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Nov 02, 2007

Julie rated it:

I've been a big fan of Dominick Crossan (The Jesus Project) and Marcus Borg (Reading The Bible Again for the First Time) for a long time. Their collaboration resulted in a work that sheds an important perspective on the political climate of Jesus' trial and execution.

For instance, the procession into Jerusalem on a donkey wasn't just an act of humility or a demonstration of Old Testament prophecy fulfilled. It is set directly against the large and ceremonial return to Jerusalem by th More...

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Nov 03, 2011

Lee rated it:

Beginning with Palm Sunday and continuing through the following Sunday, resurrection day, Borg and Crossan lead us day-by-day through the events of Christianity's holy week. There are differences between the Gospel accounts, especially when it comes to John's Gospel, so the authors are at times forced to play favorites. Because Mark is the earliest Gospel, and because Mark goes out of his way to chronicle the day-by-day events of the Passion week, the authors chose Mark as their primary source.
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Apr 03, 2011

George rated it:

This is a very interesting book written by two theologian. It gives a chronology of the last week of Jesus life based primarily on the gospel of Mark. It presents the events of the week in both a religious perspective and a political perspective. In addition, Borg and Crossan make a distinction between truth and fact pointing out stories that might not be fact, but still emphasize a truth. They get away from the substitutionary atonement interpretation of the crucifixion the an interpretatio More...

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Apr 26, 2009

Katy rated it:

I read this book from an LDS perspective, knowing that some of their opinions about events in the life of Christ would differ from my own, but looking forward to the things I could learn from a scholarly analysis. That part did not disappoint. It is always interesting to learn how a different definition for a word, or a better understanding of the culture, or a commonly used literary technique, can clear up passages which were only vaguely understood before, if at all.

However, it a More...

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Apr 26, 2011

Martha rated it:

Sometimes I feel I'm only two steps ahead of my kids (and that lead is slipping), and with the Easter Triduum coming up, this book prepared me for their questions.

Beyond the day-by-day explanation of why Jesus did some seemingly-random things in order to fulfill the various scriptures, the authors explained several incidents I never understood.
- The book of Mark uses "frames" to hold two seemingly dissimilar events to make the story stronger. (See "Monday" a More...

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Feb 23, 2009

Diane rated it:

The authors focus on historically-based insights into the political and religious situation at the time of the original Holy Week, which lend additional insight to the Gospel narrative construction and content. Believers rarely get such a good sense of what it might have been like 'on the ground' during that momentous week--these authors supply that.

Using verse-by-verse analysis primarily of the Gospel of Mark, they end the book with the conclusion that Christianity must give equal w More...

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Apr 17, 2008

Warren rated it:

Actually re-reading - this is an excellent day-by-day (and in the case of Good Friday, almost hour-by-hour) exploration of the last days of Jesus, with attention to the political and social significance of the reported actions he took and things he reportedly said, and what people wrote about these actions and words later.

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Apr 14, 2009

Matt rated it:

This is Borg and Crossan's finest collaboration. They start with a description of two entries into Jerusalem: Pilate's in pomp and power, and Jesus' in humility. Which procession, Borg and Crossan ask, would we find ourselves in? Do we stand with the oppressive power of Empire? Or do we stand with the healing and inclusive power of Jesus?

After this intro, they take us day by day through Mark's account of Holy Week. There discussions are always challenging, insightful, and refreshing. More...

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May 03, 2011

Nikki rated it:

This was the book chosen for my church's Lenten study group, which I was unable to attend because of work. I would really have liked the chance to discuss it in a group; now I have to wait till my other family members have read it, I guess.

This is not my first reading of Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Whether I've mellowed or they have improved in their ability to get their points across, I'm not sure, but I liked them better this time around, especially Borg. (I've had an oppor More...

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Sep 24, 2009

Bob rated it:

Borg and Crossan offer a thought-provoking alternative to the pious blather that surrounded (and still surrounds) Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." Grounded in sound scholarship, "The Last Week" reminds that Jesus was a profoundly political presence in Judea -- not, of course, in the way that we think of politics, but in his embrace of the poor and his challenge of Roman authority. The authors run the risk of minimizing or ignoring altogether what I would call the per More...

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Apr 15, 2008

Tiffany rated it:

Interesting walk through Jesus' last week before his execution. Rich with cultural and political explainations and comparison with the account as told by Mark.

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Jan 20, 2009

Paul rated it:

Disappointing. The book vascilated between prophecy and accuracy. Not too much scientific research went into this book. I was expecting somethin else

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Mar 20, 2008

Elizabeth rated it:

Puts Holy Week strongly in a historical context while clarifying the theological roots of Mark's Gospel.

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Feb 05, 2009

Heather rated it:

This book discusses the last week of Jesus's life, organized by day in a way that makes me think that the authors were thinking of those readers who might want to make this book a daily reading during Lent or Holy Week (depending on how quickly they read).

It considers the historical underpinnings of the story as told by Mark, and the implications of the story for modern readers, in a way that will be most friendly to progressive Christians comfortable with a reading of the gospels More...

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Nov 22, 2011

Nelson rated it:

Marcus Borg and John Crossan enabled me to look at the gospel of Mark again with a new appreciation for the historical context of Christ's passion. They cover the week leading up to the crucifixion in detail from Palm Sunday through to the resurrection.

