The Jesus Dynasty

“Many scholars have undertaken studies of Jesus and his legacy; none has dared advance the boldly provocative theses of The Jesus Dynasty.” —Bart Ehrman, New York Times–bestselling author of Misquoting Jesus

Jesus, as we know, was the son of Mary, a young woman who became pregnant before her marriage to a man named Joseph. The gospels tell us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters, all of whom probably had a different father than his. He joined a messianic movement begun by his relative John the Baptizer, whom he regarded as his teacher and a great prophet. John and Jesus together filled the roles of the Two Messiahs who were expected at the time

John and Jesus preached adherence to the Torah, or the Jewish Law. But their mission was changed dramatically when John was arrested and then killed. After Jesus was crucified by the Romans, his brother James—the “Beloved Disciple”—took over leadership of the Jesus dynasty.

James, like John and Jesus before him, didn’t believe that their movement was a new religion. It was Paul who—breaking with James and the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem—preached a message based on his own revelations, which would become Christianity.

James Tabor has studied the earliest surviving documents of Christianity for more than thirty years and has participated in important archaeological excavations in Israel. Drawing on this background, Tabor reconstructs for us the movement that sought the spiritual, social, and political redemption of the Jews, a movement led by one family. The Jesus Dynasty offers an alternative version of Christian origins, one that takes us closer than ever to Jesus and his family and followers.