Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ

In this book, Hoehner tries to elucidate the dates of major events in Jesus' life such as his birth, start of ministry, crucifixion, etc. Hoehner does this largely by using extrabiblical information about the Roman Empire and linking it to data from the gospels, especially Luke.Hoehner did his Ph.D. on Herod Antipas, qualifying him as an expert on first century Judaic/Roman history. It comes through on every page. The book is a fascinating read because the author masterfully puts together the brief bits of information we read in the gospels, such as which year of Tiberius' reign an event occurred, with extrabiblical Roman history to put together a chronology.You will learn a tremendous amount about Herod and Pontius Pilate. For example, why is it that Pilate was so weak-willed in the gospel accounts, which contrasts with some of his previous brutalities and strong leadership? The answer comes from a conflict with Claudius involving a man named Sejanus. You will learn why Pilate then gave Jesus over to Herod for him to decide. All this Roman history will really add insight into your reading of the gospels.Hoehner is also very fair when he establishes dates. He lists all the major views on a given point, and then weighs the pros and cons. He is so careful and rigorous in scholarship, documenting everything that he says, that you will continually go back to this book as a reference.One conclusion that he fairly decisively argues is that Jesus was crucified on Friday, April 3, AD 33. Some other scholars argue for an AD 30 crucifixion, but Hoehner clearly shows why that view is deficient.This book is not for everyone: if you are not a fan of history or the type of person who cares exactly when various events occurred, you will not enjoy this book. Even if you do care, as a word of caution, the level of detail in this book is very high and might bore some. The book is not easy to sit and read straight through. Many people may find the book most useful as a reference tool. In fact, my recommendation would be to read his concluding chapter *first*. You get to see where he is going, and read the final chronology. To understand a particular issue, such as "was Jesus crucified on a Wednesday or Friday?" you could then turn back and read the relevant chapter. For the serious New Testament student, there are a number of extremely valuable finds that you will very likely want to go back and re-read later. For example, was the Last supper a Passover meal or not? If so, why wasn't it celebrated on Friday with everyone else? Hoehner masterfully covers this difficult subject with great scholarship and insight.As an added bonus, Hoehner concludes by reflecting on the meaning of Daniel 9:25-26. Sir Robert Anderson published a book called "The Coming Prince" in the late 1800s on that subject but made an error in his calculation. Hoehner corrects the error to arrive at an astounding conclusion.The last strength of the book is its brevity. Hoehner is not wordy, so despite the amount of rich content of the book, it is remarkably short. He knows how to express ideas clearly and simply, making this book accessible to a wide readership. Overall, this book is invaluable for the serious New Testament Scholar.

This was my first encounter with the works of Dr. Hoehner and I have to admit that I am very impressed with the level of research that he has done on the chronology of the Life of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament. He is certainly knowledgeable on the subject and has proven himself by earning a Ph.D at Cambridge. This work is an excellent resource and here are a few of the reasons that I think this book is well worth the investment.Dr. Hoehner is very logical in his approach. His style is bland and clinical so you wont find any quotables. He considers various possibilities for every date that he sets forth. He starts with the birth of Christ and eliminates various years proposed for his birth by using a very systematic format. He proceeds on to show the date for the beginning of his ministry. He moves from date-to-date very even-handed and at no time does he try to force an interpretation to his favor. He often deals with problems that face his own postulations and try to work out a viable answer which he usually does very well. He goes through the crucifixion and the resurrection giving a very convincing reason as to why he accepts 33 A.D. as year of the Lord's Passion. He even demonstrates the likelihood that Christ was actually crucified on a Friday. After, he then compares notes with Daniel's 70 weeks and shows how that all the evidence falls in favor of the date he has established.I am no expert on the chronology of Jesus' life although I am not ignorant of it either. However, I do have a degree in history from the University of Illinois at Springfield and I do know that his method for coming to these conclusions is excellent. Many writings on this subject will often require a lot of guesswork and assumption which is not the case here. The historical data that he presents about Pilate and Herod shed a great deal of light in explaining why Pilate and Herod gave into the mob that wanted Jesus to be crucified. He shows how that there is a way to reconcile the caricatures of Tacitus and Josephus with those of the gospel writers about these two men.This book is accessible and can be followed by anyone with or without a background in this field. One thing I wish he would have done is to give a better rational as to why he thought Jesus may have been born in December and I wish he had give more charts to look at. But these are minor criticisms and do not in any way detract from the work. If you are doing a study of the gospels or the life of Christ you will do yourself a favor to pick up a copy of this book.

This is a well researched thorough work, in which the late Prof Hoehner meticulously examines all the Biblical evidence before arriving at his conclusions. His investigations are conducted just like a judge in a criminal trial, whereby he carefully rates & judges each possible outcome. This book is a masterpiece & is a MUST BUY for any serious Bible student.

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Very well argued case, places all the major events in the life of Jesus Christ on the calendar. Examines all the various points of view regarding each event such as birth, start of ministry, Last Supper, Death, Resurrection and provides not only a balanced critique of each but assembles the scriptural evidence and brings a consistent line time to the biblical narrative.

Hoehner hat außerordentlich fachkundig, systematisch und kurz und klar die verschiedenen Theorien zur Chronologie des Lebens Jesu zusammengetragen und seine eigene Meinung fundiert, aber nicht aufdringlich, dargelegt. Er gibt einen guten Überblick über den Stand (der damaligen Forschung) und ist m. E. ein Muß, wenn man sich mit diesem Thema beschäftigt. Man muß dabei ja auch nicht zu den gleichen Schlüssen kommen, aber dies bildet eine gute Grundlage sich mit dem Thema auseinanderzusetzen.