. Not by my account per se, but by the way in which the incredible life of Jesus of Nazareth captures our hopes and dreams through the ages.

So you bought the book, now listen to the story! And yes, the film is still to come…

I begin The Jesus Dynasty, with a purposely riveting Introduction titled “A Tale of two Tombs,” I discuss the possible provenance of the controversial ossuary (bone box) that surfaced in 2002 inscribed “James son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” I remain convinced that the ossuary inscription is authentic and ancient, and that it most likely held the bones of James or Yaaqov, brother of Jesus, and leader of the early Nazarene movement following Jesus’ death. The owner of the James ossuary, Oded Golan, is being tried for forgery in Israel with the charge that he or someone he commissioned added the phrase “brother of Jesus” to an existing “James son of Joseph” ossuary to make it more valuable. He stoutly maintains his innocence and has recently produced a photo of the complete inscription that dates back to 1980 that has been certified as authentic by Kodak. There is other evidence supporting authenticity as well, but the pros and cons are nicely archived at the Biblical Archaeology Society Web site.

The question upon which I focus in that Introduction is whether we can determine which tomb this ossuary came from, and if so, what more can we learn if such a tomb turns out to be the “Jesus Family tomb.” I consider two sites, the Tomb of the Shroud, which Shimon Gibson and I examined in the summer of 2000, and the Talpiot tomb, uncovered in March, 1980 by a bulldozer clearing space for some apartments just south of Jerusalem. As it turns out, there is circumstantial evidence that might link the James ossuary to either tomb, so I discuss both.

I am pleased to report that ABCNews has put my Introduction, “A Tale of Two Tombs,” up on their Web site, so whether you have my book or not you can easily read it. It provides all the essential background on the Talpiot Tomb discovery as well as the Tomb of the Shroud, but purposely stops short in drawing any conclusions. As more evidence is developed the story will change and 2007 looks to be the year when some of these issues might be definitively resolved.

Two bits of news regarding The Jesus Dynasty:
In the UK following a prime-time special on Channel 4 that aired Christmas Eve titled “The Secret Family of Jesus,” the British edition of The Jesus Dynasty broke into the “Bestseller” ranking on the Amazon.uk Web site reaching number 16. A sample segment of the second half of the program is up on the Web on You Tube (titled “Jesus and the Rise of Christianity”).

The Jesus Dynasty in German (Die Jesus Dynastie) has climbed back on the bestseller list in Germany this opening week of 2007.

I am pleased to announce that the cover story in the current issue of Profil magazine, the national newsweekly of Austria, is titled “Die Familie Jesu.” It is a lavish ten-page discussion, with photos, that features my book and many of its main subjects, but with a particular emphasis on Mary as mother of a large Jewish family of seven children, and the implications thereof. If you read German you can follow the main features of the story in an on-line edition of the current issue, or better yet, you can pick up a copy of the magazine itself at any good international newstand. This influential magazine with a circulation of several hundred thousand surely promises to stir up some lively discusson among German readers regarding my book and its central topics as we enter the Christmas season.

I had planned to write short reports along the way this week while I have been in Europe but unfortunately I had problems with my laptop the third day of my visit here and have just now gotten it running again. It is good to be back on line. It is strange how our computer “worlds” have become so essential to us. I just downloaded about 600 e-mails that had built up over the week, many from readers of the new editions of my book in Dutch, German, and Portuguese. I am now in Vienna for three days after having visited Holland, Belgium, and Germany. So much has happened it will be impossible to relate it all, but here are a few random notes and observations from my trip as related to the reception of The Jesus Dynasty in Dutch and German.

• My first evening in Amsterdam I was able to watch live on cable from Germany the national TV show Aspekte that ran a feature story on my book. Aspekte, which runs every Friday night in Europe, is something like 20/20 or Dateline in the U.S. I had filmed in Charlotte and in Jerusalem with the producer, Frank Vorpahl, earlier this year and this was the second segment they had aired on my book. If you read German there is a summary on their Web site of the show and both programs are archived. Most interesting was the inclusion of reactions and critiques of my work with professors and students from the Catholic University at Eichstatt. As an indication of the power and influence of the media an hour or so after the broadcast the book had climbed into the top 100 ranking on Amazon.de, the German site, where it stayed most of the weekend.

• A definite highlight of this trip was the Belgium Book Fair in Antwerp, my first visit to that historic city. Unlike the world famous Frankfurt Book Fair, which is more for publishers and professionals in the book business, this fair is for the people. Only Dutch books are on display with authors who either write in Dutch or are published in Dutch in attendance. I was one of thirty authors featured. De Jezus Dynastie in Belgium is published by Manteau. Over 175 thousand people crowd into the event. It was quite amazing to see the energy and excitement evident all around. I think the Dutch, along with the Swedes and Israelis, buy more books per person than any country in the world. Authors are interviewed by professional journalists in public sessions. I had the good fortune to be assigned to Joel de Ceulaer, a writer for the weekly magazine Knack, which is something like Time or Newsweek in Belgium. The room was packed and the interview was conducted in English, a third language after French in northern Belgium. Mr. Ceulaer had carefully read my book and his questions were probing but fair and intelligent. The audience seemed quite rapt with attention and I had a chance to carry on conversations afterward. Belgium is a traditionally Catholic country but these nortern Dutch speaking citizens of Belgium are educated and enlightened, and apparently quite interested in my topic–the historical quest for Jesus. The interest in the press was extensive and I did a full day of one hour interviews with various papers. I also had time to squeeze in a visit to the world-famous Cathedral of our Lady, where three of Rubens’s most famous paintings are magnificantly displayed, including the “Assumption of Maria.” I stood a long time in front of it, awed by the obvious power of artistic expression in the service of religious imagination. In Antwerp one sees shrines to Mary on corners of buildings all over town. I could not help feeling the irony of my attempts to bring back to our historical memory an understanding of Jesus’ mother Miriam as a Jewish mother of seven children.

