Fantastic, fictional swoon plot
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The best fiction is based, as much as possible, in truth. Schonfield succeeded in writing an entertaining work of fiction in The Passover Plot, but unfortunately that was not his intent. This now-deceased (1988), esteemed Dead Sea Scrolls scholar sets out to prove his take on the swoon theory. To do so, he must deny Jesus' deity, death, and resurrection. The swoon theory makes the rounds every now and then, and here Schonfield attempts to build a case in the face of strong evidence to the contrary.
Schonfield is clear with regard to his beliefs concerning Jesus and the New Testament (the Gospels in particular), unlike many current authors. In the Introduction (1996 mm ed.), he tells the reader Jesus is not divine (11, 12), nor the incarnate Son of God, but was used as a crutch by the fledgling church, which needed the human embodiment of a deity (13). Schonfield claims Jesus himself would see his deification as blasphemous, but offers only conjecture of Jesus' own interpretation of the prophecies. Regarding the New Testament gospel accounts, Schonfield states they are inconsistent, late, and contain many inaccuracies. Yet he uses his own translation of the New Testament (The Original New Testament) mixed with more widely accepted translations to support his theory.
Schonfield asserts Jesus came to believe he was "the expected Messiah of Israel" (14, 16) after immersing himself in the Old Testament traditions. Jesus then plotted and schemed to fulfill the messianic prophecies, persuaded this was "imposed upon him through the demands of the Old Testament." (51) Counter to the major theme of John's gospel, Schonfield states Jesus was not and did not believe himself to be divine. However, Schonfield uses this gospel liberally in support of his assertions throughout the book. He believes the gospels themselves are corrupted legends and traditions written after A.D. 100 by a Gentile offshoot of Jesus' original Jewish followers after Josephus' works were published. We therefore have no access to the "inside story" of Jesus (218). If the gospels are so corrupt, why use them as support?
Schonfield's belief that the gospels post date 100 A.D. is misplaced. The number of attested manuscripts far exceeds any other ancient work; they exhibit remarkable internal consistency and historical reliability. Even reputable liberal scholars now admit that the whole of the New Testament was written before A.D. 70. Josephus' writings are part of the support for the A.D. 70 date. But Schonfield uses them to claim they were written after A.D. 100. In this regard, the weight of scholarly evidence is not in Schonfield's favor.
An underlying current in this book implies religion is not rational because it requires faith (57). One sees this clearly on page 58, on which the author states there was no virgin birth and Jesus was not God. But no basis is given for this claim. Rather, the old modernist position "all religion or matters of faith is myth" is employed in a reverse "God-of-the-Gaps" argument. Yet by the author's claim, Jesus was a deeply religious man convinced by his Jewish faith that he was the Messiah. This is circular reasoning. Further, Jesus had such faith in the prophecies and scriptures of his religion that he put his life on the line to fulfill them. Following this flawed line of reasoning, Schonfield picks and chooses from both Old and New Testaments to support his position. He discounts the Gospels as untrue, but turns around and quotes one (usually John) out of context to support his assertions. The overall effect is scattered.
Last is the "Plot" itself. Jesus was able to plot his way to crucifixion and "resurrection" in the form of a risky plan. He was to be secretly revived after his "death," then assume his rightful place as Messiah. In chapter 12 Schonfield describes the sequence of events surrounding the crucifixion. According to Schonfield, Jesus carefully orchestrated every event with the help of a few assistants. Jesus never intended to actually die on the cross. With exquisite timing he intended to be there no more than three or four hours. He planned to be drugged into unconsciousness briefly while someone ran to a waiting Joseph of Arimathea, who would then run to beg a supposedly agreeable Pilate to allow Jesus' body to be removed from the cross. Joseph would then run back with word of Pilate's approval to the waiting man, who would then return to Golgotha, be believed by the Roman soldiers who would promptly remove the unconscious Jesus from the cross before he suffocated to death. This theory breaks down because the process of crucifixion Jesus endured would have led to his suffocation even if everything went perfectly. The distances involved are too great, and Jesus' physical condition on the cross too deteriorated for survival. By being drugged unconscious, Jesus would suffocate quickly because he wouldn't be able to push himself up to take a breath. The unanticipated wrinkle in Jesus' plan was a Roman soldier with a spear, which he used to pierce the pericardium sac surrounding Jesus' heart, thus ensuring death prior to removal from the cross.
When Schonfield wrote this book, many were seeking a "true Jesus" as an antidote to a church they felt had not succeeded in keeping up with the shifts in cultural moods. The Passover Plot attempts to bridge the gap between old traditionalism and new post modern seekers whose questions the church was slow to answer. In the end, this book raises more questions than it answers.
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Unusual
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I understand where the other reviewers are coming from, but they are being a bit harsh. This man does not try an pass off his thoughts as anything more than they are. He has done his research, he has done some original thinking and presents some ideas that are pure speculation. He does this openly and does not pretend that they are anything more. I may not agree with everything, but I admire the earnestness and the effort and the originality. It provokes thought and that can only lead to your own deeper belief.
I found the book easy to read and well written.
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How could Jesus feel it necessary to resort to contrivance
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I will offer only one comment about this book : The obvious ignorance of the author about faith and real piety, whether he is a theologian or not. The Old Testament (Tanach) knows the great respect and awe inspired by the God of Israel in pious Jews. How could Jesus, a pious Jew, (since according to the author, he felt called to fulfill the role of Messiah), set about to deliberately fulfill the messianic prophecies ? This is totally at odds with a pious trust in God's omnipotence and action in history. But Hugh Schonfield ignores that obvious flaw in his reasoning and makes the same mistake as those who accuse evangelicals to manipulate history to create the conditions for Armaggeddon and the return of Christ, as if Evangelicals believed God needed a hand in directing history!!!
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Good book, but out of date!
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This book got some great reviews, and I decided to give it a try. It took me almost a month to read it, but now I'm done. Why did it take so long? Because the book is very slow-going and VERY predictable.
I realise that this book was written many years ago, and was speciel at that time, but at this time there are much better books out there. The book really says what every logical thinking man can figure out. If you're extremely religious, then perhaps it could rock your world, but otherwise not.
The book is very much based on speculation, and this could've been a lot better, if the author had used more footnotes(but perhaps this wasn't possible because of the speculation).This review should be seen as a reader from the new millenniums thougts on this book. It was probably good 40 years ago, but not today. Explore the market. There are better books out there.
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