Book Review: The Shadow of the Galilean by Tamice Spencer

The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form

New Testament scholar and German theologian, Gerd Thiessen writes a gripping narrative about first-century Palestine using intrigue, kidnapping, and espionage in his novel: The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form.  The reader is immediately thrust into the middle of the political and religious drama that created the backdrop for the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.

The narrative follows a Jew called Andreas who deals in fruit and grain, and who is arrested in conjunction with a demonstration against the Romans. He is questioned and given an ultimatum to be punished for his crimes or to be enlisted as a roman spy to keep those in power abreast of threats to their rule. Reluctantly, Andreas agrees to the deal and must report his findings to his Roman overseer: Metilius. Andreas is given the eventual task of discovering whether one of John the Baptist’s supposed followers, known as Jesus of Nazareth is a threat to the Romans. Andreas takes two others along with him (Timon and Malchus) to find out the answer to these questions; along the way, he meets individuals whose lives have been irreversibly affected by this Jesus.

First, Andreas meets Tholomaeus and Susanna who have lost their three sons, one of whom has left home in order to follow Jesus. Susanna believes this is a mistake and is suspicious of Jesus’ teachings saying:

"this Jesus is bad and leads people astray. He corrupts the young people. It all sounds fine: ‘Blessed are you who weep, for you will laugh.’ But what does he actually do? He makes parents weep over their lost sons. He promises that everything will change. But what actually changes? Families are destroyed because children run away from their parents." 1

Andreas goes on to meet Levi’s replacement at the tax booth and other individuals who’s perspectives on Jesus are different but equally robust.

Thiessen’s technique of articulating how different groups of people may have interpreted Jesus’ radical teachings and way of life clue the reader in on his intention. The purpose of the novel is to paint a contextual picture of the ministry of Jesus and places the gospels into a historical setting from which they should have never been divorced. This is probably one of the most compelling aspects of the work. Although Andreas is telling the story, he is not the one driving it. Thiessen has made historical facts and context the driver and Andreas serves as a proverbial passenger/ tour guide.

The characters were rich and well thought out and stories that were lifted from the gospel narratives seemed to go from two dimensional to three dimensional. Thiessen did an incredible job of bringing to light both the limited nature of Jesus’ impact in the grand scheme of things (especially where the Romans were concerned) and the breadth of impact in terms of what was left in the wake of this elusive preacher.

Conceptually, the fact that Andreas never encounters Jesus and yet is impacted by his shadow was a brilliant way to drive home the point that what can be known about Jesus can only be known in the context of testimonials and historical context. This is true for us even today; in a sense, we do the best we can in terms of New Testament scholarship with what we’ve got. This is most clearly seen in the comments Andreas makes regarding Jesus’ shadow:

"I never met Jesus in any of my travels through Galilee. I just found traces of him everywhere: anecdotes and stories, traditions and rumors. He himself remained intangible. But everything I heard of him fit together. Even quite exaggerated stories about him had a characteristic stamp. They would not have been told about anyone else this way."2

It is unclear based upon the reading whether Thiessen believes the claims of resurrection and deity of Jesus. Andreas seems to hold Jesus out as a philosopher and sage, a prophet even but it is not clear whether this is to avoid trouble or because this is his conclusion based upon his investigation. What is clear is that a student of the gospels, as well as the new testament, may very identify with this journey of Andreas. In that way, I believe Thiessen fulfills the goal of taking the reader on a historical quest using the intrigues and relatability of narrative.

While some may perceive narrative as too simplistic a way to broach this subject, there seems to be no better way for a student to take on the posture of humility in the study than to humanize the first century and its sociopolitical ideas and values. Often academia can seek to learn at the expense of respect for the time and place in question, seeking only to extract that which can be used to make a point or posit a theory.

By presenting the detail Thiessen gives the reader a glimpse into the complexity and necessity of understanding Jesus into context in a way that engages the mind and the heart. This, in my opinion, is a rare approach but not an ineffective one. In light of this, I correspondence with Dr. Kratezinger to be awkwardly placed and unnecessary. It seemed to be an odd way to establish expertise and provide notations and could have been done without. All in all, I will read this book again and again and recommend it to others. 

1.Gerd Thiessen, The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form. (Fortress Press, Minneapolis) 69.

2. Gerd Thiessen, The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form. (Fortress Press, Minneapolis) 124.

Bibliography

Theissen, Gerd. The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007.