Killing Jesus

He is the most well known man ever to walk the Earth.  His first and last breaths were recorded in detail in the most printed book of all time.  But what do we know about the time between those breaths and the people he encountered?  Killing Jesus explores just that – the people Jesus encountered in his ministry along with the people and events on the Roman side that led to his crucifixion.

I have read the Bible cover to cover several times, and the Gospels recounting the life of Jesus even more times.  When starting Killing Jesus, I wasn’t sure if Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard would just be retelling what I have already read, or would be creating a textbook with insurmountable details about the life of Jesus.  I was surprised to find this book full of details both known and new, especially in terms of the Romans and church leaders.  The authors have taken care to piece together this story so that it reads like a gripping novel.

I give Killing Jesus 5 out of 5 stars.  The amount of coordination of the details and events pieced together in this book is outstanding.  As easy as this reads, it really does give the feel of a historical fiction novel, not a nonfiction biography.  I also found it interesting the authors were careful to focus on factual evidence that could be supported not only from the Bible, but other sources contemporary to the timeframe.  While the authors include references in the Afterward to more mythical religious events that could not be supported by independent sources, they included the disclaimer about their importance to Christianity and believers worldwide.

I would recommend this book to readers looking to piece together the information contained in multiple books of the Bible and other sources into one narrative about the life of Jesus.  I also recommend this to readers looking to learn more about the historical events that culminated in the crucifixion – there is a lot more behind it than a ruler who wanted to kill babies, and a ruler threatened by a rabbi’s popularity.

I chose Killing Jesus to read for Easter.  While not a part of any reading challenge or book club, I am focused on reading books themed for at least one holiday each month during 2023.  This book put me in the mindset for Easter after reading about Jesus’ life in detail.  This was a quick read for me – I finished it in 2 days.  If you’re looking for a book to pick up for Easter today, this is top of the list for me!

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What I’m Reading

• Current print book: Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng
• Current audio book: When You Trap a Tiger, Tae Keller
• Book I’m most looking forward to: Born a Crime, Trevor Noah