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‘Jesus the Magician’ will either fascinate or annoy depending on one`s view of orthodox Christology. Yet, its scholarship, while seemingly arbitrary in spots, argues well overall. Morton Smith certainly did his homework.

The central thesis here is that Jesus` central mission was not that of ‘messiah’ or as Paul would have it, the singular Son of God sacrificed to atone for Adam`s original transgression. Rather, Smith offers up an alternative portrait that is both intriguing and elusive, that of a Palestinian ‘magician.’ Smith`s notion of a magician is one who used special skills, acquired through initiation, to affect ‘miracles,’ such as those attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, calming storms, walking on water, feeding the masses and most of all, healing the afflicted.

Jesus as magician was most effective as a healer, curing the blind, the lame, the deaf and dumb, cleansing those blighted with skin diseases. Yet, Smith argues that such ‘cures’ need to be explained and put in proper context. What Jesus ‘cured’ Smith argues is the hysteria brought about by shame and social isolation.

“Most of the miracles reported are possible, if stripped of the ‘explanations’ that make them miracles. For example, Jesus could not cast out demons; there are none. But he could and probably did quiet lunatics, and the reports of ‘casting out demons’ are merely reports of quieting lunatics (what obviously happened) with built-in demonological ‘explanations.’ “

This kind of analysis is what Smith does best. He believes Jesus was thoroughly Galilean- perhaps of mixed Phoenician background. He discounts the Bethlehem-Davidic lineage as evangelistic editing. Smith further surmises that Jesus learned his ‘magical arts’ during a stay in Egypt.

Furthermore, Smith argues that Jesus was lax with rigid adherence to the Law. He heals-‘works’-on the Sabbath, physically touches the ill and accompanies ‘sinners,’ all transgressions of ‘ritual purity’ according to the Law. As a result, Jesus earns the ire of the local Galilean ‘scribes,’ interpreters of the Mosaic Law. Smith argues that these ’scribes’ were not the Pharisees of Jerusalem. The Pharisaic movement only became a significant force within Judaism only 30 to 40 years after the Crucifixion. Smith claims that the evangelists themselves made the Scribes into Pharisees to counter the threat facing their early churches.

These interpretations are intriguing and challenging. In fact, the two appendices-‘The Pharisees in the Gospels’ and ‘Jesus Versus the Prophets’ are perhaps the most informative parts of ‘Jesus the Magician.’

Unfortunately though, the majority of ‘Jesus the Magician’ is filled with obscure and often tenuous source material. Using the over-used critiques of Celsus and Tacitus, we see a Jesus as the ‘non-Jewish’ world saw him. Yet, using more material from Jesus’ primitive-Judaic-Galilean environment would have been more convincing.

For example, Smith speculates that the ‘receiving of the Spirit’ at Jesus’ baptism was in fact an initiation rite. This is a fascinating idea but one without any primary source support. Instead, Smith uses parallel phenomena from Greek & Roman sources to help explain Jesus` initiation experience. While 1st century Palestine was no doubt heavily-influenced by Greco-Roman ideas and practices, Jesus` Galilee was still a very insular—and Jewish--- place, wary of foreign ‘pollution.’

‘Jesus the Magician’ could have been a more convincing work had Morton Smith stayed within the confines of Jesus’ Judaic faith environment. If those sources had been exhaustively analyzed, then perhaps it would be easier to accept parallels from the outside Greco-Roman world. If one can keep a healthy skepticism about Smith`s delicate speculations, then ‘Jesus the Magician’ has insights to offer the layperson interested in the historical person of Jesus of Nazareth.

This is a highly detailed book and it took me 3 months to finish it. I usually stopped after each section and re-read it at least once. It makes sense of what is presented in the edited Gospels/New Testament. My doctorate is in Mathematics and some of the courses I taught were as challenging as this read. I came across evidence of a Jewish Temple in the Nile Delta that is not on any tour guide from either Egypt or Israel and found this rather strange! My contacts in Israel declined to supply any reason for the apparent denial of the facts. Apparently there is to be one and only one "Temple" at that time. Like a math text; this can be a bit dry. It is highly structured and full of details. This is not designed for an afternoon read. I used a yellow highlighter for many important passages. The technique of using comments made by Jesus' critics was an excellent way of getting to a more fuller picture of Jesus.

A thorough analysis of presence of "magical" material in the Gospels. The end of 1st century BC and 1st century AD were permeated with magical tricks, wondering healers, all kinds of self-proclaimed magi. There is no doubt that a very substantial corpus exists in the Gospels which allows to characterize the historic Jesus as a wondering magician (at least in accordance with the social stereotypes of his time), healer and messianic guru. A really good read.

Excellent story about my dad; Tiberius.

An excellent read. Solid academically and yet an easy reading style. Aslan's *Zealot* and Ehrman's *How Jesus Became God" reflect concepts found in Smith's *Jesus the Magician*.

This is strong medicine -- yet if you know somebody who is doubting whether Jesus Christ was really a real human being, known to history as well as to legend -- then this book is the cure. Well -- sometimes the medicine seems more bitter than the disease -- but after the initial shock wears off, one can never again doubt that Jesus Christ was a real person (to whom legends have been attributed, as they are commonly attributed to all truly great persons in history). Jesus was real, and this is proved by Dr. Smith by his review of the writings of the ENEMIES of Jesus. There are a lot more than we like to admit -- and most of their writings are shocking to believers. But if a person is on the verge of disbelief in Jesus as a real, historical person, this will shock them back to reality. Jesus was hated. That's the proof that he lived.

As a historian I know some facts are hard to come by. This book sets forth various parallels of Jesus, who he was, the christian faith in the proper context and various beliefs of the time. If one is so minded to chase down some obscure texts usually only handed to ministers, this book is for you.

It brings into being various mistranslations and codifies them into an easy to understand format.

For those who are not familiar with early church history, Egyptian beliefs, Judaism, then at first glance this book may be hard to understand. this is do to it is seen through the lens of the early church verses modernistic more bias views. It's a must read for those who want to see Jesus through the same eyes as the society he lived in.

I also highly recommend the Greek Magical Papyri, Early Christian Magic, both of which are direct translation of early church works, and Jesus the Sorcerer

This book is not at all what it seems like its supposed to be about. The author is not a Christian and this book wont appeal to you if you are a believer and follower in Jesus as I am.