Book review: 'Killing Jesus' discusses (and maybe reveals) historical details of the Crucifixion

Written by Rich Rogers

“KILLING JESUS.”  Stephen Mansfield.  2013.  Worthy.  Hardcover.  254 pages. $22.99

Stephen Mansfield has made a career of writing on issues of faith, with titles such as “The Faith of George W. Bush,” “The Faith of Barack Obama, and even “The Mormonizing of America,” as well as a critically acclaimed biography of Winston Churchill.   Here, he takes on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  (Don’t confuse this with the Bill O’Reily book of the same name.)  

Mansfield has been a pastor in the past, but his approach here is more like that of a sometimes cynical historian. But he does give this disclaimer at the beginning of one of the notes sections at the end of the book: “Though this is not a book of apologetics — a defense of the Bible’s historical accuracy and message — it is a book written in the confidence that the crucifixion of Jesus actually occurred.”  (page 207) (His publisher, Worthy Publishing Company, specializes in the Christian market, with authors such as Franklin Graham, Charles Colson, Ralph Reed, Charles Swindoll, Bill and Gloria Gaither, and BeBe Wynans in their stable.)

Here, Mansfield gives  a clearer behind-the-scenes look at the events leading up to Jesus’ arrest, trial, and death, from both the point of view of the civic leaders in Jerusalem and from Jesus’ point of view. While he starts out with Jesus’ birth and Herod the Great’s attempt to kill him, the rest of the book focuses on the events leading up to the crucifixion.  

He begins at Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover Week, and its symbolism and meaning to both the Jewish leaders and the Romans.  From there, he moves to Jesus’ second cleansing of the Temple.  

Following the Biblical narrative, he gives the history behind everything, and that’s what makes this book interesting.  For the readers at the time of the Gospels, and shortly thereafter, they knew what was going on, and didn’t need the details filled in.  At a remove of 2,000 years, we need to have more of the blanks filled in — the forces at play, why things happened, who was pulling the strings.  When you know even more about the family of high priests at the time of Christ, you understand even more his fury at the money-changers in the temple.  

Mansfield also explains the interplay of power between the Romans and the Jewish leaders at the time.  What laws of their own did the Jewish rulers break in the arrest and trial of Jesus, and why did he keep silent when being questioned by them?  Why was Pontius Pilate so willing to accede to the wishes of the Jewish leaders in demanding Jesus’ death when he knew the man to be innocent?  

If you’ve ever seen Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of the Christ,” you may have an idea of just how harsh the scourging of Jesus really was.  Here, Mansfield gives an even deeper (and definitely more graphic) understanding of what happened, and who was administering it. For the Roman soldiers and mercenaries, scourging was almost an art form, meant to take a man to the edge of death but not kill him.  (Although, in fact, many prisoners died as a result of being scourged.)  He goes on to describe just how brutal a form of death crucifixion is; one of the most cruel ever invented.  The Romans used it as a means of crowd control, to let the nations they’d conquered know what happened to enemies of the state.  

While the arrest and trial of Jesus were done in secret, his death was a very public thing.  Mansfield touches on the Resurrection, but since the subject is the conspiracy behind the scenes, he leaves it alone. 

Mansfield’s style is an interesting mix.  He tells the story in second person some of the time, and there are times when he almost treats Jesus with a type of historian’s cynicism, à la John Dominic Crossan.  Some Evangelical and LDS readers may find that approach a little uncomfortable.  

But I found the historical background very interesting and exciting.  It clarified things for me that I’ve wondered about when I’ve read the Biblical narrative.  Another plus is that the book reads fast; the chapters are short.  He provides readers with plenty of notations at the end of the book, and a respectable bibliography.