• In Germany and Austria The Jesus Dynasty continues to draw lots of attention and varied reactions, heralded by the extraordinary TV and press coverage. Whereever I have spoken I have emphasized the connection of my own approach to Jesus with the pioneering work of Albert Schweitzer, to whom I dedicated my book. There is an serious and thorough Blog review by Gerhard Beckmann at Die Welt website that picks up on this point. While in Munich I did a long and in depth interview with a correspondent with Die Zeit, which is arguably the most serious weekly newspaper in Germany. Here in Vienna I spent half a day with a feature writer Gerhard Hertenberger for the national magazine Profil, which is like Time in the US or Der Spiegel in Germany. Their plan is to run a nine-page cover story on Die Jesus Dynastie the first week of December. Mr. Hertenberger read me the formal responses to the book by two scholars, one Catholic, the other Protestant, that he had solicited to evaluate my book. I am honored and pleased at the serious consideration.

• Yesterday I visited the Roman ruins here in Vienna under the present street level. Here, at what is now the center of the city, was a full Roman military camp, the settlement known as Vindobona, the northern border of the Roman empire on the Danube for several centuries. The Romans under Augustus and Tiberius had finally managed to conquer the German tribes of the area. I could not help think about how Abdes Pantera had come with his cohort from Roman Syria-Palestine to Dalmatia (Croatia), not far from here, in 6 A.D. This was the height of the fighting on the German frontier. It is surley likely that during his 40 years of service he would have been at Vindobona at one time or another. He ended up in the north, on the Nahe river in Germany where he died and was buried. Among the ruins here at Vindobona were found several gravestones that reminded me of Pantera’s.

More later…

I am in Europe this week giving lectures and interviews in Holland, Belgium, Germany, and Austria. I just arrived in Amsterdam a couple of hours ago. I have not been here since 1962 when I was in H.S. in France and I came here over Easter vacation with my roommate. Amsterdam is lovely, a city of parks, museums, and deep history. The Dutch version of my book came out this week, published by Spectrum Publishers and it seems to be attracting lots of attention. It is very satisfying to me to see the book come out in Dutch, given the rich history in this country for free thinking, scientific and cultural advancement, and Enlightenment thinking. The German version continues to do well and seems to be attracting major attention. Tonight a second segment airs on the German program Aspekte, which I filmed in Israel back in June. This program is something like 60 Minutes over here and it gets carried via cable all over Europe. In fact I will be able to watch it live here in the hotel room this evening. The Austrian magazine Profil, which is like Newsweek over here, is planning a nine page story on Die Jesus Dynastie. I will be meeting their writers while in Vienna. I will be writing further reports on my trip all through next week, so stay tuned. I also plan on continuing my reponses to Dr. Jame Strange’s review of my book in Biblical Archaeology Review.

I just received word this week that The Jesus Dynasty is on the non-fiction best-seller lists in both Germany and Italy--these are the editions I have mentioned before in those languages. I am beginning to get some very interesting responses, both informally from readers as well as more formal treatments in the Press. I will be highlighting some of the queries and issues that are coming out of these venues over the next few weeks. I am scheduled to fly to Europe the first week of November to give several public talks, lectures, and interviews about the book. The Dutch publisher is bringing me over, as that edition is scheduled for release the end of this month.

I also plan to post an extensive entry on the whole idea of “The Two Messiahs” based on some of the recent work I have done with one of my graduate students who chose this as a topic of research in an advanced seminar that Dr. Michael Stone of Hebrew University is conducting this semester at UNC Charlotte. Dr. Stone, distinguished professor from Hebrew University and expert in both ancient Judaism and ancient Armenian studies is spending a year here as a visiting professor. He has brought a wonderful presence here in Charlotte within the community and among our graduate students, as well as in the larger North Carolina region with its impressive concentration of Judaic Studies expertise. In the Spring Dr. Stone will be teaching an advanced course for both undergraduates and graduates.

La Dinastia di Gesu was released in Italy on September 30th. It is published by Piemme I have already begun to hear from Italian readers. It will surely be interestlng to follow the reaction in various Roman Catholic areas of Europe, but Italy in particular. I have the impression so far that there is a great openness to historical research on Jesus even in traditionally Catholic regions.

The German edition, Die Jesus Dynastie, is the subject of a five page article, just out today, in Focus, the national newsmagazine of Germany. Along with Der Spiegel and Stern, it is one of the three such magazines in Germany, something akin to Newsweek.