Mark is the best gospel to try and identify the 'historical' Jesus because scholars have long known it to be the oldest of the four. Jesus ministry on Earth was just what you would expect reading the gospel: helping the disenfranchise More...

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Apr 04, 2010

Amalia rated it:

I read this book as our Lenten small group reading for church and had the opportunity to talk through each chapter on a weekly basis. I've long enjoyed the Biblical scholarship of Marcus Borg because of his emphasis on Jesus as a social revolutionary, and this view of the Last Week is no different in underlying premise. The gift that this book brought to me is that it moves through the focus on Christ's death and resurrection from the strict perspective of atonement for each of our sins; I've More...

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Oct 22, 2007

Chanita.Shannon marked it as to-read

Borg and Crossan 'retell a story everyone thinks they know too well and most do not seem to know at all.' So doing, they offer an alternative passion of the Christ, the primary feature of which is not suffering (Latin passio) but passion understood Anglophonically as "consuming interest, dedicated enthusiasm, or concentrated commitment." Jesus' passion was the kingdom of God declared in terms of God's justice, they say, and the fact that such declaration was seen, despite Jesus' nonvio More...

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Feb 01, 2011

Becca rated it:

Non-literalist theologians discuss the last week in Jesus' life in its historical context, and shed some light on other ways of interpreting the meaning of the events surrounding Jesus' death. Nothing earth-shattering for a seasoned theologian, but so deeply a part of my understanding of Palm Sunday-Easter I can't tell where I stop ad Crossan and Borg begin. A very good read, accessible, well-written, respectful, and highly recommended for laypersons especially.

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Apr 07, 2010

Jeremy rated it:

This very helpful book offers a historically informed reading of Mark's passion narrative. The corrective it offers is to see Jesus as executed for nonviolently defying imperial authority, and to understand the religious leaders who executed him as collaborating with these violent forces. Borg and Crossan do not explicitly deny the historicity of the Easter narratives as much as set the question aside to deal with their theological meaning.

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Sep 10, 2008

Alicia rated it:

This was an amazing book to read about the last week of Jesus' life. One of the things that is so difficult about reading about the last week of Jesus' life is that all four gospels tell it a little differently. One of the things that this book does it help point out the differences and explain. It also points out a lot of symbolic elements of the story telling that I hadn't noticed before and connects things that Jesus said during his last week to other Jewish texts. I find this kind of inf More...

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Feb 21, 2011

Christopher rated it:

I can't praise this book or its authors enough. The book was written in large part in reaction to the Mel Gibson Jesus blood bonanza a few years back. The Last Week refocuses attention on the life, teachings, and actions of Christ rather than the gory details of his torture and death.

His life, as recorded by Mark and others, is the Passion that should inspire living discipleship.

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Jan 26, 2009

Brent rated it:

Short book, very readable, compelling message - just what you'd expect from the authors.

The book starts out with Jesus arriving in Jerusalem that last week - ordering a donkey and coming in deliberately like a king. That shows his intentions to cause a ruckus - which he definitely did.

Lots of insights regardless of your faith inclinations. Recommended.

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May 19, 2011

Jane rated it:

The Last Week focuses on the book of Mark and his account of Christ's final days and was recommended as a reflective read for Lent. The authors have a refreshing view that brings Mark's account into a contemporary logical progression, viewing Palm Sunday, the cleansing of the temple, and Christ's final words as more of an anti establishment(or anti-Roman authoritative) stance, rather than the more widely excepted humble pilgrimage to the cross. Although the insights are intriguing, I feel that More...

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Apr 29, 2011

Jarkko rated it:

This beautiful, eye-opening book finally brings Jesus's life, death, and resurrection into one: there needs not be two different Jesuses. God resurrecting Jesus confirms that the living Jesus's passion for God's kingdom and his way of living was the right message and still matters despite Good Friday's events.

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Jul 26, 2010

Tyler rated it:

The best treatment of the Easter narrative in Mark. Borg and Crossan provide a wonderful analysis of the political and social situations facing Jesus and his followers. Despite what others may say, I also find that they give a balanced and thoughtful view towards aspects of the crucifixion and resurrection.

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Apr 27, 2010

pjr8888 rated it:

i read this during "holy week" 2010. a fine, down-to-earth, and appreciated its realistically plausible walk through that eventful week and many its stirring insightful intelligent and inspiring interpretations of the reconstruction of the events.

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Apr 25, 2011

Jan rated it:

I was rereading this book for Holy Week, and it continues to inspire and teach me. It's a great look at what Jesus probably MEANT to do and say instead of the salvation theology that the church laid on him some years after the fact.

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Mar 09, 2009

Marian added it

This was a fantastic read. The authors take the week between Palm Sunday and Easter and relate it to the timeframe that Jesus lived in. Very enlightening. They interpret Mark's gospels of that last week with a historical eye.

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Jan 06, 2011

Robert rated it:

Finished in conjunction with a course conducted during Lent, 2010. Based on the Book of Mark because of Mark's almost hourly account of Easter week, the book provides what I felt was a very informative documentary of Jesus' last week. The authors level set the reader with commentary on the historical environment and the reasons why Jesus was such a threat to the secular Roman civilization as well as established religious beliefs. A "Reading and Discussion Guide" is provided at the e More...

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Mar 23, 2010

Niki rated it:

This is an interesting analysis of Mark's account of the last week of Jesus before the crucifixion. I like the thought process these author's use. They make me think. They make me a more analytical Christian

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