The Case for Bethsaida After Twenty Years of Digging: Understanding the Historical Jesus

Elizabeth M. McNamer

ISBN 10: 1443890863 / ISBN 13: 9781443890861

Published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Tyne, UK, 2016

About this Item

8vo, x + 125 pp. New, unread, SIGNED on the title page by author. There is no indication of having been read. This notice is printed at the end of the Table of Contents. No price printed (or penciled). The following is stated at the end of the Table of Contents: "The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is used throughout. (Anglicized Edition), copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches.".

Seller Inventory # 1823404

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Case for Bethsaida After Twenty Years of Digging: Understanding the Historical Jesus
• Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Tyne, UK
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1443890863
• ISBN 13: 9781443890861
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: photos
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: As New
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)

About this title

Synopsis

Bethsaida, located on the Sea of Galilee, is mentioned more frequently than any other town in the New Testament except for Jerusalem and Capernaum. It was the home of Jesus’ closest friends, possibly nine of the apostles and his aunt Salome. The name means “house of fishermen”, and it was renowned as a place of healing. Many of the “mighty works” of Jesus were performed here (one text mentions fifty three). It was to Galilee that the apostles returned after his execution and here Christianity was spawned. Galilee was destroyed by an earthquake in the early second century, which had a major impact on the topography of the area. Bethsaida, originally located on the shore, was now a mile and a half from the Sea of Galilee. This made fishing impractical and the town was not rebuilt, unlike other towns associated with Jesus. It was a pile of rubble for nearly 2000 years. There are twenty-nine extant journals of pilgrims who attempted unsuccessfully to find it. In 1987, a probe by Dr Rami Arav verified that this site did go back to Roman times and beyond. It is the only archaeological site that goes directly back to the time of Jesus. Here, his words and actions come alive, and, as such, the town has to be taken into account in the search for the historical Jesus.

About the Author

Dr Elizabeth McNamer is Assistant Professor and holder of the Zarek Chair of Religious Thought at Rocky Mountain College, USA. She serves on the Board of the Bethsaida Excavation Project, and is the author of the book The First Century of Christianity in Jerusalem and several articles on archaeology and scripture. She has been featured on the History Channel and Public Television in several documentaries, including The Lost Years of Jesus: In Search of Christmas; Search for the historical Jesus; The Fifth Gospel; and The land and sea of Galilee.